Cowboy Lunch – Dutch Oven Baked Beans

Let us introduce you to our friend, Chuck, who also happens to be our co-worker here at Orson Gygi. He spends his spare time moonlighting as a dutch oven expert. The first time we tasted his baked beans we knew we needed to trust this man’s dutch oven experience. And he’s never let us down.

Today we are sharing his tried and true baked bean recipe. Easily alterable, leave out the meat, add more meat, throw in a couple more cans of beans to make it stretch farther. The essentials skills are all there, the basic yet flavorful combination is foolproof and while you could get away with adjustments, we’re pretty certain you won’t want to. This is good food – pure and simple.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 lb bacon
• 1 cup ketchup
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 Tbsp vinegar
• 1 Tbsp liquid smoke
• 2 cans pork and beans
• 1 can red kidney beans
• 1 can great northern beans

Here’s how it’s done:

1. Start by getting your charcoals hot and ready. If you’re using a 12″ dutch oven, you’ll need 24-25 charcoals total.
2. While you’re waiting for the coals to be ready, you’ll want to cook the bacon and ground beef. You can do this in your Dutch oven on a camp chef stove, or you can cook them inside on a stove in a different pan.  Drain off grease after cooking. Stir in ketchup, brown sugar, vinegar, and liquid smoke.
3. Add in beans (don’t drain off any of those juices- those will give you all the flavor) and stir.
4. Place 8 of your charcoals down for the bottom of the Dutch oven, nestle it onto the coals. Place the lid on the Dutch oven and arrange 17 charcoals around the rim and scattered on the middle of the Dutch oven lid.
5. The beans will simmer for about an hour, you’ll want to give them a little stir in the middle, around 30 minutes.
6. When the beans have thickened, you are ready to serve!
7. Chuck recommends a little sour cream, shredded cheddar cheese and a couple drops of hot sauce. And we have to agree. You just can’t go wrong with a classic bowl of beans.

Print Recipe

Cowboy Lunch- Dutch Oven Baked Beans

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By Chuck Forrester- Orson Gygi – Serves: 10-12

Prep Time: 10 minutes – Cooking Time: 1 hour 15 minutes – Total Time: 1 hour 25 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 lb bacon
• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 cup ketchup
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 Tbsp vinegar
• 1 Tbsp liquid smoke
• 2 cans Pork and Beans (not drained)
• 1 can Dark Kidney Beans (not drained)
• 1 can White Northern Beans (not drained)

Instructions

1

Fill youStart by getting your charcoals hot and ready. If you’re using a 12″ dutch oven, you’ll need 24-25 charcoals total.

2

While you’re waiting for the coals to be ready, you’ll want to cook the bacon and ground beef. You can do this in your Dutch oven on a camp chef stove, or you can cook them inside on a stove in a different pan. Drain off grease after cooking. Stir in ketchup, brown sugar, vinegar, and liquid smoke.

3

Add in beans (don’t drain off any of those juices- those will give you all the flavor) and stir.

4

Place 8 of your charcoals down for the bottom of the Dutch oven, nestle it onto the coals. Place the lid on the Dutch oven and arrange 17 charcoals around the rim and scattered on the middle of the Dutch oven lid.

5

The beans will simmer for about an hour, you’ll want to give them a little stir in the middle, around 30 minutes.

6

When the beans have thickened, you are ready to serve!

7

Chuck recommends a little sour cream, shredded cheddar cheese and a couple drops of hot sauce. And we have to agree. You just can’t go wrong with a classic bowl of beans.

Notes

You could cook this in a large pot on the stove. You'll miss out on the seasoned Dutch Oven flavor, but the beans will still be irresistible. Serves 10-12 people, but this recipe can easily be doubled or tripled depending on how many you want to serve. A double or triple batch will fit in a 14” Dutch oven. You could add a chopped onion, sauteing it in your bacon drippings. You can also substitute grape jelly or molasses in place of brown sugar. When available, it’s tasty to substitute elk burger.

Find the right dutch oven tools for you, here. 

New to dutch oven? or want to learn a few new tips? Read all of Chuck’s dutch oven tips here.