Smoked Baked Beans with Bacon and Hot Dogs – Cooking With Fire
These smoked baked beans start with two large cans of baked beans and add to that. We’re talking bacon, onion, red pepper and jalapeños (3 of them) that you cook down in the bacon grease. Pineapple tidbits, hot dogs that have been cut and fried, then you add ketchup, brown sugar and dry mustard to that and mix it all together. Put it in a foil pan and smoke at 250°F for 3 hours. No cover. Stir once an hour. It will thicken up and smoke its way through those hot dogs and bacon. My Smoked Brisket Platter will probably be sitting right next to this.
It’s done on the smoker in a pan, next to whatever you are smoking that day, which is why I do them this way. You can do them on the stove top or in the oven but they won’t have that smoke flavor to them.
Maybe you are smoking brisket on the weekend. Or grilling burgers on a weeknight. Someone told you to bring a side dish to the cookout.
Quick Look: Smoked Baked Beans with Bacon and Hot Dogs
- Method: Cook down the bacon and veggies. Cut and fry the hot dogs. Mix everything in a foil pan and smoke uncovered
- Smoker temp: 250°F
- Time: 3 hours. Stir every hour
- Done when: The sauce is thicker and the top has darkened
- Serves: 10 to 12 as a side
- The one thing that matters most: Stir them once an hour. The top will get all the smoke and the bottom will get all the heat. Stir it and they will both get through the entire pan
My Pulled Pork Nachos are another option for a pan that you can have next to whatever meat you are smoking. Beans go on first since they take 3 hours, and the nachos go on at the end.
Why This Recipe
- Everything will smoke together. You are cooking the bacon, hot dogs and veggies, then adding them to the pan to smoke with the beans. One pan, no fuss. Three hours on the smoker and every piece in that pan tastes like it was cooked for the beans.
- Hot dogs. By cutting and frying them they will crack open. Then you slice them and every piece will have that charred look. A plain sliced hot dog in beans turns rubbery. A scored and fried one has edges.
- Using bacon grease. You will cook your onions, peppers and jalapeños in the grease your bacon leaves behind. Nothing gets added to the skillet and nothing gets wasted.
- Pineapple. Adds that sweet to the ketchup. I also use some of the juice when mixing the beans. It keeps the sauce from being sweet in only one direction.
- 3 jalapeños. I slice these into circles. Gives you a bit of heat without making them too spicy. Nobody at the table is going to skip the beans over it.
Anytime you have the smoker going is a good time to make these. They don’t need their own cook. They need a corner of the grate, and I already have the smoker at 250°F for most of what I cook anyway.
Key Ingredients
For the Smoked Baked Beans
- Baked beans. 2 cans of 55 oz. I use Bush’s brand.
- Bacon. 8 slices. Cut into 1/4 inch pieces and cook until crispy.
- Onion. 1/2 cup diced. White onion.
- Red pepper. 1/2 cup diced.
- Jalapeños. 3 jalapeños sliced into circles. You can dice them if you want the heat spread throughout the beans instead of in bites.
- Hot dogs. 5 hot dogs. Cut and fry until they open up. Let cool and slice into circles. Same crosshatch cut as my Honey BBQ Smoked Hotdog Pinecones.
- Pineapple tidbits. 1 can of 8 oz. Drain the juice but keep some.
- Brown sugar. 1/4 cup. The beans and the ketchup already bring plenty of sugar, so this is all you need.
- Ketchup. 1 cup.
- Ground dry mustard. 1/2 tbsp. This is the tang under all that sweet.
- Salt and black pepper. To taste once combined. There will be a lot of salt from the bacon and beans, so taste first.
- Smoked brisket. 1 cup of chopped brisket. Optional.
The brisket is optional. The hot dogs are not. If I have leftover brisket from the weekend, a cup of it chopped goes in. Check out my Smoked Pulled Beef Sandwiches if you need an idea for what to use up.
Substitutions or Additions
- Smoked sausage. Instead of hot dogs you can use sliced smoked sausage and brown them. Like I did with my BBQ Smoked Sausage Burnt Ends, just bigger.
- Pulled pork or burnt ends. Use in place of or alongside the brisket. Leftover Chuck Roast Burnt Ends would be good in here.
- Green pepper. Can be used in place of red.
- BBQ sauce. You can swap out half the ketchup for BBQ sauce.
- More heat. Don’t remove the seeds from your jalapeños, or add some habanero.
- Less sugar. Skip the pineapple.
- Smaller batch. One 55 oz can and half of everything else, in a half size foil pan. Same 3 hours, same stir every hour.
- In the oven. You can cook them in the oven at 250°F uncovered for 3 hours. Just stir every hour. You won’t get that smoke flavor, so maybe use BBQ sauce for half of the ketchup.
How to Make Smoked Baked Beans with Bacon and Hot Dogs (Step by Step)
Cut the bacon. Cut your bacon into 1/4 inch pieces. Cold bacon straight from the fridge cuts cleaner.
Cook the bacon. Place the bacon in a skillet on medium heat and cook until crispy. Remove from the pan and leave the grease in the skillet.
Cook the veggies. Add your diced onion, red pepper and jalapeños to the bacon grease and cook for about 3 minutes, until soft and fragrant. Remove and set aside.
