Grilling season is upon us and few side dishes are as essential to a summer picnic as baked beans. These Dr Pepper Baked Beans have been a family favorite for years!
I love bacon, I love baked beans, and I love Dr. Pepper.
Have I mentioned that before? Maybe in this Dr Pepper BBQ recipe.
Now this recipe combines all those loves to make a great side dish for anything on the grill.
Sweet and tangy beans, made easy by a dump it and forget it approach.
No need to cook the beans for hours. Just start with a couple cans of baked beans and Dr them up (see what I did there?).
Add in bacon, onions, Dr. Pepper, plus some seasonings and you are on your way.
One of the key ingredients in this dish is the ground mustard. It gives the beans such a great tang and flavor. Trust me on this one and don’t leave it out.
A go-to side dish for Perfectly Grilled Steak or a great Grilled Cheeseburger.
Just be warned if you bring these Dr Pepper Baked Beans to any summer picnic or family potluck, take along the printout. I guarantee you will be asked for the recipe.

Prep: 15 mins Cook: 3 hrs 22 mins Total: 3 hrs 37 mins Servings: 8

“I came up with this recipe after having made some bourbon baked beans and seeing a recipe for cola baked beans and I thought: Why not combine the two?”

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon ground paprika
• 1 teaspoon dry mustard
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 (12 fl oz) can caffeinated pepper-type soda (such as Dr Pepper(R))
• 3/4 cup ketchup
• 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
• 8 slices bacon
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup bourbon
• 2 (16 ounce) cans baked beans with pork

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Mix brown sugar, paprika, mustard, and cayenne pepper together in a bowl. Whisk in pepper soda, ketchup, and Worcestershire sauce until brown sugar is dissolved.
Cut 4 slices of bacon into small strips. Cook and stir in a large Dutch oven over medium heat until almost crispy, 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer to a bowl, reserving bacon grease.
Stir onion into the bacon grease in the Dutch oven; cook and stir until soft, 3 to 5 minutes. Add garlic; cook and stir for 1 minute. Pour in bourbon, stirring to scrape up browned bits off the bottom with a wooden spoon. Stir bacon strips back in.
Pour brown sugar mixture and baked beans into the Dutch oven. Simmer until beans are heated through, about 15 minutes. Arrange remaining 4 slices of bacon on top of the beans.
Bake in the preheated oven, covered, until beans are bubbly and sauce is syrupy, about 3 hours.

Nutrition Facts

Per Serving: 305.5 calories; protein 10.2g 20% DV; carbohydrates 51.8g 17% DV; fat 5.8g 9% DV; cholesterol 17.9mg 6% DV; sodium 928.5mg 37% DV.