Smoked Baked Beans with Ground Beef and Bacon

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These easy smoked baked beans are made with simple ingredients like canned baked beans, ground beef, and bacon.  The perfect side dish to make on the pellet grill or smoker for your backyard barbecue!

Baked beans are a classic barbecue side dish perfect for serving alongside your main dish like grilled chicken, pulled pork, or burgers and hot dogs.  But how can you up the flavor so that your beans aren’t just an accompaniment?  An after thought?  A supporting actor?

What if you want to make some awesome baked beans that could be the star of your backyard barbecue show?

You pull out the pellet grill, smoker, or charcoal grill and put a little smoke to ’em!

These smoked baked beans with bacon are based on my Aunt’s “famous” recipe, but by cooking them on the pellet grill or smoker, the flavor is elevated with grill goodness!  And they are fantastic!  *Perfect for serving alongside our favorite smoked potato salad!

Here’s how to make this easy smoker side dish for your next backyard barbecue:

Smoked Baked Beans Video

Ingredients for Smoked Baked Beans

The addition of both ground beef and bacon is what sets this pellet grilled baked beans recipe apart from the rest… with so much meat, this dish could easily serve as a main course, or at least a good hearty lunch!

Here’s what you need to make these awesome baked beans on the pellet grill:

• canned baked beans – This easy recipe starts out with some help from Bush’s baked beans! Use whatever variety that you like, but we prefer to mix different flavors. For this recipe, we chose to use Brown Sugar Hickory, Barbecue, and Country Style baked beans.
• ground beef – Regular 80/20 works fine, or you can also use a leaner blend like 90/10 if you prefer.
• bacon – You can use thick-cut bacon or regular.
• ketchup
• mustard
• apple cider vinegar
• Worcestershire sauce
• dark brown sugar
• diced onion
• diced bell pepper
• diced jalapeño pepper (optional)

Do I need a smoker for Smoked Baked Beans?

If you want to make smoked baked beans, you have a few different grilling options.  You can either use your charcoal kettle grill as a smoker by setting it up for indirect cooking and smoking, or you can use a pellet grill.

If you don’t have a charcoal or wood pellet smoker option, then you can also use a smoke tube with pellets on your gas grill.

This easy baked beans recipe is also fantastic in the oven!  So if you don’t have an outdoor grill or smoker, you can still make my Aunt’s “famous” barbecue baked beans.

How to Make Baked Beans on the Pellet Smoker or Grill

This smoker side dish is one of the easiest bean recipes ever, thanks to canned beans and common pantry ingredients.  Here’s how to make smoked baked beans on the grill:

​Preheat the Pellet Grill or Smoker

First you’ll need to prep the grill or smoker.  Add your favorite wood pellets, and set the temperature to anywhere between 250-375°F (depending on how much time you have).  

Of course, the lower temperatures will give you more smoke flavor, but your smoked beans will take longer to cook.  *You can also cook the beans at about 350-375°F, and add in a few drops of liquid smoke for extra smoky flavor.

Cook the Ground Beef and Vegetables

Start by cooking the ground beef, half of the bacon slices, and the peppers and onions over medium heat.  I used a griddle for this step, but you can also cook the meat and vegetables in a large skillet or cast iron pan.  

Cook the ground beef and bacon until cooked through, and sauté the vegetables until about 75% tender – I prefer my vegetables to be slightly crunchy at this stage, because they will continue to cook in the bean mixture on the pellet smoker.

When the bacon is done, transfer to a paper towel-lined plate to drain and then rough chop into smaller pieces.

*TIP – If you have more time, or if you already have your smoker going for other dishes, then you can also smoke the bacon and ground beef first on the pellet grill.  Smoked bacon is one of our absolute favorites!

Assemble the Baked Beans in a Cast Iron Dish

Next, mix the remaining ingredients in a large mixing bowl with the ground beef, sautéed vegetables, and chopped bacon.  Then, transfer the bean mixture to a large cast iron skillet or a shallow dutch oven style dish.  

I prefer to use cast iron or enameled cast iron cookware on my grill, but for easy clean up, you can also use a disposable aluminum pan instead.

Lay the remaining bacon pieces flat on top of the beans, so that the bacon fat will drip down for extra flavor, and this easy side dish is ready for the grill!

Smoke the Baked Beans on the Pellet Grill

Place the baked beans mixture on the grill grates, and smoke uncovered for about 1.5 – 3 hours, depending on the temperature of your grill.

We prefer our baked beans to be thick, so I let them cook uncovered for the entire cook time so that they would reduce a bit and the sauce would thicken.  This also helps the smoke penetrate so you get a great flavor!

Once the beans are done smoking, remove them from the smoker and let them cool for about 20 minutes before serving.  

Remember, the beans will thicken a bit as they cool as well. And our finished smoked baked beans looked like this:

*TIP – The longer that you cook the baked beans on the pellet grill, the more reduction will take place. If needed, you can start at a lower temp of 250°F, and then bump up the temperature to about 350 – 375°F for the last hour to help the beans reduce and the bacon slices to crisp up a bit.

How long to smoke baked beans?

The cook time really depends on the temperature of your grill, and since all of the ingredients (besides the bacon slices on top) are already cooked, the grill temp is pretty flexible. You can smoke the baked beans for about 3 hours at 250°F for more smoke flavor, or for a shorter cook time, bump up the grill temp to about 350-375°F for 1.5 – 2 hours.

Just make sure that the bacon on top is cooked through.

Can I make smoked baked beans ahead of time?

Yes! This is a fantastic recipe to make ahead, because the smoky baked beans actually taste even better the next day once the flavors have had a chance to meld together.  

Simply let the baked beans cool down for about 2 hours in the baking dish (you don’t want to put a hot dish directly in the refrigerator), and then store covered in the refrigerator for 1-2 days.  Reheat the smoky baked beans in the oven.

Can I cook these beans in the oven instead of on a pellet smoker?

Yes, you can certainly bake these beans in the oven if you don’t have a pellet smoker or grill. Simply preheat your oven to 350°F and follow the same instructions, but instead of placing the beans on the smoker, cover the pan with aluminum foil and bake in the oven for 2-3 hours, stirring occasionally.

What type of wood pellets should I use for smoked baked beans?

Hickory or applewood pellets work particularly well for this beans recipe, but feel free to experiment with other types of wood or use your favorite hardwood pellets.

Smoked Baked Beans Recipe

Want to add this easy recipe to your list of smoker side dish recipes?  You can print the recipe card down below to save this smoky baked beans recipe for next time you need a great backyard barbecue side dish:

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