Slow Cooker Baked Beans with Bacon

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These Slow Cooker Baked Beans with Bacon are sweet, smoky, and savory with tender beans, plenty of bacon, and a thick, saucy finish. Starting with prepared beans keeps the prep easy, while slow cooking gives them time to soak up the smoky, savory flavor before the sauce reduces.

Slow cooker baked beans with bacon cooked low and slow until tender

These crockpot baked beans are an easy side to serve with Slow Cooker BBQ Pulled Pork or Oven Baked Ribs. If you’re planning more hands-off meals, browse my slow cooker recipes for dishes that can cook while you handle the rest of dinner.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

Classic baked bean flavor with fewer ingredients: Hickory-style BBQ sauce brings tomato, sweetness, tang, smoke, and savory seasoning together in one ingredient.
A thick sauce that coats the beans: The uncovered finish cooks off excess liquid so you don’t end up with beans sitting in a thin sauce.
Easy to work into a BBQ meal: After browning the bacon and onion, the slow cooker handles the rest while you make the main dish or other sides.

ingredients to make Crockpot baked beans with bacon

Ingredients You’ll Need

Grab the exact amounts from the recipe card at the bottom of the post.

Bacon: Cut it into bite-size pieces so you get bacon throughout the beans. Regular or no-sugar-added bacon both work.
Yellow onion: Cook it with the bacon so it softens in the drippings and picks up that smoky flavor.
Garlic: Fresh minced garlic adds more savory flavor as the beans cook.
Cannellini beans: Drain and rinse them first. I like cannellini beans here because they’re creamy but still hold their shape well in the slow cooker. Navy beans or Great Northern beans work too.
Low-sodium chicken broth: Use it to loosen the browned bits from the skillet so that bacon and onion flavor goes into the beans instead of staying in the pan.
BBQ seasoning: I use my homemade BBQ seasoning, which adds sweet, smoky flavor to the beans. Since the bacon, seasoning, and BBQ sauce all bring salt, taste the finished beans before adding any extra.
BBQ sauce: Hickory-style works especially well because it already combines the tomato, brown sugar and molasses, vinegar, smoke, and savory seasonings you’d otherwise measure separately.
Brown sugar: Adds a little more sweetness and helps give the beans that familiar sweet-and-smoky flavor.
Mustard: Optional. I’ve made these beans with and without it. The mustard adds a little extra tang, but you don’t need it for the recipe to work.
Hennessy: Also optional. It adds another layer of flavor, but you can leave it out completely or use bourbon instead.

How to Make Slow Cooker Baked Beans with Bacon

Use the photos as your guide while you cook. The two things I pay the most attention to are getting some color on the bacon at the beginning and letting the sauce reduce enough at the end.

Brown the Bacon and Soften the Onion

Cook the bacon and onion until the bacon is browned around the edges and the onion is soft. You don’t need to wait for every piece of bacon to get crisp because it will keep cooking once everything goes into the slow cooker.

Sauté the bacon and onion, add the broth, then transfer everything to the slow cooker.

Deglaze and Keep the Flavor from the Skillet

Add the broth and scrape until the browned bits loosen from the bottom of the pan. Transfer everything to the slow cooker, including the broth and flavorful drippings from the skillet.

Coat the Beans

Stir the beans with the remaining ingredients until everything is evenly coated. The mixture will look much looser than finished baked beans at this stage. That’s normal.

Slow Cook Until the Beans Soak Up the Flavor

Cover and cook on HIGH for 3 hours. During this time, the beans soak up the BBQ sauce, bacon, seasoning, and broth.

You’ll see the change as they cook: the beans start out pale and gradually take on a deeper burgundy color as they absorb the sauce. The mixture will still be fairly saucy at this point, so don’t wait for it to thicken before moving on to the uncovered finish.

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Stir the baked beans and slow cook, then remove the lid and simmer uncovered until the sauce thickens.

