10/29/2026
Tropical Thunder Baked Beans v2!
This is a total revision of my previous homemade barbecue baked beans recipe. I wanted to start from scratch instead of using Bush's canned baked beans. Barbecue baked beans, in my humble opinion, are a STAPLE side dish for any barbecue meal.
Here's whatchya' need:
1lb dry navy beans
1 bay leaf
pinch of baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
6 cups of water
Method 1: Add the baking soda and salt to the water and soak the beans overnight. Drop the bay leaf in. Then bring them to a slow boil for a couple hours until they are nice and soft.
Method 2: Add all these ingredients to an Instant Pot. Pressure cook on high pressure for 30 minutes and then do a quick pressure release.
Preheat your grill or smoker to 300°F.
Reserving all the liquid, remove the bay leaf and add your beans to a large Dutch oven.
Add these ingredients to your Dutch oven:
6 slices of thick-sliced Bacon (see notes) **
1 medium onion, finely diced
2 Tablespoons Paprika
1 tsp dry mustard
1/2 tsp granulated garlic
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup molasses
1/2 cup your favorite barbecue sauce
8-ish oz diced peaches, drained (optional)
8-ish oz diced mangos, drained (optional)
1/4 cup bourbon (optional, but recommended!)
Add your reserved bean water to cover the beans completely. Mix to combine. Put the lid on the Dutch Oven and put it in your smoker for 90 minutes.
Remove the cover from the Dutch oven and raise the grill or smoker temperature to 375-400°F and cook for another hour. Remove from the grill or smoker and stir in the BOURBON!
Notes about the Bacon:
** We want to render the bacon fat into the beans. If you can put those six slices of bacon on a grill rack above the Dutch oven, do that and let the bacon drip into the Dutch Oven. Let the bacon cook like that until it's good and crispy. You could also just cook the bacon in a pan and reserve the bacon fat to dump in your Dutch oven if you like. You can either crumble that bacon and add it to the beans or crumble it and use it as a garnish upon serving. If you aren't interested in that, put the whole slices of bacon directly in the beans at the beginning of the Dutch Oven process and remove them at the end after all the fat has rendered.
The beans will thicken during this phase of the cook as moisture evaporates off. You will also see darker caramelization forming on the top layer of the beans.
Enjoy!
