Root Beer Baked Beans

Hello Summer! What took you so long?

I hope all of you are outside grilling or cooking in the kitchen for a barbeque! This weekend I made my favorite baked beans recipe for a neighborhood weenie roast.

Or well, I thought it was my favorite recipe until I ran across a baked bean recipe from The Pioneer Woman. It was similar to mine in that she used cans of baked beans instead starting with dry beans and soaking them. I thought I was the only one who doctored cans of baked beans. I was too embarrassed to tell anyone.

I’m now coming out of the closet. If the Pioneer Woman can do it, so can I!

I liked that she used green peppers in the beans and placed the bacon on top of the casserole instead of chopped pieces in the beans.

I merged the best of both recipes and achieved perfection!

Start by frying up 5-6 slices of bacon cut in half in a skillet. I like the thick, peppery center cut bacon. Cook the bacon just until the fat is rendered into the pan. Drain on paper towels.

Keeping the fat in the skillet, saute 1 chopped onion and 1 chopped green pepper until soft.

Add one 28 oz. can baked beans to the skillet to pick up the bacon goodies stuck to the bottom of the pan.

Spray an 11 x 13 casserole with Pam or cooking spray and add the beans and veggies. Add an additional 2 more 28 oz. cans of baked beans (I like Bush’s beans) in the casserole.

In a separate bowl, mix 3/4 cup barbeque sauce (I like Sugar Ray’s sweet and spicy barbeque sauce), 2 tbs. Dijon mustard, 1/4 tsp. Tabasco sauce, 1/4 cup cider vinegar….

and….(drum roll, please!)

1/2 cup root beer! (not diet)

Pour the mixture in with the beans, onions and peppers. Mix well.

Top it off with the bacon slices and bake in a 325 degree oven for about two hours.

Happy Cookout!

Printable recipe here.