Slow Cooker BBQ Green Beans with Bacon
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Slow Cooker BBQ Green Beans are sweet and tangy, easy to make, and perfect for cookouts or as a side with your weeknight dinner.
Baked beans are a staple at many BBQs and cookouts and while I love them, sometimes I want to change it up. These slow cooker BBQ green beans are kind of a cousin to baked beans. They’re slow cooked in a tangy and sweet sauce with bacon.
Totally a game changer.
I am not a canned veggie kind of gal. Probably because that’s all I grew up with and just don’t care for the taste of them all that much. That being said, I do use canned French style green beans to make that ever classic green bean casserole, and I will use canned tomatoes. I guess I am just selective! Ha!
So, I am using fresh green beans for this recipe but by all means canned are perfectly delicious in this recipe too. The first time I had this dish, it was made with canned and it was amazing.
This green beans with bacon recipe is so easy to make. Use your favorite BBQ sauce, spicy or not. Smoky or sweet. Leave the bacon out or not. Add leftover pulled pork in place of the bacon to make it a meal. Sometimes I will make this Doubled Smoked Ham and use some of the leftovers in these green beans. It’s so good!
Enjoy more BBQ recipes
- Grilled Pineapple with Maple Syrup Glaze
- Deviled Egg Pasta Salad
- Grilled Ham Steak with Honey Mustard
- Glaze Grilled Strawberry Shortcake
Ingredients
- fresh green beans
- bacon
- BBQ sauce
- onion
- garlic
Instructions
In a large bowl, combine ketchup, brown sugar, BBQ sauce, honey, Worcestershire sauce and cayenne until combined. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Heat 2 tablespoons reserved bacon drippings in a skillet over medium-high heat and sauté onion until softened and translucent. Add the garlic and cook for another 30 seconds. Remove from heat.
Place green beans and onions in slow cooker.
Then pour BBQ ketchup mixture over them.
Mix everything together until incorporated, then top with crumbled bacon.
Cover slow cooker and cook on high for 2-3 hours, or on low for 4-5 hours.
Printable recipe card
Slow Cooker BBQ Green Beans
Equipment
- slow cooker
Ingredients
- 6 – 8 cups fresh green beans, ends snipped. Cut larger beans in half. (OR you can use 4 (14.5 oz.) cans green beans, rinsed and drained)
- 8 slices cooked bacon, chopped
- 2 tablespoons bacon drippings (OR 2 tablespoons butter)
- 1 small onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 cup ketchup
- 1/3 cup light brown sugar
- 1/3 cup BBQ sauce (I used Sonny's Sweet BBQ sauce)
- 1/4 cup raw honey
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (more if you like)
- salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine ketchup, brown sugar, BBQ sauce, honey, Worcestershire sauce and cayenne until combined. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Heat 2 tablespoons reserved bacon drippings in a skillet over medium-high heat and sauté onion until softened.. Add the garlic and cook for another 30 seconds. Remove from heat.
- Place green beans and onions in slow cooker. Then pour BBQ ketchup mixture over them.
- Mix everything together until incorporated, then top with crumbled bacon
- Cover slow cooker and cook on high for 2-3 hours, or on low for 4-5 hours.
Nutritional Disclaimer
“Blogghetti” is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories and other nutritional values can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.
More BBQ Beans to Enjoy
- Slow Cooker Calico Baked Beans – totally a meal but great to bring to a potluck or cookout
- Easy Baked Beans – our house favorite for a quick and flavorful baked bean
- Cowboy Beans – 30 minutes to a delicious side dish
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Enjoy!
Oh, I love the pulled pork idea with these. They sound amazing!!!
This is a timeless classic recipe and should be at every BBQ. It’s so good!
I just pinned this. If I had green beans in the house I’d be making this tonight because it looks awesome!
Amazingly enough, we are thinking on the same track, I have some bbq green beans going in my crock for tonight, although yours sound much more amazing. Very popular veggie! I’ll have to try yours sometime this summer.
Oooooh, look at all of that bacon! These beans are such a great alternative to baked beans!
My mom would go nuts for these. She’s always loved home-cooked green beans.
I do not use my slow cooker enough, and you can never go wrong with bacon!
HowRebecca far ahead can you make the BBQ green beans
Hi Rebecca, you can make this the day before and reheat it on the stovetop, but it’s best when it’s done in the slow cooker to maintain the crispness of the beans, unless you like them a bit on the soft side. How far do you need to make it in advance?
I was hoping I could put it together Tuesday nite to travel with it. Will eat Thursday Thanksgiving Day
I am making Thanksgiving dinner for 20 and was trying to get some things put together early. Like Tuesday nite
It will be fine. If you’re cooking it before you go, just undercook the beans slightly and when you reheat them, they will be perfect.