Slow Cooker BBQ Baked Beans

Slow cooker BBQ baked beans are a favorite side dish of mine! I’m a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community, and I created this baked beans recipe post as part of a social shopper amplification for #CollectiveBias and its advertiser. I was compensated, but all thoughts and opinions stated here are my own.

Slow Cooker BBQ Baked Beans and Chicago Style

It’s time to #StartYourGrill and fill your grill with delicious sausage recipes, and make my Slow Cooker BBQ Baked Beans to go with them!

You’ll probably want to pull out your best grilling recipes after you read this post. Trust me on this, gang, because there’s not much better than a great day of cooking on the grill. I’ve got the perfect side dish for whatever you’re planning to cook up out there, too.

Just take a look at these slow cooker BBQ baked beans, and try not to drool onto your keyboard.

I lived in the northwest suburbs of Chicago for about 8 years, and that’s when I fell in lusty love with Chicago style hot dogs. When served with the authentic toppings of yellow mustard, diced onion, sweet pickle relish, tomato slices, a dill pickle spear, sport peppers, and the ever important sprinkle of celery salt, the masterpiece was known as being “dragged through the garden”.

Incidentally, under no circumstances, should a Chicago style hot dog have ketchup on or near it!

I don’t eat hot dogs very often, but I bought Hillshire Farm American Craft sausages at Walmart last week. I thought it would be delicious to dress one up, Chicago style, and I was right.

For the tastiest results, serve the dogs in steamed poppy seed hot dog buns, with a side of slow cooker BBQ baked beans!

Hillshire Farm American Craft Sausages at Walmart in Appleton Wisconsin

I looked for poppy seed hot dog buns, but couldn’t find any, so I bought whole grain buns instead.  The sausages are precooked, so a quick run over the hot grill is all that’s needed to prep them. Easy peasy!

Making Chicago style hot dogs is a messy business, and apparently, they aren’t very photogenic.  I want to give you a glimpse of them anyway, though. I hope you’ll be inspired to cook up a couple of dogs, and hopefully, they’ll sit up pretty on your plate and smile for the camera!

Slow Cooker BBQ Baked Beans and Chicago Style

The sweet pickle relish is hiding underneath the tomatoes, but trust me, it’s there.  I LOVE sweet pickle relish!  Oh, and I couldn’t find sport peppers at the store, either. My poor functioning gastric system is probably all the healthier for that.

This is a photo of my delicious ingredient line-up, or rather, most of it.  The diced onions and the celery salt are hiding.

American Craft Garlic and Onion Sausages, from Hillshire Farm

I’ve been aching to make slow cooker BBQ baked beans from scratch for a long time. Choosing to make a slower cooker version is smart, because it allows for resting and relaxation on the cook’s part. In my case, relaxation was the name of the game. Beans are the perfect partner for sausages, because they go together like bread and butter.  The depth of flavor you get with slow cooking them is amazing.

I didn’t have a recipe of my own to use, so I asked my friends on Facebook for links to their recipes. I figured that they’d come through for me, and I was right!  My friend Mary shared two recipes of hers, and I ended up adapting this recipe. I love the flavors that she uses, and it adapts well to a slow cooker, too.

Slow Cooker BBQ Baked Beans and Chicago Style #AmericanCraft Sausage Recipes #StartYourGrill #shop

These slow cooker BBQ baked beans are the bomb dot com!
It is so awesome to transform a bag of dried beans into such a delicious side dish!  Please give the recipe a try, and if you do, use the comments below to let me know what you think of it.

I would love for you to share your favorite grilling recipes with me in the comments below, too.

Enjoy this slow cooker BBQ baked beans recipe!

