My mama’s Baked Beans is made with just six simple ingredients plus you can literally prep the entire recipe in minutes. They bake up into a sweet, thickened, seasoned side dish that no barbecue menu can be without. This is the recipe that’s gonna grab all the compliments without all the dang on work! Thanks to my Mississippi mama for passing it along! Serve them up with rib tips, potato salad and peach cobbler for the perfect summer cookout.
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Ingredients You Need to Make BBQ Baked Beans

- Vegetarian Canned Baked Beans: We like to use Bush’s but grab your fave here. Pinto or black beans also can be used as a replacement.
- Light Brown Sugar: None around? Make your own brown sugar with granulated sugar and molasses.
- Finely Diced Onion: Yellow or sweet is fine. Shallots also work.
- Finely Diced Green Pepper: Replace with yellow or red peppers.
- Barbecue Sauce: We grab Sweet Baby Ray’s but grab your fave or use a homemade one like this chipotle bbq sauce.
- Yellow Mustard: Dijon or whole grain mustard can be used too.
How to Make Baked Beans
Step 1: Prep the Beans
- Preheat that oven to a toasty 375 degrees then grab your fave casserole dish and pour your vegetarian baked beans into it.
- Now, dive into the fun part! Throw in the brown sugar, onion, green pepper, barbecue sauce, and yellow mustard.

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Step 2: Mix and Bake!
- Mix it up until everything’s friendly with each other. It should be well combined y’all.
- Bake the bbq baked beans uncovered for about 60 minutes. It should have some good bubblin action.
- Next, pull those sizzling beans out, give ’em a good stir, and let them rest for about 10 minutes. They should be piping hot and full of flavor!


Mama’s Southern Baked Beans Recipe
Made with ingredients like brown sugar, aromatics, and barbecue sauce, my Mama's Southern Baked Beans are smoky and sweet in all the best ways.
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Servings: 8 servings
Ingredients
- 2 (28 oz) cans vegetarian baked beans my mom uses Bush's Beans
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar packed
- 1/4 cup very finely diced onion
- 1/4 cup very finely diced green pepper
- 2 tbsp barbecue sauce use your fave
- 1 tsp yellow mustard
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
- Pour beans into a large casserole dish.
- Mix in brown sugar, onion, green pepper, barbecue sauce and yellow mustard until combined.
- Bake uncovered at 60 minutes or until super bubbly.
- Stir beans together, rest for 10 minutes then serve.
Notes
If you want to add ground beef, simply season, crumble and cook it then drain and add to your bean mixture before baking.
Storage and Reheating
- Fridge: Let those beans cool to room temp then scoop them into airtight containers and pop in the fridge. They should keep for about 4-5 days.
- Freezer: Just add the room temp baked bean recipe to freezer-safe containers the same way. They should keep up to 3 months.
- Reheating: Thaw in the fridge overnight if frozen then reheat in an oven-safe dish with a foil cover at 350 F degrees for about 20-30 minutes until they are bubbly again. If you gotta speed up the process, pop in a microwave safe container into the microwave for about 2-4 minutes, stirring halfway through to keep the cooking even.
Nutrition
Calories: 63kcal | Carbohydrates: 16g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 57mg | Potassium: 44mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 15g | Vitamin A: 27IU | Vitamin C: 4mg | Calcium: 13mg | Iron: 1mg
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Recipe Tips
- Grab Quality Ingredients: Because there are just 6 simple ingredients, quality really matters. Grab quality bbq sauce and mustard y’all.
- Test Doneness: You are looking for bubbling action with the beans being tender but not mushy in the end.
- Rest Before Serving: Give the beans about 10 minutes to rest and set up and thicken letting those flavors really settle before serving it up y’all.

Perfect: not too sweet, Bush Vegetarian Beans, a little barbecue sauce and mustard, what more could you ask for in baked beans? And my vegetarian granddaughter is going to love them! My preference is for bean and vegetable dishes to stand on their own. Keep meat separate!!!