Quick BBQ & Bacon Baked Beans, 3 points+

Happy Sunday all!  Yesterday as we got settled back into life, The Husband decided to bust out the BBQ and get his grill on.  As we pondered sides to have with our grill out, we both wanted Brown Sugar Baked Beans.  The recipe might just be the quickest and easiest baked beans you will ever make from scratch as in less than 30 minutes using what you have on hand.

After scouring the cabinet and freezer to see if we had any canned baked beans because let’s be honest (I wasn’t using my dried beans!), I realized we had 3 choices.  Skip it, drive to the store to get some premade baked beans or come up with my own quick version using canned northern white beans. 

I decided to venture out and make up my own quick from scratch version using bbq sauce, molasses, a little turkey bacon for smokiness, creamy white beans, onion, fresh bell pepper and jalapeno for a crunchy peppery kick.

The result ~ the entire pan disappeared and everyone thought these quick beans were made from scratch simmering away all day long.

QUICK BARBECUED BAKED BEANS (print it!)

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 Tbsp Olive Oil or Butter
• 1 onion, diced
• 1/2 cup bell pepper, diced
• 1 jalapeno, seeded and diced
• 3 slices turkey bacon, diced
• 30 oz white or pinto beans, drained and rinsed (2 cans)
• 2 Tbsp Molasses
• 1/2 cup barbecue sauce
• 1 Tbsp tomato paste
• 2 Tbsp brown sugar
• a few dashes of Worcestershire sauce and hot sauce

INSTRUCTIONS:

1.  In a medium sauce pan, melt the butter or olive oil over medium heat.  Add the onion, bell pepper, jalapeno and bacon.  Cook until slightly softened, about 5 minutes.

2.  Add the remaining ingredients (beans through hot sauce), stir, reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes.

Makes 10 servings, 1/2 cup each, points+ per serving

Nutritional information per serving calculated at caloriecount.com

STEP – BY – STEP:

While the sauce pan preheats and the butter melts, chop your veggies.  You do not need to add the jalapeno, but, I liked the slightly spicy kick it added. 

TIP: You can reduce the heat on a jalapeno by removing all the seeds and membrane as that is where the heat sits.  It also helps to look for peppers that do not have brown lines on them as the brown lines indicate that they are spicy.

Add the veggies plus bacon to the pan and cook until softened, about 5 minutes.

Add the remaining ingredients, stir and simmer away for 15 minutes.

Tadah!  From Scratch (sorta) baked beans in under 30 minutes.

The husband worked on everything else while I prepared the side ~ team work!

His simple grilled pork chops topped with sea salt, black pepper and a little bbq spice.

The first super sweet corn of the season! I am so excited that Farmer’s Market season starts this week!

All together with beautiful salads a la The Husband too!  He totally decorated it like this just for you all to see it

Quick Bacon Baked Beans ~ what’s not to love?!  I am totally making these again.

Thank you all for being so patient during the past few weeks ~ life has been crazy and busy, but, it felt so great to get back in the kitchen.  I am honestly hoping this week settles down to some form of normalcy ~ I cannot wait to get back in my groove.

See you all tomorrow with my back on track, tracker day 1 and this week’s menu!

Night all!