Texas Bean Bake With Ground Beef

By
Diana Rattray
Diana Rattray
Diana Rattray
Southern-cuisine expert and cookbook author Diana Rattray has created more than 5,000 recipes and articles in her 20 years as a food writer.
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Updated on 12/18/21
Texas bean bake with ground beef

​The Spruce Eats / Diana Chistruga

Prep: 20 mins
Cook: 70 mins
Total: 90 mins
Servings: 6 servings

These tasty Texas-style beans make an excellent side dish for a barbecue or cookout or serve them with freshly baked cornbread wedges for an everyday family meal. The beans are fantastic with coleslaw and potato salad on the side. The ground beef is browned in bacon drippings, make them a hearty and flavorful choice.

With or without the ground beef, the beans are a great choice for a pulled pork meal or alongside burgers or steaks. Put the beans in the slow cooker and take them along to a party or potluck dinner. ​These slow cooker beans are a convenient alternative. 

Chopped red or green bell pepper works well in the beans, and the recipe calls for kidney beans and pinto beans, but they can be made with other types of beans. Canned great northern beans, navy beans, black beans, or small red beans are some of the many possibilities.

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Ingredients

  • 8 strips bacon

  • 1 pound lean ground beef

  • 1 cup onion, chopped

  • 1 (16-ounce) can pork and beans

  • 1 (16-ounce) can red kidney beans

  • 1 (16-ounce) can pinto beans

  • 1 1/2 cups ketchup

  • 1 tablespoon mustard

  • 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

  • 1/2 cup brown sugar, or more to taste

  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar

Steps to Make It

  1. Gather the ingredients.

    Ingredients for Texas bean bake with ground beef
    ​The Spruce Eats / Diana Chistruga

  2. Preheat oven to 350 F. In a large skillet over medium heat, fry bacon until just crisp.

    Bacon
    ​The Spruce Eats / Diana Chistruga

  3. Remove to paper towels to drain and set aside.

    Remove to paper towels
    ​The Spruce Eats / Diana Chistruga

  4. Remove all but a few teaspoons of drippings from skillet. Add ground beef and chopped onion and place back over medium heat. Cook, stirring and breaking up beef, until onion is tender and beef is no longer pink. 

    Remove drippings
    ​The Spruce Eats / Diana Chistruga

  5. Drain canned beans in a colander and run cold water over them to rinse.

    Drain canned beans
    ​The Spruce Eats / Diana Chistruga

  6. In a large bowl, combine ground beef mixture with drained beans.

    Add beef
    ​The Spruce Eats / Diana Chistruga

  7. In another bowl, combine ketchup, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, and both sugars; mix well to blend.

    Combine ketchup and mustard
    ​The Spruce Eats / Diana Chistruga

  8. Pour over bean mixture and stir to blend. 

    Pour over
    ​The Spruce Eats / Diana Chistruga

  9. Spoon bean mixture into a 2 1/2- to 3-quart baking dish. Sprinkle crumbled bacon over top.

    Put in casserole dish
    ​The Spruce Eats / Diana Chistruga

  10. Bake in preheated oven for about 1 hour. 

    Bake
    ​The Spruce Eats / Diana Chistruga

Recipe Variations

  • Mix the beans up with different varieties along with the baked beans. Use black beans, great northern beans, small red beans, black-eyed peas, lima beans, or white kidney beans.
  • Replace the ketchup with chili sauce or barbecue sauce.
  • Add 1/2 cup of chopped green bell pepper or a combination of red and green bell pepper.
  • Double the ground beef for a heartier main dish bean bake.
  • Add about 1/2 pound of ground pork or sausage to skillet with the ground beef.
  • Jazz the beans up with 2 teaspoons of chili powder and about 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes or cayenne.
Nutrition Facts (per serving)
653 Calories
17g Fat
88g Carbs
42g Protein
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 6
Amount per serving
Calories 653
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 17g 21%
Saturated Fat 6g 30%
Cholesterol 88mg 29%
Sodium 1427mg 62%
Total Carbohydrate 88g 32%
Dietary Fiber 13g 47%
Total Sugars 39g
Protein 42g
Vitamin C 7mg 37%
Calcium 148mg 11%
Iron 7mg 39%
Potassium 1415mg 30%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)