Smoked Baked Beans

4 from 1 vote

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!

Prep Time10

Cook Time3

Total Time3 10

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: American

Keyword: baked beans on the grill, smoked baked beans, smoked barbecue beans, traeger baked beans

Servings: people

Ingredients

1 lb ground beef
1 lb bacon slices cut in half
1 medium green bell pepper diced
1 medium onion diced
1 jalapeno diced
3 28 oz cans baked beans *Choose your favorite flavor
½ cup ketchup
¼ cup yellow mustard
⅓ cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon 'Que That Barbecue Seasoning *Or substitute your favorite bbq seasoning

Instructions

Preheat the pellet grill or smoker to about 250°F with your favorite wood pellets. *Hickory, apple, or pecan wood pellets work well for this recipe.
Cook ground beef in a large skillet over medium heat until cooked through. Then, drain the excess fat and transfer cooked ground beef to a large mixing bowl.
Cook half of the bacon slices in the skillet, just until the fat is rendered. You don't need to cook the bacon to crispy at this point, because it will be mixed in with the wet ingredients. Transfer the cooked bacon to a paper towel-lined plate, keeping the bacon grease in the skillet. Then rough chop the bacon slices and add to the mixing bowl with the beef.
Add the diced bell peppers, onion, and jalapeño to the skillet with the reserved bacon grease. Sauté the vegetables in the bacon grease until about 75% cooked through. Then, add to the large mixing bowl with the beef and bacon.
Add the remaining ingredients to the bowl, including the canned beans, ketchup, mustard, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, apple cider vinegar, and barbecue seasoning. Stir to combine.
Transfer the baked beans mixture to a large cast iron skillet or disposable aluminum pan.
Lay the remaining half of the bacon slices flat on top of the beans.
Set the pan of beans on the grill grates, close the grill lid, and cook the beans uncovered for about 3 hours, or until the bacon on top is cooked through and the beans are thickened. *Cooking time will vary based on the temperature of your grill and how thick you like your barbecue beans.
When the smoked baked beans are cooked to your liking, carefully remove from the grill and allow to cool for about 20 minutes before serving.

Video

Notes

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.
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.
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!
Adjust the grill temperature based on how much time you have. This baked beans recipe can be cooked at 250 - 375°F if you adjust the cooking time appropriately.

Nutrition