Slow Cooker BBQ Baked Beans from ItsYummi.com #StartYourGrill #shop

Slow Cooker BBQ Baked Beans Recipe

Cooked low and slow, these slow cooker BBQ baked beans are smokey, with just a tinge of sweetness, and loaded with bacon and delicious spices.
4.80 from 5 votes
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 7 hours
soaking time 10 hours
Total Time 7 hours 10 minutes
Course Side Dish
Cuisine American
Servings 12
Calories 333 kcal

Ingredients
  

  • 3 cups dried navy beans (or other white beans)
  • 9 cups hot water
  • 1 ham hock
  • 4 slices thick cut bacon diced
  • 1 large onion diced
  • 2 teaspoons salt optional, depending on how salty your pork products are
  • 1 Tablespoon black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon mustard powder
  • ¼ cup molasses
  • ¼ cup brown sugar
  • 1 cup tomato sauce
  • 1.5 cups water
  • ½ cup BBQ sauce
  • 2 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 teaspoon liquid smoke optional

Instructions
 

  • Place dried beans onto a rimmed baking sheet. Sort through and discard any pebbles or broken beans. Place beans into a large pot and cover with at least 9 cups of water (more if your pot will allow it). Soak dried beans for 8 to 12 hours.
  • After soaking beans, drain water, rinse beans, and place them into a large (6-quart or larger) slow cooker. Tuck the ham hock into the center of the beans, then add the onion and bacon.
  • In a large bowl, combine hot water, salt, pepper, mustard, molasses, brown sugar, tomato sauce, BBQ sauce, Worcestershire and liquid smoke. Stir to combine, then pour contents over the beans.
  • Cook beans in the slow cooker on low power for 4 hours, then increase to high and cook for an additional 3 hours. Test beans for softness. If additional time is needed, cook on high until beans are completely softened, but not mushy.

Nutrition

Serving: 0.5cupCalories: 333kcalCarbohydrates: 49gProtein: 16gFat: 8gSaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 19mgSodium: 770mgPotassium: 931mgFiber: 13gSugar: 17gVitamin A: 120IUVitamin C: 2.8mgCalcium: 118mgIron: 4mg
Tried this recipe? Mention @itsyummi or tag #itsyummirecipe!
Slow Cooker BBQ Baked Beans Recipe, from itsyummi.com

15 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    I love baked beans. I start with a jar and “doctor them up” and slow cook them in the oven. I really need to try them from scratch.
    I think it’s so great that we can put out a request on social media and get so many options in response.

  2. Just had to say I absolutely love your blog – your recipes always look divine and provide great inspiration for when I’m standing in front of the fridge, hungry, with no idea of what to cook! I truly look to you as an inspiration in the world of blogging! Keep up the amazing work! x

    1. Oh, Sophie! Thank you so very much for your sweet comment. I’ve been feeling sort of down lately, wondering if there are really people out there who make and enjoy my recipes, and whether or not this job that I love so much is in fact the one I’m meant to be doing. It’s readers like you that keep my spirit so well fed that I simply MUST continue! May God bless you, Sophie <3

      1. I firmly believe that if you are passionate about something and it makes you happy, then definitely persist! I have always wanted to write a blog, but kept convincing myself out of it, until very recently when I decided to take the plunge. Writing is my passion, and even if no one reads it, at least I know I am being true to myself and doing what makes me happy! Please keep going – if it weren’t for you I never would have found your quinoa chickpea patties!

  3. I’ll be honest, Chef Bec. Even though I grew up in the South, baked beans were never my thing. They were at staple at picnics every summer, and I just couldn’t get behind them. Then one day it all changed…they say our taste buds change every 7 years…and mine definitely did. Now I can’t get enough of them! Your recipe looks absolutely delicious…I love the before/after pic, too. So fun! Thanks for sharing!

    1. Oh my gosh…I never heard that our tastebuds change every 7 years! It makes perfect sense, because I just started loving some of the foods that I despised a few years ago, like beets and Brussels sprouts!
      If they’re not cooked low and slow to develop flavor, I think baked beans can be completely boring. They also taste disgusting when they’re overcooked! There’s a fine line T o perfecting them, that’s for sure!

  4. This sounds so good! I always manage to overcook my beans in the crockpot, so I will definitely try your cooking method the next time.

  5. Baked beans are my favorite thing to make in the slow cooker. I love how versatile they are. Your recipe sounds delish..Ill be trying it this weekend

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