This Baked Beans with Smoked Sausage recipe is my very favorite baked bean recipe. What makes it so special is the slices of smoked sausage. If you’re a fan of having meat in your baked beans, you will love this recipe. It’s like Beanie Weenies, only much better.
Not only is this recipe flavored with bacon, but the slices of smoked sausage, (I used kielbasa), make it feel like a main dish casserole instead of a side.
And you may like it so much that you want to eat it as a main dish. I think that’s perfectly acceptable. 🙂
Just like any delicious baked bean recipe, this recipe has plenty of sweetness. A combination of ketchup, molasses, and light brown sugar provides the sweetness. A little apple cider vinegar, mustard, and Tabasco sauce balances the sweetness.
It cooks in the oven in an uncovered Dutch oven until nice and thick, which really concentrates the flavors.
Baked Beans with Smoked Sausage will be the hit of your next cookout, potluck, or picnic.
Baked Beans with Smoked Sausage
Baked Beans with smoked sausage are super meaty and thick. Lots of sweetness from brown sugar, molasses, and ketchup.
Ingredients
- ▢2 slices bacon, chopped into 1/2-inch pieces
- ▢1 sweet onion, chopped
- ▢2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- ▢1/2 pound smoked sausage, sliced, I use kielbasa
- ▢3 (16-ounce) cans of pork and beans
- ▢1/2 cup ketchup
- ▢1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
- ▢1/4 cup molasses
- ▢2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- ▢2 tablespoons yellow mustard
- ▢1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon hot sauce, I use TABASCO
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- In a Dutch oven, cook bacon until crispy. Remove with a slotted spoon and place on a paper towel-lined plate.
- Add onion to bacon drippings and cook until soft.
- Add garlic and smoked sausage and cook until sausage is browned.
- Stir in the remaining ingredients. Bring to a simmer. Place Dutch oven, uncovered, in the oven and cook for 45 to 55 minutes, until thick.