Oh, these beans! This recipe will be the one that everyone asks you for...
Did everyone recover from Valentine's Day?
Even if you are not attached to someone via a legal document I hope you were able to spend the day, or at least a part of the day with the people you love. Or at least watching sappy romantic dramas on Netflix and dreaming of that someone who got away.
Hey, we've all been there.
This mushy holiday is always a double holiday for us as the husband's birthday is a couple of days prior. I'm always torn. One gift? Two? Combine it all and call it good? Well, as it turns out we had company over the weekend, so I made his requested birthday dinner, my homemade lasagna {seriously, the best} and this homemade cheesecake with cherry topping, not only for him but to feed the crowd. It was all a big hit.
He may have had to stay upright after that dinner due to overconsumpution, but it was all good. Then since I was feeling super ambitious and he had to "share" his dessert over the weekend I went ahead and baked him a cake after everyone left.
It's coming next. You don't want to miss it!
Then the next night I made him another dinner {either I'm really nice or I was really bored!}. I cooked up a delicious pork tenderloin, sauteed onions and mushrooms and served these beans on the side.
I'm not going to lie. My baked beans usually consist of opening a can. And honestly, I did do that here....but hold on, I doctored them up so well, it became a new dish. One that my family loved and I am sure with be a hit among the potluck circle come this Spring.
Is there such a thing as a potluck circle?
Here's the other piece of the puzzle. It's been warmer here than it really should be. It's February in Iowa and we've been enjoying some 50 degree weather days. We should have snow and wind and cold. So I'm technically getting WAY ahead of myself and I'm already longing for Spring. We've been stuck inside since November and I'm over it.
So, hence...these beans.
I most definitely think of baked beans as a summer food. In fact my birthday dinner requested every single August for the past 35 years {gulp} has been burgers on the grill, this insanely good potato salad and baked beans.
Every year. Never changes.
Warmer weather has me craving warm weather food. The other day it was a juicy B.L.T. Heck, even one day it was a salad. This weekend? Baked beans.
Being who I am, I doctored this up, probably to the point that some might even have to search for the beans, but trust me, this dish is delicious! It can be made a day ahead and sit away in the fridge to forget about or can be thrown together right before it goes in the oven.
Impress your church ladies, card club or extended family with these beans! And don't forget the bacon strips on top slathered in barbecue sauce. It makes the dish taste better and look better.
And then promptly tuck away this recipe for summer as you'll want to put it on your weekend barbecue schedule.
The BEST Potluck Baked Beans
1 28 oz. can baked beans
1/2 lb. ground pork sausage
8 strips of bacon
1/4 c. honey
1 T. onion flakes
1 t. onion powder
1 t. garlic powder
1/2 c. barbecue sauce
1. In a skillet over medium-high heat cook the ground sausage until no longer pink. Drain off the excess grease and set cooked sausage aside.
2. In that same skillet chop 4 slices of the bacon into bit sized pieces and cook until crisp.
3. In a large bowl combine the cooked sausage, bacon, beans, honey and spices. Stir together and pour into an 8x8 baking dish.
4. Lay on the remaining 4 strips of bacon and liberally brush with the barbecue sauce.
5. Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes or until the top bacon is crisp. Allow to sit for 5 minutes before eating.
Need some other great potluck inspiration? I have some great ones!
