Southwestern Baked Beans

These are hands down the best ever, EVER baked beans I have tasted. And they weren't difficult to make either. Recently I was asked to bring some baked beans to a family BBQ. Typically, I am a big fan of the baked beans recipe in the Lion House Cookbook, but due to a recent move all my cookbooks are still boxed up in the garage somewhere. So... in light of that I resorted to one of my favorite online recipe sites, The Pioneer Woman. Ree Drummond never fails me! I only adjusted the recipe slightly. This is now my new favorite recipe for baked beans. They are perfect for all those BBQ's and summer picnics, enjoy and eat away!


10 slices of bacon, cooked and cut into 1 inch pieces
1 medium onion, diced small
1/2 of a green pepper, diced small
3 large cans {28 ounces each} baked beans {I used Bush's, but any brand will do}

Sauce:
3/4 cup barbecue sauce
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup cider vinegar
2 tsp. dry mustard
3-4 shakes of liquid smoke

Heat oven to 325 degrees. Fry the bacon in a deep, large saute pan until bacon has released about 1/4 cup drippings. Remove bacon from pan and drain on paper towels. Add onions and pepper to drippings in pan and and saute until tender, about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, mix all the sauce ingredients in a separate mixing bowl. Add beans and all remaining ingredients to the pan and simmer. Pour beans into a greased 9 x 13 inch ovenproof pan. Bake until beans are bubbly and the sauce has the consistency of pancake syrup, about 2 hours. Let stand to thicken slightly and serve.

Recipe Source: adapted slightly from The Pioneer Woman.