Smokin' Hot

Since the 4th of July is next week, I thought I'd share a recipe I first made a couple of years ago for my family's Independence Day celebration.  It's an easy way to add heat to the meal without the fire.

When I think of barbecue, I think of a pulled pork sandwich piled high on a bun and topped with coleslaw.  Or, barbecue spaghetti sauce ladled on a plate of hot cooked spaghetti.  Or, something I make at home, barbecue chicken breasts that have been cooked in the crock-pot.  Barbecue isn't just for entrees though.  It makes a great addition to baked beans.

Barbecue Baked Beans are similar to the Easy Stove Top Beans recipe I posted a couple of years ago.  They use a lot of the same ingredients, but have different cooking methods.

The most notable difference is stove top beans use pork and beans, while barbecue baked beans use baked beans.  Sometimes the terms are used interchangeably, but there is a difference between the two.  Canned pork and beans are lighter in color and are made with white beans, tomato sauce and, surprisingly, very little pork.  Canned baked beans are made with additional ingredients which not only gives them a darker color, but makes them sweeter and thicker too.

Both recipes start by cooking bacon and using the grease to saute chopped onion.  Once the onion is sauteed 

and drained,

the baked beans 

are combined with barbecue sauce (this takes the place of the vinegar and catsup used in the easy stove top beans)

brown sugar,

the sauteed onion 

and crumbled bacon.

Put the mixture in a greased baking dish and bake until heated through, 20 to 30 minutes.

The recipe can be doubled or even tripled, but you might not want to double or triple the barbecue sauce.  It depends on how spicy you want the finished dish.

The barbecue sauce will make the beans smokin' hot.  If that's too much heat for you, check back in a couple of days for a tasty way to cool off your taste buds.

Barbecue Baked Beans

4 Servings

3 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled

2 Tbsp. chopped onion

1 (16 oz.) can baked beans
3/4 cup barbecue sauce

2 Tbsp. packed brown sugar

Saute onion in bacon grease; drain.  Thoroughly combine all ingredients. Put mixture in a greased casserole dish.  Bake at 350° until heated through, 20 to 30 minutes.

© Margaret's Morsels