Slow Cooker Baked Beans with Canned Beans

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These slow cooker baked beans with canned beans are the perfect BBQ chicken side dish. They’re great for summer cookouts and family dinners. Plus, they’re easy to prep and cook using less than 10 simple ingredients. The best part is that this recipe uses plain canned beans so that you can still make homemade baked beans from scratch without the hassle or added cook time of soaking dry beans.

Hearty and flavorful slow cooker baked beans, simmered to perfection, showcasing a rich blend of spices and savory notes in a deliciously thick sauce

Why Make Crock Pot Baked Beans

Saves time: This recipe is the best way to make baked beans from scratch in a slow cooker without using dried beans that require soaking and take longer to cook.
Simple ingredients: You’ll need simple and easily available ingredients to make this classic dish.
Homemade with shortcuts: If you want to make delicious baked beans without the canned stuff, this easy recipe is for you. I still make the sauce from scratch using real food ingredients.

Ingredients Needed

You don’t need much for this easy baked beans recipe. Here’s what you need to gather:

No sugar-added bacon: I cut the slices of bacon into bite-sized pieces/strips. Though I’m using sugar-free bacon (we prefer it in my house), you can use any bacon that you wish.
Yellow onion: Diced
Garlic cloves: Minced
Cannellini beans: I got these canned beans from the grocery store. I drained and rinsed them well. If you need to use different beans, other prepared small white beans like navy beans and great northern beans also work. Though I haven’t tried this, some people have used pinto beans, black beans, and kidney beans.
Chicken broth: Low-sodium
BBQ seasoning: I’m using a homemade BBQ chicken rub for this easy recipe.
BBQ sauce: Hickory or Kansas City style works best, but you can use a bourbon barbecue sauce instead of Hennessy. You should know that I’m using BBQ sauce as an easy substitute for many things you might find in a homemade baked beans recipe like apple cider vinegar, molasses, and more.
Brown sugar
Hennessy: Optional

Key ingredients for Slow Cooker Baked Beans artfully displayed in separate bowls: bacon strips, diced yellow onion, minced garlic cloves, cannellini beans, low-sodium chicken broth, BBQ seasoning, hickory or Kansas City style BBQ sauce, brown sugar, and a touch of Hennessy for a flavorful touch

How To Make Slow Cooker Baked Beans With Canned Beans

Add bacon strips and onions to a non-stick, large skillet over medium-high heat. Sauté until the bacon is browned and the onions are sauteed (about 8-10 minutes). Stir occasionally.
Pour chicken broth into the pan to deglaze it – this will allow you to collect all the bits from the cooked bacon and gather all the bacon fat. Remove the pan from the heat.
Add everything from the pan and the remaining ingredients to the bottom of a slow cooker cooking pot. Stir to combine. Slow cook on high for 3 hours.
Remove the lid and continue to cook on high for about 45 minutes. This will allow the sauce to thicken. Stir and serve.

If Using Dried Beans

Dried beans take longer to cook, so I recommend doing a quick soak to shorten the cooking time:

Sort the beans to remove shriveled beans, small stones, and other debris, then rinse them clean.
Bring the beans to boil over high heat (covered), adjust the heat to low, and boil them uncovered for 2 minutes.
Remove the beans from the heat and let them soak uncovered for 1 hour. Use the soaked beans to make a slow cooker baked beans dish.

I do not recommend using dried beans as is in the slow cooker since it takes forever and would require more cooking liquid.

steps to cook canned Baked Beans in the crock pot slow cooker

Recipe & Tips

Alternative for cannellini beans: You can use navy beans or great northern beans for your homemade slow cooker baked beans.

Variations

This Crockpot Baked Beans recipe is quite flexible. Here are some ways to change it up:

Add ground meat: brown ground beef or ground turkey like I do in this baked beans with ground beef and add it to your slow cooker. The added meat can turn this easy side dish into a meal.
Saute some peppers with the onions: you can add a little spicy kick by using sliced jalapenos or keep things mild by tossing in a chopped green bell pepper.
Give it a bit of maple flavor: Swap the extra brown sugar in this recipe with maple syrup. Add it to your sauce to taste. Maple and bacon go so well together.

Storage and Leftovers

You can store your leftover baked beans in an airtight container for next time. These also freeze well.

Can you cook raw beans in a slow cooker?

Yes. However, ensure you soak dried beans long enough (preferably overnight) before cooking them to shorten the cooking time. Even with a quick soak, starting with dried beans can take 6-8 hours to cook.

How do you thicken baked beans in a slow cooker?

In this recipe, I remove the lid and cook the beans on high for the last 45 minutes of cook time. This allows the bean sauce to thicken without using thickeners like cornstarch.

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