Uncover and Let the Sauce Reduce

Remove the lid and continue cooking on HIGH. Stir near the end and look at the bottom of the slow cooker: once the sauce stays around the beans instead of immediately pooling underneath them, they’re ready.

How to Get a Thick Baked Bean Sauce

The beans will still look fairly saucy after the first 3 hours, even though they’ve already soaked up the BBQ sauce, bacon, seasoning, and broth. That’s normal. The final uncovered cook time is what changes the texture of the sauce.

Remove the lid and keep the slow cooker on HIGH for about 45 minutes. As the extra moisture cooks off, the sauce reduces around the beans instead of staying loose at the bottom of the pot.

Use the consistency more than the clock to tell when they’re ready. When you stir, the sauce should cling to the beans and stay around them instead of immediately pooling underneath. If you like your baked beans even thicker, let them sit for a few minutes before serving since the sauce will continue to thicken as it cools.

Baked beans with bacon simmered in a smoky, sweet BBQ sauce

Tips for the Best Slow Cooker Baked Beans

Don’t try to crisp the bacon completely: Browning it around the edges is enough before it goes into the slow cooker.
Transfer everything from the skillet: The broth loosens the browned bits and carries that bacon and onion flavor into the beans.
Expect a loose sauce before the uncovered finish: The beans will still look saucy after the covered cook. That final uncovered stretch is what reduces the sauce.
Taste before adding salt: Bacon, BBQ sauce, and the homemade BBQ seasoning already bring plenty of seasoning.
Let the consistency tell you when they’re done: Once the sauce clings to the beans instead of pooling underneath them, you can stop cooking.

Easy Swaps & Variations

Use another white bean: Navy beans or Great Northern beans can replace the cannellini beans. Stick with beans that are already cooked, drained, and rinsed.
Skip the mustard: It adds a little tang, but the beans are still flavorful without it.
Leave out the Hennessy: You don’t need to replace it with extra liquid. Bourbon also works if that’s what you have.
Adjust the heat: Add a little cayenne or hot sauce if you like your baked beans sweet and spicy.

Crockpot baked beans with bacon and a thick, saucy BBQ glaze

What to Serve With Slow Cooker Baked Beans

Serve these baked beans with Slow Cooker Ribs or Oven Baked Ribs when you want a classic BBQ plate. For a bbq chicken main dish, make my Baked BBQ Chicken Thighs or BBQ Oven Baked Chicken Drumsticks instead.

For the sides, Baked Macaroni and Cheese adds something creamy and rich, while Southern Coleslaw gives you cool crunch next to the sweet, smoky beans.

If you’re feeding a crowd, pair them with BBQ Pulled Pork Sliders, a pan of Southern Candied Yams, and Homemade Cornbread. The beans can stay warm in the slow cooker while everyone serves themselves.

FAQs

Do I need to cook the bacon before adding it to the slow cooker?

Yes. Browning the bacon first gives you better flavor and texture. You can also cook the onion in the drippings, then use the broth to bring the browned bits into the slow cooker.

Can I use a different kind of bean?

Yes. Navy beans or Great Northern beans can replace the cannellini beans. Make sure they’re already cooked, then drain and rinse them before adding them.

Why are my slow cooker baked beans watery?

They need more time with the lid off. The uncovered finish lets excess moisture evaporate so the sauce can reduce around the beans.

Can I leave out the Hennessy?

Yes. The recipe works without it. You can leave it out completely or use bourbon instead.

Can I make slow cooker baked beans ahead of time?

Yes. Make the beans, let them cool, and refrigerate them until you’re ready to serve. If the sauce gets thicker in the refrigerator, stir in a small splash of chicken broth as you reheat them.

Storage & Reheating

Store: Let the beans cool, then refrigerate them in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
Freeze: Freeze cooled baked beans in a freezer-safe container for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator.
Reheat: Warm them on the stovetop over medium-low heat, in the slow cooker, or microwave individual servings. Stir in a small splash of chicken broth if the sauce needs loosening.