How to make homemade baked beans with ground beef recipe can be made with canned beans fast or from scratch as we will show you with dry beans. Both made on the stove unless you want to start with Instant Pot Baked Beans with Dry Beans and then add your browned meat after that.
Ground beef baked beans is a heartier side that goes well with a barbecue. Or use buns with this in the middle for a beefy meal with cheese. Sweet and savory Crockpot recipe that can be made spicy too if you like. A family friendly dish we love. (affiliate links present)
Canned Baked Beans with Ground Beef Recipe
You can do this either way, from scratch like our Crockpot Baked Beans Recipe with Dry Beans is always better so you can adjust the sweetness or make spicy with some red pepper flakes if you like. Your choice though, there is quite a bit of difference when it comes to cook time for sure starting with a can.
Some nights when we have had a busy day I will use this as a main dish, messy and all. Instead of serving 3 Ingredient sloppy joes on slider buns I will use this!! Did it one night on a whim and my girls’ loved it and asked for it to be added to our meal planning on a regular basis for Friday night meals.
Table of contents
Baked Beans with Ground Beef with Dry Beans
This is How to Cook Navy Beans from Scratch, we will explain that below. That is the traditional variety used but any will do. These are great because of their creamy texture though and are great at soaking up all the sweet and savory flavors in the sauce it will be slow cooking in.
- 1 c navy beans dry, soaked, boiled for 1 hour – or canned (if using canned baked beans skip sauces below)
- Lean ground beef hamburger, ground sausage, cooked and browned – this is How to Cook Frozen Ground Beef if that is all you have
- Ketchup
- Brown sugar
- Dijon mustard
- 2 tbsp molasses
- Apple cider vinegar
- 1 tsp worcestershire sauce
- Salt and pepper
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- Chili powder
If you wanted to know How Long to Cook Baked Beans in Oven at 350 in a baking dish or casserole dish with dried beans we have directions for that here too. You can make this one with or without meat but adding diced hamburger is best when added precooked halfway thru.
Slow Cooker Baked Beans with Ground Beef
You can use several varieties of legumes for this one. Pinto, Navy, Northern or Peruvian Beans is usually what I do. Ground Beef with Dried Baked Beans will take longer with soaking required, boiling, and then combining all the ingredients to warm together is how it works. I like cooking in a Crockpot myself but you can use a deep pot with a lid.
- Rinse and pour beans into large bowl and cover with water plus 3″ over the top. Soak overnight.
- Once soaked, drain and rinse. Place them into a large saucepan with 4 cups water.
- Bring beans to a boil over medium high heat.
- Reduce heat to medium low and cover.
- Simmer for one hour.
- Drain beans, reserving 1 cup of that liquid. In a slow cooker, or in a Dutch Oven over medium heat.
- Add the ground beef that’s been precooked and browned, ketchup, brown sugar, mustard, molasses, apple cider vinegar, worcestershire sauce, salt, onion powder, chili powder and black pepper.
- Add soaked and drained beans + 1/2 cup water and mix well.
Or create our sweeter Apple Pie Baked Beans version. Cover Crock pot or large skillet or pot with lid and heat on low for 4 hours, stirring after 2 hours and if necessary, adding more liquid to loosen up. Once beans are tender and sauce is thick, serve.
How to cook canned baked beans with ground beef
You will brown meat in a pan, drain and add into pot. Pour in baked beans and stir together with 1/3 cup water or beef broth. Cook on low for 1-4 hours stirring halfway thru checking liquid content adding a bit more if necessary.
Cook time depends on your preference of tenderness, how much time you have and how deep you want the flavors to become, longer is better. Many times we will make Beans and Cornbread with it because it is a Southern favorite.
Should you rinse canned baked beans?
I guess if you only wanted the beans themselves but the sauce is where most of the yum is y’all. For this and most other recipes you would keep all the contents together. Even if you’re making doctored up baked beans you want the liquid in the mix to add flavor to the other ingredients.
Ground Beef Baked Beans
Combining two ingredients together can really make a whole new meal you just may fall in love with. Like our Escarole and Beans it became a favorite we never knew we were missing. Adding texture to an otherwise soft and creamy dish it amped it up in a way like this one does with the addition of beef.
Kind of. You would want to precook your meat first so there is no pink and then incorporate it into your canned beans mixture. You can soak, boil and add cooked meat into baked beans too once the legumes are tender to your liking. Incorporate them together and allow to simmer for at least 30 minutes on low heat for the flavors to meld together nicely.
You can add browned meat like we did here with beef, hot dogs or bacon bits to make it heartier! For added sweetness brown sugar or agave is always a great choice. You can even add a sugar free liquid sweetener. To make spicy a sprinkle of red pepper flakes or jalapeno powder are great choices. An easy way to add flavor is to incorporate some bbq sauce.
Want a tang? Give your can of original baked beans a squeeze of yellow mustard with your spicy barbecue sauce. Jump to recipe and let us know if you tweaked it beyond what we did!
Baked Beans with Ground Beef
Equipment
- 1 slow cooker
- 1 pot if using dry beans
Ingredients
- 1 c navy beans, dry, soaked, boiled for 1 hour – or canned (if using canned baked beans skip sauces below)
- 1/2 lb. ground beef, or ground sausage, cooked and browned
- 1/4 c ketchup
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 2 tbsp dijon mustard
- 2 tbsp molasses
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tsp worcestershire sauce
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp chili powder
- 1/2 tsp pepper
Instructions
- Dried Baked Beans with Ground Beef– Rinse and then pour beans into large bowl and cover with water plus 3" over the top. Soak overnight.
- Once soaked, drain and rinse beans and place them into a large saucepan with 4 cups water. Bring beans to a boil over medium high heat. Reduce heat to medium low and cover. Simmer for one hour.
- Drain beans, reserving 1 cup of that liquid. In a slow cooker, or in a Dutch Oven over medium heat, add precooked and browned ground beef, ketchup, brown sugar, mustard, molasses, apple cider vinegar, worcestershire sauce, salt, onion powder, chili powder and black pepper.
- Add soaked and drained beans + 1/2 cup water and mix well. Cover with a lid and heat on low for 4 hours, stirring after 2 hours and if necessary, adding more liquid to loosen up. Once beans are tender and sauce is thick, serve.
- Canned baked beans with ground beef – Brown meat in a pan, drain and add into pot. Pour in baked beans and stir together with 1/3 cup water or beef broth. Cook on low for 1-4 hours stirring halfway thru checking liquid content adding a bit more if necessary. Cook time depends on your preference of tenderness, how much time you have and how deep you want the flavors to become, longer is better.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
