Slow Cooker Barbecued Green Beans are sweet and tangy bbq green beans with lots of smoky bbq flavor. Made from canned beans, they are a cinch to make and are a great side dish for potlucks and family meals. They are kind of like the flavor of baked beans, only with green beans. What’s not to love about that?
BBQ Green Beans
I love the flavor of bbq sauce. It is like ketchup to me. I even use it as pizza sauce. It’s definitely a good complement for green beans.
I find recipes featuring green beans are very popular. Southern-Style Green Beans and Sweet and Sour Green Beans are two of the most popular recipes on Spicy Southern Kitchen. As much as I love both recipes, I think this Slow Cooker Barbecued Green Beans recipe is my favorite. It’s almost like green bean candy.
How To Make Canned Green Beans Taste Homemade
This recipe turns canned green beans into a side dish that tastes homemade. With a bunch of extra flavors added, no one will guess you started with canned beans. Be sure to try these other canned green bean recipes: Rotel Green Beans and Candied Green Beans.
How To Make
(More detailed instructions below.)
The canned green beans are slow cooked with ketchup, brown sugar, BBQ sauce (use your favorite) and Worcestershire sauce. And bacon. Lots of bacon. I like to add just a touch of cayenne pepper to balance the sweetness some.
Four to five hours in the crock pot on LOW and the green beans are coated in the most amazing sweet and tangy flavor!
Can I Use Fresh Or Frozen Beans?
Yes! If using fresh, either blanch them before adding them to the slow cooker or cook them a little longer in the slow cooker. If using frozen, thaw them first.
More Slow Cooker Side Dishes
- Crock Pot Buttery Bacon Green Beans– another great slow cooker green bean recipe!
- Slow Cooker Baby Carrots
- Slow Cooker White Beans
- Slow Cooker Garlic Parmesan Potatoes
Slow Cooker Barbecued Green Beans
Equipment
Ingredients
- 8 slices thick-cut bacon
- 1/2 cup chopped onion
- 1/2 cup ketchup
- 1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1/4 cup BBQ sauce
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 4 (14.5-ounce) cans green beans, drained
Instructions
- Chop bacon and cook it in a large nonstick pan. Remove bacon and set aside.
- Discard all but 2 tablespoons bacon grease. Add onion to bacon grease left in pan and cook until soft.
- In a medium bowl, stir together ketchup, brown sugar, BBQ sauce, Worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper.
- Add green beans to a lightly greased 4 to 6 quart crock pot.
- Add onions along with any bacon grease left in pan to crock pot.
- Pour ketchup mixture on top and stir in.
- Sprinkle bacon on top. Cover crock pot and cook on LOW for 4 to 5 hours.
Nutrition
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I made this with fresh green beans and it took 1.5 hours on high. I may try 4 hours on low next time.
How many pounds of green beans? How long did you cook them in slow cooker?
I used Sweet Baby Ray’s “Sweet & Spicy” bbq sauce. Since it is definitely both very sweet and very spicy, I cut back slightly on the brown sugar and the peppers. Basically, though, I followed the recipe closely. It was not the sort of dish that normally appeals to me, but I thought it was delightfully different. And I can definitely see why many people would be crazy about it. That’s why I feel totally justified in awarding 5 stars. Not my personal taste, but still an excellent recipe.
As much as I love bacon, the only small quibble I had was that 8 slices seemed to sort of overwhelm the green beans. Next time (and, yes, some family members loved it, so there will be a next time!), I think I’ll reduce that to 5 or 6 slices. And I love the idea of using different types of beans. Thank you, Anna M, for that excellent suggestion!!
i have never left a comment before, but these beans r awesome. only im a diabetic so i took sugar sub, no sugar bbq sauce and sugar free k-up, and believe it or not…..no one could tell the diff unless i told then. makes a great keto side with pretty much NO carbs. i was getting pretty sick of plain green beans
Does this recipe really only serve 8 people? If it uses 4 (14.5 oz) cans of beans, isn’t that about 12 people (I think a can serves about 3 people). I have 35 people coming for dinner so am just trying to figure out tripling or quadrupling the recipe (and hoping it fits in an 8 qt slowcooker 🙂 Thank you.
Insanely delicious flavor — both savory and with a hint of spiciness. Modified recipe as follows: added a touch more cayenne, used Sweet Baby Ray’s as my BBQ sauce, and added 2-3 tablespoon’s of minced garlic. Paired with mashed potatoes carrots and steak or chicken, it would be a memorable meal! Taste: #9/10 Spiciness: #3/10. Bon Appetit!
Can you use frozen organic green beand
I made this for our family reunion in July. Doubled the recipe & came home with 1 small bowl left. It is easy & delicious. It will be my go to recipe for potlucks etc.
Thank you.
I made this for a picnic with friends, just yesterday. The recipe was easy and quick to put together in the morning. It cooked in the Crock-Pot while I was busy during the day. And when I got home to go to the picnic it smelled delicious! It was a real hit with my friends…I went home with an empty crock! Thanks so much for the recipe. Everyone loved it!
Hello. Made this tonight and for the second time. I did add some onion powder and garlic powder to the ketchup mixture. Super delicious. Thank you.
Can I prep this the night before and cook the next day?
I did, but put it in separate containers.
Has anyone halved this recipe?
Do you think I could add potatoes along with the green beans?
I think you could. Use the small red potatoes (new potatoes), cut them in half or quarters to make sure they cook through the first time and then you can adjust how you cut them, if at all next time. I was planning to do the same thing!
Can u add the bacon at the end, I like my bacon crispy? Or does this take away from the taste?
i’d put half in at the beginning and half when done. why not?
what a perfect use of a crock pot. the flavor is amazing!
Can I bake in the oven instead? If so. What temp and how long?
I’ve seen recipes that bake for 1 hour at 350 or 3 hours at 250.
I wasn’t sure about the combination of bbq sauce and green beans, but made this recipe with no changes. So Good!!
If you use cut canned green beans and not French, do we still think it will take 4 hours? Seems like they would be slop by the end.
No, the extra time helps flavors to blend.
I use three 10 ounce bags of Bird’s Eye Steam Fresh frozen cut green beans, thawed and drained. I also put a double layer of paper towels under the crock pot lid to prevent the condensation from diluting the sauce. It comes out great! My son has called me twice to make sure I’m making these again for Thanksgiving. Double batch this year!
Thank you for the comment about frozen beans, I am not a fan of canned, nor is my husband, so knowing frozen is an option with the paper towel tip is greatly appreciated!
I was looking for a vegetable recipe that was gluten free for a Master Gardener carry-in. This sounds perfect!!!!!
The recipe did not specify to drain and I didn’t, I still to me were good, but I don’t think I got the true flavor of how they should be. For people who are in a hurry when doing them, adding out beside the ingredients, drained, would be awesome!!! Will definitely try them again the correct way!!! Thank you!!!
I love this recipe, I’ve made it several times. The only thing I do differently is I use different types of green beans. I use one can of plain green beans, 1 can of shelly beans, 1 French cut, and 1 Italian cut. I just like that this gives it a different texture 😀
Such a great idea to use different types of beans!