Baked beans are a classic side dish for any barbecue. They pair well with smoked brisket, pulled pork, and ribs.

Most baked beans recipes will require soaking dry beans for hours then simmering all of the ingredients together for a few hours more. While the time and effort will be worth it, not everyone has time for that! This easy baked beans recipe will bring you some sweet, savory beans in only one hour!

Full Video – Easy Baked Beans

https://youtu.be/IkCDUcnI2Ow?si=3u6LD49qwMqd5960

Ingredients for Easy Baked Beans Recipe

• Baked beans – sounds ironic, but we are adding our own flavors to it!
• Bacon
• Yellow onion
• Garlic
• Ketchup
• Brown sugar
• Apple cider vinegar
• Maple syrup
• Chili powder
• Salt
• Pepper
• Ground mustard

Why Use Cans of Baked Beans?

Traditional baked beans recipes call dried white beans, such as navy beans or cannellini. The process calls for soaking the beans for hours, then simmering with other ingredients for a few hours more.

Using canned baked beans, such as Bush’s Baked Beans, expedite the cooking process for BBQ baked beans. Combining with the other ingredients listed in the section above, we add our own flavors and make it better!

First Things First…

Before we start prepping ingredients, get the grill preheated to 350 degrees over indirect heat. Any smoking wood will go well with BBQ baked beans, but I’m going with hickory. Depending on the type of grill you’re using, it should take up to 30 minutes to get to temp.

Cooking Bacon and Onions

In a large cast iron skillet or a Dutch oven, cook three strips of diced bacon over medium heat. After two or three minutes, add in one diced yellow onion. Cook these two together until the onion pieces become translucent in appearance. Season with 1 1/2 teaspoons of chili powder, half teaspoon salt, half teaspoon pepper, and half teaspoon of ground mustard.

Once this happens, add in two cloves of minced garlic. We want to add garlic near the end as to not burn it. We want the garlic to still be fragrant and permeate into the easy baked beans recipe. Cook for another minute and then drain grease from pan.

Getting Saucy

To make a sauce for our BBQ baked beans, we are going to bring some more ingredients into the skillet. Start by adding in a half cup of ketchup and half cup of brown sugar. Add in two tablespoons of apple cider vinegar and one tablespoon of maple syrup. Mix these ingredients together and turn up the heat to medium high. Let ingredients rise to a simmer for three to five minutes.

Bring on the Beans

Pour in two cans of drained baked beans and stir until mixed together well. You’ll notice the difference in color between the brown baked beans and the red sauce we just made. This shows we are definitely adding our own flavors to the beans.

How Long Do I Smoke Baked Beans?

Now that all of the ingredients have been combined, take the skillet (or Dutch oven) out to the grill. These will cook for 40 minutes at 350 degrees. Stir once during the cooking process as desired.

Once the 40 minutes are up, you’ll notice a deeper mahogany color to this dish. The consistency of the smoked baked beans will be less runny and now more thick. Remove from the grill and start serving up! But make sure to let cool for a minute or two before eating.

How Long are Easy Baked Beans Good For?

When stored in a sealed container, the BBQ baked beans will be good for up to five days. The beauty about baked beans is that they reheat very well. They even taste good cold!

Other BBQ Sides to Try

Smoked Mac and Cheese

Green Beans w/Bacon and Onion

Southern Corn Pudding

Grilled Elotes

Grilled Sweet Potatoes

Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Easy Baked Beans Recipe

This smoked pork belly recipe is an absolute must try for any BBQ lover! This pork belly brisket uses simple ingredients and cooks in less time than the traditional beef brisket. As a bonus, it also costs less. Let me show you the process.

Watch the Video!

https://youtu.be/2rQS1ykhFwI

Ingredients Needed

Here’s all you need for this easy recipe:

• Pork belly (about 3-5 lbs.)
• Kosher salt
• Pepper (medium mesh)
• Apple juice
• Apple cider vinegar
• Beef Tallow (optional)

Can You Smoke Pork Belly Like a Brisket?

You absolutely can smoke pork belly like a brisket. It has great flavor and cooks in less time. Pork belly is also more affordable than beef brisket, which less time and less cost makes this more desirable to make.

Did you know that pork belly is where bacon comes from? Knowing this makes this cut more desirable!

Do You Need to Brine Pork Belly Before Smoking?

While it is necessary to brine pork belly when making bacon, it is not required for smoking like a brisket. We don’t brine beef brisket before smoking, so same rules apply with pork.

Getting Started

The pork belly should be around three to five pounds. Some stores sell them this way while others, like Costco, sell the full slab. A full slab will be around 10 pounds.

If you have a full slab, cut out the center portion, leaving two ends. The center will have the highest ratio of meat to fat. Save the two ends for other recipes like pork belly burnt ends or bacon.

Prep the pork belly by scoring the fat on top. Lay the meat on the cutting board fat side up, take a sharp knife and make a diagonal cut across the fat about 1/4 inch deep. Repeat this every couple of inches.

Once all of those cuts are made, make additional cuts on top in the opposite direction. When done, scoring the fat will give it a checkerboard look.

How to Season

Since we are cooking pork belly brisket, it makes sense to season it like a brisket. For this pork belly recipe, I’m using an equal mix of kosher salt and medium mesh black pepper. Apply a light to moderate amount of seasoning as the larger granules will produce more flavor. Season all sides equally.

When it comes to binders, such as mustard, mayonnaise, or olive oil, I prefer to skip it. It’s not necessary and doesn’t add much flavor. Unless you’re using hot sauce or even BBQ sauce. Sweet and spicy flavors will stand out.

