Cowboy Beans

This cowboy beans recipe is made with ground beef and bacon, all baked together in a sweet and savory sauce. A hearty side dish that pairs perfectly with grilled meats and seafood.

Course Side

Cuisine American

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 2 20

Total Time 2 30

Servings

Calories 365kcal

Author Sara Goldstein

Ingredients

8 slices bacon cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 pound ground beef I use 90% lean
1/2 cup onion finely diced
3 15 ounce cans pork and beans partially drained
3 tablespoons yellow mustard
3 tablespoons brown sugar
3 tablespoons molasses
1/3 cup ketchup
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon fresh parsley leaves chopped
cooking spray
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Coat a 2 quart baking dish with cooking spray.
Cook the bacon in a skillet over medium heat until partially done. Remove the bacon from the pan.
Pour some of the bacon fat out of the pan, leaving about 1 tablespoon of fat in the pan. Add the ground beef and cook for 5-6 minutes, breaking up the meat into fine crumbles with a spoon.
Add the onion to the pan and cook for 3-5 minutes or until translucent. Season the onions with salt and pepper to taste.
Add the beans, mustard, brown sugar, molasses, ketchup and apple cider vinegar to the pan. Stir until well combined.
Pour the bean mixture into the prepared dish. Layer the pieces of bacon all over the top.
Bake for 60-90 minutes or until bean mixture has thickened and bacon is browned and cooked through. Stir to combine.
Sprinkle with parsley, then serve immediately.

Video

Notes

I recommend using kitchen shears to cut the bacon into squares, it makes quick work of this task.
I typically use 90% lean ground beef, it has plenty of flavor without a lot of excess grease. If you use 80% lean beef you should drain the grease after cooking the meat.
I like to finely crumble the ground beef so that it mixes in nicely with the beans. If you prefer larger sized pieces of meat, that's totally fine too!

Nutrition