These spicy baked beans are savory, spicy, sweet and smoky. Perfect easy recipe for any casual backyard BBQ or potluck. Sprucing up a can of pork and beans with your favorite zesty ingredients provides an easy way to serve an exciting side dish. A delicious baked bean recipe from the Oklahoma Jr. League Cookbook.
Have a hard time deciding what side dish to serve at BBQ? Old Fashioned Potato Salad is always a traditional choice. Or try this popular Pea Salad with Eggs.
What To Expect From This Recipe
If you’re reading this smack dab in the middle of backyard BBQ season, you’re most certainly browsing Google for side dishes. And there are so many choices aren’t there?
But the common denominator always leads us down that Baked Bean, Potato Salad or Cole Slaw path. And don’t forget about those pasta salads. Simply stated, yay for easy breezy Summer food.
This isn’t a recipe for soaking beans overnight and bake them for hours until done. This is a convenient spicy baked bean recipe using canned beans. Throw in some might fine flavors – the good stuff. You’ll find a simple can of baked beans turned into a masterpiece of a side dish.
You’ll use a large can of pork and beans baked beans. Then to kick up the flavor you’ll add common pantry items starting with Worcestershire Sauce as a umami booster. Chile Powder brings the spicy heat and Liquid Smoke adds a rich smoky flavor and you won’t even notice there’s no bacon in these baked beans.
Can you make baked beans without brown sugar? Not in my books. Brown sugar brings the sweetness.
A recipe easy enough for a beginning home cook, and interesting enough for the seasoned home chef, you’ll find step by step instructions for making these oven baked, baked beans a breeze.
Spicy baked Beans is an easy recipe that’s unique in flavor
These beans are baked until bubbly and caramelized, you’re going to love every bite.
Table of contents
Ingredients You’ll Need
Noteworthy Ingredients:
- The Star Of The Show, Canned Beans: May I suggest VanCamp’s Brand? I’ve been using them since I was a little girl to make baked beans. With timeless flavor that dates back to 1861. Bush’s canned beans are also a popular choice offering a more bold flavor from the bacon. Both canned beans brands use navy beans.
- Liquid Smoke: Available on the condiment aisle of your grocery store, just a few drops will add a smoky flavor to any dish. Liquid smoke is a natural by-product of smoked wood. A great condiment to have on hand.
- Worcestershire Sauce: Worcestershire sauce is a powerhouse umami condiment. Tangier than soy sauce, it’s rich with flavor from fish sauce, vinegar and molasses. It’s wonderful in this baked bean recipe.
- Ketchup and Mustard: Key ingredients to make these baked beans sweet and tangy. For the mustard, use prepared yellow mustard.
- Brown Sugar: Using brown sugar rather than granulated white sugar brings more of a caramel toffee like flavor. I used light brown sugar for this recipe. You can also use dark brown sugar.
- Chile Powder: How to spice up baked beans? Bring on the heat .. or not. There are many types of pure chile powders, and they all have different heat levels. I use New Mexico Chimayo Chile Powder, which is medium hot on the heat scale. You can use Ancho chile powder, which is milder. Cayenne pepper works great in this recipe.
- Green Bell Pepper: The somewhat bitter grassy flavor of a green bell pepper works well to balance the overall sweet and spicy flavor of this baked bean casserole. You can also use milder and sweet varieties such a red bell pepper or orange bell pepper.
Step by Step Instructions – It’s Easy!
With just a little slicing and dicing you’re on your way to a great little big-time baked bean side dish.
- Step 1: In a 2 quart mixing bowl, combine ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, chile powder, Liquid Smoke, mustard and brown sugar. Whisk until smooth.
- Step 2: Add the beans and gently mix with a spoon.
- Step 3: Add the chopped parsley, sauteed bell pepper and onions to the bean mixture. Gently combine.
- Step 4: Pour the mixture into your favorite 2 quart casserole dish. Bake 40 minutes at 350 degrees.
Spicy baked beans using canned beans offers a quick, flavorful, side dish for any occasion.
Questions You May Have
The beans inside that can of pork and beans are navy beans. If you have dried navy beans, soak one cup of them overnight in enough water to cover by an inch. The next morning, boil the beans for two minutes and then simmer than for two hours. Drain and proceed with the recipe.
Absolutely, feel free to use various canned beans like black beans, navy beans, or great northern beans. You’ll be forfeiting the sauce that comes with canned baked beans. You’ll need to drain and rinse these beans and perhaps adjust the seasonings by adding a little more brown sugar, mustard and ketchup.
Absolutely yes. You can prepare the casserole ahead of time, refrigerate and then bake just before serving. Or you can bake ahead of time then gently reheat in the oven at 200 degrees for about 20 minutes. Or until nice and steamy.
