Sweet and smoky baked beans are a Southern classic and the perfect side dish for a cookout or BBQ. Simmered in a skillet in a blend of smoky bacon, molasses, and tangy barbecue sauce, they’re hard to beat. Southern baked beans also have ground beef added, which gives great flavor and heartiness to this classic side dish.

Baked Beans with HamburgerPhoto byButter & Baggage

Southern Baked Beans with Hamburger

These beans couldn’t be easier to make. Brown the hamburger, dump in the rest of the ingredients, simmer and spend the rest of the time relaxing with friends and family. But boy are they tasty.

Southern baked beans only need a few pantry ingredients, which means they’re great for a last-minute side dish. I always have a pound of hamburger in case I want to make a hamburger potato casserole or smash burgers and the rest of the ingredients you can keep in your pantry.

Baked beans with ground beef were a side dish my mom served all the time, not just when we cooked out or had family gatherings, but for weeknight dinners. We had them with ham, and potato salad and with barbecue chicken alongside a creamy pea salad or ranch pasta salad.

Mom didn’t have a recipe, but my sister and I were tasked with making this side dish when we were old enough to help with dinner, and between the two of us we came up with this recipe. You can adjust the brown sugar and molasses to your liking, it’s so much better using a homemade bbq sauce.

What makes these the best baked beans recipe is that they have a meaty flavor from both bacon and ground beef. And instead of just brown sugar, molasses adds not only a little sweetness but depth of flavor.

Some call these Cowboy Baked Beans, which from what I can tell are similar, but since there aren’t a lot of cowboys in my neck of the woods, we just call them baked beans.

Baked BeansPhoto byButter & Baggage

Why You’ll Love Southern Baked Beans

• Sweet and smoky: These beans have brown sugar, molasses, and bacon, which make the perfect combination of sweet, savory, and smoky.
• Quick and simple: The beans simmer for a half hour, so they come together in the time it takes to fire up the grill and cook your hot dogs.
• Hearty and rich: Using ground beef in these beans makes them filling, hearty, and so delicious. They’re sticky, sweet, smoky, and savory. They’re just perfect to have with potato salad and a hamburger or hot dog.

How to serve Baked Beans with Ground Beef

You might wonder whether these are a meal in themselves since they have ground beef in them. While you could make them a meal, they’re a little sweet and generally not served that way, instead they are served as a side. Since they are sweet, they compliment almost anything you would serve at a cookout.

For the perfect cookout menu, make some spiral hot dogs, pulled pork, or hamburgers or your favorite steak. On the side, serve the baked beans, this grilled corn salad with blueberries, and Southern mac and cheese. For dessert, dish out slices of this strawberry cream cheese pie for the perfect end to a beautiful summer day.

Ingredients for Baked BeansPhoto byButter & Baggage

Ingredients

• ▢1 lb ground beef
• ▢1 onion medium, diced
• ▢3 slices bacon chopped
• ▢½ teaspoon salt
• ▢½ cup brown sugar
• ▢1 tablespoon molasses
• ▢1 tablespoon mustard
• ▢45 ounce canned pork and beans (3 15-ounce cans)

Instructions

• Add hamburger, chopped onions and chopped bacon to a large skillet and cook over medium heat until the hamburger is browned and the onions have softened. Sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon of salt or to taste. Drain the grease if necessary.
• Add brown sugar, molasses and mustard and cook over medium low heat for 5 minutes,.
• Add beans and simmer for 15- 20 minutes until the liquid has absorbed and they have thickened. Add salt and pepper to taste.

While I make these in a skillet, you may need to use a Dutch oven if you're skillet isn't large enough. If you're going to serve them later, you can place them in a baking dish and warm them in the oven or in a crock pot set to low.

More Sides to Serve at Your Next BBQ

• The Best Macaroni Salad
• An old fashioned 7-Layer Salad
• The creamiest Mac and Cheese
• Summer Squash Casserole with Ritz Crackers