Cooking on the Smoker

With the grill preheated to 250 degrees over indirect heat, place the seasoned pork belly on the grill grates fat side up. This allows the fat to render into the meat, producing more flavor in each bite.

Spritz the meat once an hour with a mix of equal parts apple juice and apple cider vinegar. This will help prevent the outside of the meat from drying out.

When it comes to smoking woods, pork lends itself very well to all sorts of fruit woods and hard woods. Fruit woods such as cherry, apple, or peach give off sweet, mild flavors. Hard woods like oak, maple, and hickory are rich and savory and help the natural flavor of the meat stand out. With that said, I use a blend of cherry and hickory with smoked pork belly.

Should You Wrap Pork Belly When Smoking?

Wrapping smoked pork belly with pink butcher paper helps trap some additional heat while allowing some air flow. Also known as the “Texas crutch”, this helps the meat cook faster and push it past the “stall”.

The stall happens when meat reaches a point that it starts to “sweat” and cool itself down. This means the meat is regulating its own temp and stops progressing. This can take an hour or two to get past. Wrapping helps meat cook faster.

When wrapping, pull meat off the grill when it hits an internal temp of around 165 degrees. Wrap in pink butcher paper is preferred, but foil works too. Keep in mind when wrapping in foil that the meat will cook faster and texture will be soggy. If wrapping in foil, remove it near the end of the cook to let the outside of the meat develop that bark-like texture.

How Long Does it Take to Smoke Pork Belly?

All in all, it will take around six hours to fully smoke pork belly like a brisket. When it comes to barbecue, it is best to go off of temperature, not time. The internal temperature we are looking for the meat to be at is 202 degrees.

Resting and Slicing

Resting meat is important as it allows the the food to finish cooking internally and let those savory meat juices build up inside. Slicing too early will allow all of that flavor to run out. Rest the smoked pork belly in a cooler for about an hour before removing.

Cut the pork belly brisket into pencil thin slices. Make sure to slice against the grain. In this case, it should look like you’re slicing bacon.

Similar Recipes to Try

Smoked Beef Brisket

BBQ Maple Pork Belly Burnt Ends

Texas Style Spare Ribs

Hot n’ Fast Pulled Pork

Smoked Brisket Pastrami

Smoked St. Louis Style Ribs

Pickles have grown in even more popularity recently and the fried pickle dip recipe is now the perfect dip to try! This easy pickle dip recipe stands out as it uses smoked cream cheese, ranch seasoning, and bacon. And dill pickles, of course (amongst other things).

Ingredients for Fried Pickle Dip Recipe

Here’s what dill pickle dip is made of:

• Dill pickles
• Pickle brine (or pickle juice)
• Bacon
• Ranch seasoning
• Cream cheese
• Mayonnaise
• Crushed pretzels
• Butter (or bacon grease)
• Dill

Pickle Dip Recipe Video!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HN9U_YMtas

How Do I Smoke Cream Cheese?

One of the key ingredients in this easy recipe is smoked cream cheese. You may be wondering how to make smoked cream cheese, but know that it’s super simple! Simply take an 8 ounce brick of cream cheese and place on a small baking sheet.

Score the top of the cream cheese with cuts about 1/4 inch deep. Season with your favorite BBQ rub and smoke at 225 degrees for up to two hours. That’s it!

Smoked cream cheese also makes a great appetizer that stands on it’s own. It can be sweet or savory. I have a smoked cream cheese recipe with pepper jelly that is a must try!

Bacon and Pretzel Crumbs

While the cream cheese is being smoked, prep the bacon by cooking four strips in a skillet over medium heat. Cook until desired doneness, which for me is a little crispy. Remove bacon from the skillet and dice into small pieces, but leave the bacon grease! We’ll use it to toast the half cup of pretzel crumbs, which make up the “fried” portion of this fried pickle dip recipe.

If you don’t have two tablespoons worth of bacon grease, then use two tablespoons of butter. Cook the pretzel crumbs at medium low heat for 5 to 10 minutes. A lot of recipes call for panko bread crumbs, but I like the crushed pretzels toasted in bacon grease. You can substitute panko bread crumbs instead.

Prepping the Dill Pickles

Take four dill pickles and dice them up into small pieces, between a fourth inch to half inch. To do that, cut each dill pickle spear longways in half. Then cut the mushy, seedy part off from the middle. This will help you cut each half pickle spear into another half. Dice and set aside.

Bringing the Easy Dill Pickle Dip Recipe All Together

In a small mixing bowl, place smoked cream cheese, diced dill pickles, bacon, and most of the pretzel crumbs inside. Now add in the rest of the wet ingredients: a cup of mayonnaise and three tablespoons of pickle brine.

For dry ingredients, add two tablespoons of ranch seasoning and two teaspoons of fresh dill. Note: you can use freeze dried dill instead of fresh dill.

Mix the ingredients altogether and serve! Keep in mind that the consistency of the dip will by a little runny at first because the cream cheese is still warm. As the fried dill pickle dip sits, it will develop a more smooth, slightly firmer texture. Make sure to top with remaining bread crumbs and some pieces of dill pickle you may have left over.

What to Serve with this Fried Pickle Dip Recipe

This fried pickle dip recipe with ranch and bacon can be served with thicker potato chips, such as Ruffles. I also love it with crackers, pretzels, bagel chips, crostini, and even veggies such as carrots and broccoli.

How Long is This Pickle Dip Good For?

Since this dip uses cooked bacon, it will stay good for up to four days in stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Keep in mind this dip will thicken as it is chilled.

Other Dips to Try

Philly Cheesesteak Dip

Smoked Queso Dip

Elote Dip (Mexican Street Corn)

Smoked Buffalo Chicken Dip

Queso Fundido

Chimichurri Sauce