Slow Cooker Baked Beans with Bacon
Sweet, smoky Slow Cooker Baked Beans with Bacon made with tender white beans, plenty of bacon, and a thick sauce that clings to every bite. Prepared beans and hickory-style BBQ sauce keep the prep simple while the beans soak up plenty of flavor as they cook.
Servings: 16
Calories: 232kcal
Equipment
- Skillet
Ingredients
- 12 oz Bacon cut into bite-size pieces
- 1 ¼ cups Yellow Onion diced
- 6 cloves Garlic minced
- 62 oz Cannellini Beans 4 (15.5 oz) cans, drained and rinsed
- ½ cup Chicken Broth low-sodium
- ⅓ cup BBQ seasoning homemade, click for my recipe
- ¾ cup BBQ sauce hickory-style or Kansas City-style
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 1 tbsp Yellow Mustard optional
- 2 tbsp Hennessy optional, or bourbon
Instructions
- Brown the bacon and onion: Add the bacon and onion to a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Cook for 8–10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the bacon is browned around the edges and the onion is softened. The bacon does not need to be completely crisp.
- Deglaze the skillet: Pour in the chicken broth and scrape up the browned bits from the bottom of the skillet. Remove the skillet from the heat.
- Add everything to the slow cooker: Transfer everything from the skillet, including the broth and drippings, to the slow cooker. Add the cannellini beans, garlic, BBQ seasoning, BBQ sauce, brown sugar, mustard, if using, and Hennessy, if using. Stir to coat the beans.
- Slow cook: Cover and cook on HIGH for 3 hours. The beans will soak up the flavors of the bacon, sauce, seasoning, and broth and change from pale white to a deeper burgundy color. The sauce will still be fairly loose.
- Reduce the sauce: Remove the lid and continue cooking on HIGH for about 45 minutes. Stir near the end and cook until the sauce clings to the beans instead of pooling underneath them.
- Serve: Stir the beans and let them sit for a few minutes before serving. The sauce will thicken a little more as it cools.
Notes
- Beans: This recipe uses beans that are already cooked. Navy beans or Great Northern beans can replace the cannellini beans.
- BBQ sauce: Hickory-style works especially well because it already brings together tomato, sweetness, molasses, vinegar, smoke, and savory seasonings.
- Mustard: I’ve tested the beans with and without it. It adds a little extra tang, but the recipe works well either way.
- Hennessy: Leave it out without replacing the liquid, or use bourbon instead.
- Sauce: You don’t need flour or cornstarch. Cooking the beans uncovered at the end reduces and thickens the sauce.
Nutrition
Calories: 232kcal | Carbohydrates: 31g | Protein: 10g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 0.03g | Cholesterol: 14mg | Sodium: 531mg | Potassium: 142mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 9g | Vitamin A: 169IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 129mg | Iron: 4mg
