This is one of my oldest and favorite recipes, and if you’ve ever wondered how to make baked beans, then this is the recipe for you. It’s a vintage recipe, for sure, taken from one of my mother’s old church cookbooks. It’s about as good as good can get! These baked beans are meaty, saucy, sweet, tangy, and oh-so-good!

How to Make Baked Beans

I love baked beans, but I don’t love making them from dried beans. Instead, I take a few shortcuts using canned baked beans. A few other ingredients, some tasty ground turkey, and before long, you’ve got cooked-all-day-flavor ready to eat in under an hour.

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How to make baked beans

This recipe for baked beans is so versatile! You bake them in a 9×13-inch baking dish so they make enough to feed a small crowd. I love them for summer BBQs, homey winter meals, and every other time during the year. They’re a great pick for potlucks and holiday parties, because you can keep them warm in a Crock Pot or slow cooker.

Read more: How to Make Baked Beans
dishing up baked beans

I have such great memories of these baked beans. My mother would make them when I was growing up, and I’d serve them to my own kids. I would even make an extra batch to send with them when they went back to college. 

Looking for perfect baked beans? This is my favorite recipe, and I’m sure it’ll become one of yours, too!

baked beans with meat

Why I love this recipe

  • It’s meaty, saucy, sweet, tangy, and loaded with flavor.
  • This is an easy recipe to make, and you get a slowly cooked all-day flavor in under an hour.
  • These baked beans are the perfect side dish, but they’re also a meaty main dish, and they taste even better the next day!
baked beans ingredients

Gather these ingredients

  • Ground turkey – You’ll need 1 pound of lean ground turkey.
  • Onion – Use white or yellow onion.
  • Bell pepper – I like orange or yellow bell peppers in this recipe. Remove the seeds and finely chop them.
  • Canned baked beans – You’ll need 2 22-ounce cans. Use your favorite brand of baked beans.
  • Barbecue sauce 
  • Ketchup
  • Yellow mustard
  • Worcestershire sauce
  • Soy sauce
  • Brown sugar
  • Bacon – You’ll need 6-8 slices of cooked and crumbled bacon.
How to Make Baked Beans step by step

How to make the best baked beans

  1. Preheat your oven to 350-F and spray a 9×13-inch casserole dish with nonstick cooking spray.
  2. Cook the ground turkey, diced onion, and chopped bell pepper in a large skillet for about 5 minutes or until the turkey is no longer pink inside. Break it up with a meat chopper as you cook.
  3. Add the canned baked beans, barbecue sauce, ketchup, yellow mustard, Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, and brown sugar to the skillet and mix well.
  4. Simmer the meat and bean mixture for about 5 minutes.
  5. Transfer the mixture to the prepared 9×13-inch baking dish and sprinkle the crumbled bacon over the top.
  6. Cover with foil and bake for about 35 minutes, then remove the foil and bake for an additional 10 minutes.
  7. Serve and enjoy!
a spoonful of beans

Tips & substitutions

  • You can use other ground meats in this baked beans recipe. Try it with ground beef, pork, chicken, or even sausage.
  • To make ahead of time, prepare the dish up to baking it, then pop it into the fridge. Just bake before serving, but you’ll need to add a few minutes to the baking time if it goes from the fridge to the oven.
  • Use your favorite barbecue sauce in this recipe, but if your sauce is sweet, reduce the sugar by half until you can taste the beans. Add more of the brown sugar if you like your baked beans on the sweet side.
serving hot bean recipe

Serving suggestions

These easy baked beans go with everything! I love them as a side with sandwiches, burgers, hot dogs, and anything grilled. They’re fabulous with pulled pork and anything off the smoker.  

Storage

Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days. You can also freeze these baked beans. Package them in a freezer-safe container and freeze them for up to a month.

How to Make Baked Beans with protein

Check out these awesome bean recipes while you’re here

Baked Beans

How to Make Baked Beans
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How to make Baked Beans

If you’ve ever wondered how to make baked beans, this recipe is for you! They’re meaty, saucy, and delish from start to finish!
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Total Time: 55 minutes
Yield: 12 servings
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Ingredients
 

  • 1 lb. ground turkey
  • 1 medium onion, finely chopped
  • 1 sweet orange or yellow bell pepper, cored, seeded, and finely chopped
  • 2 22 oz. cans of Grillin’ Beans
  • ½ cup barbecue sauce
  • ½ cup ketchup
  • 2 Tbsp. yellow mustard
  • 2 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 Tbsp. soy sauce
  • 4 Tbsp. brown sugar
  • 6-8 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled (optional)

Instructions
 

  • Preheat the oven to 350. Spray a 9×13 pan or casserole dish with nonstick cooking spray.
  • In a large frying pan, brown the ground turkey, onion and pepper for about 5 minutes.
  • Add the pork and beans and all of the other ingredients (except bacon). Simmer for 5 minutes.
  • Transfer the prepared mixture to the 9×13 dish. Crumble the bacon on top and cover with foil.
  • Bake for 35 minutes; remove the foil and bake another 10 minutes. Serve & enjoy!

Notes

Reposted from July 2013.
Cuisine: American
Course: Side Dish
Calories: 148kcal, Carbohydrates: 15g, Protein: 11g, Fat: 5g, Saturated Fat: 2g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 2g, Trans Fat: 0.02g, Cholesterol: 28mg, Sodium: 436mg, Potassium: 256mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 12g, Vitamin A: 406IU, Vitamin C: 14mg, Calcium: 19mg, Iron: 1mg
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