Dutch Oven Beans
Serves 8–12 Time 1 hour Difficulty 3/5 Ingredients 14 Steps 7
Ingredients
- 1 pound bacon
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 1 large onion
- 1 large can (53 ounces) pork and beans
- 1 can (15 ounces) lima beans
- 1 can (15 ounces) pinto beans
- 1 can (15 ounces) red beans
- 1 can (15 ounces) butter beans
- ½ cup ketchup
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon dry mustard
- 2 tablespoons molasses
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon liquid smoke
Steps
- Cut bacon into bite-sized pieces. Begin cooking in heated Dutch oven.
- Chop onion into ½-inch pieces.
- When bacon is nearly cooked, crumble in ground beef and chopped onion. Cook until onion is translucent.
- Add all beans, ketchup, brown sugar, mustard, molasses and Worcestershire sauce. Stir.
- Heat to simmer. Bubble lightly 10–15 min or longer.
- Stir in liquid smoke.
- Taste. Adjust with more ketchup, brown sugar, mustard, molasses and liquid smoke as needed.
Notes from the original
- About two dozen charcoal briquettes, started earlier until covered with white ash, with a dozen below and a dozen on top of the Dutch oven should bear sufficient heat. If dried beans are used, many more will be needed over the hours, as the original briquettes are exhausted.
- Crowder peas or black-eyed peas may also be used.
- If dried beans are used, add 12 cups of soaked beans to cooked bacon, hamburger, and onions, add the ketchup, brown sugar, mustard, molasses, and Worcestershire sauce, add enough water to make a thick soup and cook until beans are soft-maybe 6 to 8 hours, longer at higher altitudes.
- Avoid eating this for too many consecutive days or your camp mates will move your campsite downwind.
Source. Adapted from “Cookbook:Dutch Oven Beans” by Wikibooks contributors, revision of 2026-01-24, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Changes. Steps rewritten into short commands. Introduction shortened. Wiki formatting removed. This adapted recipe is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.