Score the hot dogs. Cut shallow lines across the hot dog in one direction. Then do it again the other direction. Do both sides of the hot dog.
Fry, cool and slice the hot dogs. Place the hot dogs in your skillet and fry until they have opened up and are browning. Remove from the pan and allow to cool, then slice them into circles.
Add the beans. Pour both cans of baked beans into a large foil pan.
Mix together. Add your bacon, cooked veggies, sliced hot dogs, drained pineapple, brown sugar, ketchup and dry mustard. Add your brisket if using. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Add a little of your reserved pineapple juice and stir to combine.
Place on the smoker. Get your smoker up to 250°F. Place the pan uncovered on the smoker grates.
Smoke for 3 hours. Stir once an hour, from the bottom of the pan, so the smoke travels through the beans. Your sauce will begin to thicken up.
Rest and serve. Once they are done, let them rest for a few minutes and serve.
At the first stir the beans will still be loose and the top will have taken on some color from the smoke. By the second stir the sauce has started to pull in. By the third hour it is thick, the top is dark and the hot dogs have picked up color all the way through. If they look done early, they are not. Give them the full 3 hours.
Your bacon, hot dogs and brisket will already be cooked before they go in the pan. The minimum temperature the USDA states for reheating hot dogs or other precooked sausage is 165°F, and 3 hours at 250°F in a pan of beans will take them well past that. If you are doing ribs, check out my Smoked Baby Back Ribs.
Tips From Miguel
Smoke everything together in one pan. By cooking all the ingredients on the smoker they will all have that smoked flavor. As mentioned above, you can cook them on the stove or in the oven but they won’t have the smoke.
Score the hot dogs both ways, both sides. When you cut your hot dogs, cut them one way then the other. Both sides. This will allow them to open up when you fry them, and then you can slice them.
Stir them once an hour. This allows the smoke to travel through to the bottom and your sauce won’t stick to the pan.
Cut your bacon cold. It will be easier to get clean cuts.
Taste before adding salt. Remember there will be salt in the bacon and the baked beans.
Double up the foil pan. Two 55 oz cans plus everything else is heavy, and a single foil pan will fold when you lift it off the grates after 3 hours. I set one pan inside another.
Storage and Reheating
- Fridge: Store in an airtight container for 4 to 5 days. I think they taste better the second day.
- Freezer: Can be frozen for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge before reheating.
- Reheat: Either place in a covered pan in a 300°F oven, or on the stove top in a pot with some water added. Stir while reheating. You can also microwave a single serving.
- Make ahead: Smoke them the day before and reheat covered. Or cook the bacon, veggies and hot dogs the night before, then mix and smoke the day of.
If they are going to a cookout, leave them in the foil pan, cover it with foil and wrap the whole thing in a towel. They hold heat for a long time and nobody minds if they are warm instead of hot. If you are bringing a second pan, my Smoked Queso holds on a table the same way these do.
More BBQ Side Recipes to Try
Smoked Baked Beans with Bacon and Hot Dogs FAQs
Can I make smoked baked beans with canned beans?
Yes, this recipe uses canned baked beans. Two 55 oz cans. Add bacon, veggies, hot dogs, pineapple, ketchup, brown sugar and mustard, then smoke them for 3 hours. The smoke and the hourly stir are what make them taste like you made them from scratch.
Do you cover baked beans on the smoker?
No, you want them uncovered so they can take on smoke and your sauce will reduce. Just remember to stir them every hour so the top doesn’t dry out while the bottom stays wet.
What temperature do you smoke baked beans?
250°F for 3 hours. Low enough that the sugar in the sauce doesn’t scorch on the edges, long enough for the beans to thicken and the smoke to get all the way through.
Can I make smoked baked beans ahead of time?
Yes. I think they are better the second day. Smoke them the day before, cool them, and keep them covered in the fridge. Reheat covered in a 300°F oven, stirring once or twice, and add a splash of water if the sauce has tightened up.
What do you serve smoked baked beans with?
Any meat that you are cooking on the smoker that day. Brisket, ribs, pulled pork, burgers. They will last on a table for a long time, so they are the side to bring to a cookout.
Smoked Baked Beans with Bacon and Hot Dogs
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Cut the bacon into 1/4 inch pieces. Cook in a skillet over medium heat until crispy. Remove and set aside, leaving the grease in the skillet.
- Add the diced onion, red pepper and jalapeños to the bacon grease and cook about 3 minutes, until soft and fragrant. Remove and set aside.
- Score each hot dog with shallow cuts in one direction, then the other, on both sides. Fry in the skillet until browned and the cuts have opened up. Remove, let cool, and slice into circles.
- Pour both cans of baked beans into a large foil pan. Add the bacon, cooked veggies, sliced hot dogs, drained pineapple, brown sugar, ketchup and dry mustard. Add the brisket if using. Season with salt and pepper to taste, add a splash of the reserved pineapple juice, and stir to combine.
- Preheat the smoker to 250°F. Place the pan on the grates uncovered.
- Smoke for 3 hours, stirring once an hour from the bottom of the pan. The sauce will thicken and the top will darken.
- Let rest a few minutes and serve.
