Three Meat Crock Pot Cowboy Beans

This slow Cooker BBQ bean recipe with smoked sausage, bacon and ground beef is the perfect side dish for feeding a crowd!

The development of this recipe was sponsored by Hurst's Beans. As always, all opinions are my own.

I make all sorts of baked beans. I make my regular Cowboy Beans when we’re having a cookout and I want something with a little extra pizazz. I make my Boston Baked Beans when it’s cold and I have time to love on those suckers (it’s a process, lemme tell ya, but they’re worth it). I make my Southern Style Baked Beans when I want that ‘wow factor’ from all the bacon on top! And I make my Borracho Beans when we're having Mexican dishes like carnitas!

But sometimes you got to pull out the big guns. Sometimes you want to make something that’s going to make a scene! One of those dishes that, when someone walks by at a pig pickin’, they stop in their tracks and cause a pileup in the buffet line.

That’s what this recipe is. It’s a triple-threat with ground beef AND bacon AND smoked sausage. If you’re looking to make a super hearty, scratch-made barbeque bean recipe, this is the recipe for you! As I usually do, I started with Hurst’s beans because I sincerely LOVE the 15 Bean blend but also because I knew the ham flavored seasoning packet would ratchet up the meaty flavor factor even more.

If you can’t find the 15-bean soup mix in your local grocery store, ask for it! My grocery store now carries all sorts of products they didn’t have before simply because I asked for them. Just ask the cashier who to talk to to request a product and s/he will point you in the right direction. My store has a list at the Customer Service desk where they notate products their customers' request.

SPECIAL NOTE: I listed this in the recipe below but wanted to pop this note up here as well. This recipe is intended as a side dish. It was created to taste a lot like Southern-style baked beans. I read a comment where someone said this was too rich to be an entrée so it occurred to me I might better point out that I created this dish to be both rich and slightly sweet as it is not a main dish, but a side.

Just like Boston Baked beans are cooked in molasses and southern-style baked beans are usually made with brown sugar, this recipe also has it's own unique sweetness.

This is a dish I serve at cookouts and barbeques that is amazing served alongside hearty meats (particularly smoked or grilled). This isn’t something I’d sit down to eat with a spoon like chili or stew 😉

Yield: 20 ServingsAuthor: Mandy Rivers | South Your Mouth

Three Meat Crock Pot Cowboy Beans

Ingredients:

• 1 20-oz. bag Hurst’s 15 Bean Soup dried bean mix 
• 6 cups water
• 1 large onion, diced
• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 pound bacon
• 2 pounds smoked sausage
• 1 1/2 cups barbeque sauce
• 1 cup ketchup
• 1/4 cup molasses
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons spicy brown mustard
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)

Instructions:

Add beans (with seasoning packet) and water to a large crock pot then cook for 4-6 hours on high or until beans are tender. 

Meanwhile, cook onions with ground beef until beef is cooked through, seasoning with salt and pepper. Cut bacon into small strips then cook until crispy and browned. Remove bacon from pan drippings. Cut smoked sausage into bite-sized pieces. Set aside ground beef, bacon and smoked sausage to add to the beans later. This can all be done the night before!

Once beans are tender, ladle out any excess liquid; set aside to use later if needed. Add salt and pepper to taste, barbeque sauce and remaining ingredients, including the ground beef, bacon and smoked sausage. Gently stir to combine.

Add reserved liquid from cooking the beans, 1/2 cup at a time, if needed to ensure the contents of the crock pot have a nice, thick sauce. You don’t want things to be runny but you do want to make sure there’s enough sauce to coat everything nicely (such as with baked beans). 

Continue cooking 1-2 hours on high or until sausage is heated through and everything is hot and bubbly. 

UPDATE:

This recipe is intended as a side dish. It was created to taste a lot like Southern-style baked beans. I read a comment where someone said this was too rich to be an entrée so it occurred to me I might better point out that I created this dish to be both rich and slightly sweet as it is not a main dish, but a side.

This is a dish I serve at cookouts and barbeques that is amazing served alongside hearty meats (particularly smoked or grilled). This isn’t something I’d sit down to eat with a spoon like chili or stew 😉

Using less than the four pounds of meat OR using canned (sauced) beans could result in the dish tasting too sweet. Reduce the amount of BBQ sauce, ketchup, brown sugar and/or molasses if you don't use the ingredients as written.

Notes:

• If you can’t find Hurst’s 15 Bean Soup in your market, please ask your grocer for them. Until then, you can order them online!
• Crumbled sausage would be amazing in this too!
• Diced green peppers and/or jalapenos would also be great additions!
• I drain my bacon (because bacon grease is LIFE and I save every drop) but I don't drain the ground beef. For a recipe this size, there really isn't a lot of fat here so I like the extra flavor and richness from the beefy pan drippings.

Check out my other favorite BEAN recipes listed left to right in image below.

Southern Style Baked Beans

Borracho Beans

Cowboy Beans 

Boston Baked Beans 

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