Yes. If you’re hosting a gathering and need oven space, feel free to make slow cooker spicy baked beans. Just follow the recipe and instead of placing the ingredients in a baking dish for the oven, add it to the slow cooker, that’s been sprayed with non-stick spray. Cook on low around 6 hours and on high for 3 – 4 hours. Check on them every couple of hours so they don’t burn, as every crock pot is a little different.
Tips For Success
- The more shallow the baking dish, the more caramelized the end result will be. I’ve tried this with both shallow and deep dishes and prefer the more shallow dish.
- Don’t over stir: Using canned beans means that beans have already been cooked to a very soft stage. During anytime during the preparation process, stir the beans gently to combine ingredients. If you over-stir the beans, they can become mushy.
How To Control The Heat Level
Need to make these spicy baked beans more kid friendly? The heat level is easy to control here. Simply omit the spicy chile powder. Use a milder chile powder like ancho or even chili powder (with an “i”) which is a blend of spices used in your favorite chili soup recipe.
Can You Freeze Baked Beans?
- Freezing: Yes. The sauce around the beans protects them. Let them cool down and then grab a freezer friendly container and seal well. They’ll keep for a couple of months. Just remove the container from the freezer and place in the refrigerator overnight. Then reheat either using the microwave, oven or even stovetop.
- Refrigeration: Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
- Reheating: Warm on the stovetop over low heat or in the microwave until heated through
Make Ahead Instructions:
You can prepare the casserole ahead of time, refrigerate and then bake just before serving. Or you can bake ahead of time then gently reheat in the oven at 200 degrees for about 20 minutes. Or until nice and steamy.
Serving Suggestions
There couldn’t be a more perfect side dish for any Summer style entree than these spicy baked beans. Oven Ribs come to mind along with these:
To complete the meal, serve with my recipe for Cheesy Cornbread, Jalapeno Pineapple Coleslaw or a simple Accompaniment salad.
Variations: Garnish with chopped chives or shredded cheese.
More Bean Side Dish Recipes
And don’t miss my Side Dishes Category for more delicious ideas. Including the most popular baked beans recipe on my site for BBQ Baked Beans On The Grill. A how-to.
And if you’re looking for even more side dishes for picnic style gatherings, don’t miss this line-up of Summer cook-out sides. I’m positive you’ll find something you love.
Spicy Baked Beans with Canned Beans
Ingredients
- 2 Tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 large onion chopped
- 1 large green bell pepper chopped
- ½ Cup Ketchup
- ¼ Cup Worcestershire Sauce
- 1 teaspoon chile powder New Mexico Red or ancho
- ½ teaspoon Liquid Smoke
- 1 Tablespoon mustard prepared yellow
- ¼ Cup brown sugar
- ¼ teaspoon fresh ground pepper
- 28 oz pork and beans half of the liquid drained
- 2 Tablespoon flat leaf parsley chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Heat olive oil in skillet and sauté onions for 4 minutes. (Onions should be transparent.) Add peppers and sauté another 2 minutes or until vegetables are just turning tender.
- In a 2 quart mixing bowl, combine ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, chili powder, Liquid Smoke, mustard and brown sugar. Whisk until blended.
- Add the beans and gently stir with a spoon.
- Add onions and peppers to bean mixture. Add parsley and gently stir.
- Prepare a 2 quart casserole dish by spraying with non-stick spray. Pour bean mixture into dish and bake for 45 minutes.
Video
Notes
- The more shallow the baking dish, the more caramelized the end result will be. I’ve tried this with both shallow and deep dishes and prefer the more shallow dish.
- Don’t over stir: Using canned beans means that beans have already been cooked to a very soft stage. During anytime during the preparation process, stir the beans gently to combine ingredients. If you over-stir the beans, they can become mushy.
Nutrition
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Spicy Baked Beans Recipe Using Canned Beans … it’s what’s for a BBQ side dish
Why Trust My Recipes? I am a Culinary School Graduate and a lifelong student of home cooking. I hope to inspire you try to cook as often as you can. I’ve been cooking for 50 years, and my recipes are tried and true tested and tested and then tested again before published. To read more take a look at my About Page.
Just posted a remark, but my fat finger only gave you 4 stars:(! This is truly a five star recipe!!!
Gotta love those Junior League cookbooks :). My mother swore by those and the Pillsbury cookbooks when I was a kid. Looking through the ingredients, these beans look very familiar and I remember them being salty, sweet and spicy – oh so good! They would be a great dish for a BBQ. Bet you’re not thinking of grilling outside right now with the Arctic front headed our way.
Hi MJ. I hear ya – it was 6 below here in Denver. I’m not stepping one foot towards that grill. 🙂