Summer is officially here! Bring on the steaks, pasta salad, potato salad, fruit salad (ALL THE SALADS!) corn on the cob, Dirt Cake, and Crock Pot Baked Beans. No summer get together is complete without baked beans and cooking them in the crock pot has been a total revelation! There’s no way I’m turning the oven on to bake my standard baked bean recipe for 2 hours in this weather – not when I can contain the heat in a crock pot and let it do the cooking for me.
Crock Pot Baked Beans
This baked bean recipe is essentially the crock pot version of my Mom famous Baked Beans. It’s extra meaty, calling for both Polish Kielbasa (one of my love languages,) and bacon, and lightly sweetened with brown sugar. The mix of savory and sweet is SO good! This recipe is also great for a crowd because it makes a ton of baked beans and is portable. Slow cook then take to a friend’s house for a BBQ, or transfer straight from the base to the table at your own get-together. No matter what, you’ll love the rich and sassy, perfectly sweet and tangy taste of these delicious and summery baked beans!
How to Make This Recipe
Start by adding 14oz gluten-free Polish Kielbasa (I like Johnsonville brand which is GF,) and 4 slices bacon that have been chopped to a large skillet with 1 large shallot or 1 small onion that’s been chopped. Turn the heat to medium then saute until the bacon is cooked through but not super crisp, 10-12 minutes.
Pour everything (bacon fat and all – hello, flavor!) into the bottom of a 6-quart crock pot then add two 28oz cans baked beans, 1/4 cup ketchup, 2 Tablespoons brown sugar (or more if you like your baked beans super sweet,) and 1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce then stir everything to combine. You can do this a day ahead of time so all you have to do is place the crock into the base and turn it on the day you’re going to eat. Great time saver!
I’ve liked Bush’s Best Vegetarian Baked Beans for years and years. Obviously, I’m not vegetarian, but this particular brand/variety is gluten-free and not tooth-achingly sweet. That said, you can use whatever you like.
Place a lid on top of the crock pot then cook on low for six hours. Remove the lid to let the liquid thicken up for 10 minutes or so then scoop and serve with all your cookout favorites. Hope you enjoy this easy summer side dish!
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