Smoked Baked Beans on a Pit Boss Pellet Grill

Learn how to make smoked baked beans on a Pit Boss Pellet Grill!

We take you step-by-step through the ingredients and cookware you'll need, setting up your Pit Boss pellet grill, and smoking the baked beans to perfection!

No side dish goes with classic barbecue quite like baked beans.

Maybe potato salad or macaroni and cheese, but if you want to throw a great barbecue, you've got to also have baked beans.

But there is no reason to run back and forth from the meat on the Pit Boss to the oven inside to tend to the baked beans, because you can make smoked baked beans right on your Pit Boss pellet grill!

You can smoke them right alongside your Pit Boss smoked beef brisket, pork shoulder, ribs, or chicken!

Even if you've never made traditional baked beans, we've got you covered with step by step instructions and a list of exactly what you'll need to make great smoked baked beans on your Pit Boss.

Jump to:

• Equipment
• Ingredients
• Best Wood Pellets
• Set the Pit Boss Temperature
• Cook the Bacon and Onions
• Make the Sauce and Add Beans
• Smoke the Baked Beans
• Serving Suggestions
• 📖 Recipe

Equipment

In order to make really great smoked baked beans on your Pit Boss pellet grill, you will preferably need a 12 inch cast iron skillet to smoke them in.

When it comes to using cast iron, like we do for our smoked pot roast, we like anything from Lodge, such as this Lodge 12 inch skillet for smoked baked beans.

A great cast iron skillet can be used for a lot of fun recipes on your Pit Boss. You may recognize the Lodge skillet from our smoked mac and cheese as well as our smoked chicken enchiladas.

It's already pre-seasoned and has the nice high sides to keep all those bubbly smoked baked beans contained.

The best part is you can bring it right from the Pit Boss to the table and serve directly from the cast iron skillet for a great rustic presentation!

Ingredients

Now let's talk about what ingredients you'll need to make the Pit Boss smoked baked beans.

You can choose from a variety of kinds of beans to use, but we would recommend the simple and classic Canned Pork and Beans you'll find near the canned beans and canned soups in almost any grocery store.

We found the canned pork and beans gave a very classic flavor and texture for the Pit Boss smoked baked beans.

If you are avoiding meat, use a soft bean like canned pinto beans rather than a grittier textured bean like black beans.  Make sure to drain the water from those types of canned beans first.

If you don't use pork and beans, you need to double the sauce ingredients (ketchup, Worcestershire, and mustard) since the pork and beans already come in a tomato flavored sauce that we are adding to in our recipe.

• ½ lb Bacon (8 slices regular cut, 5-6 slices thick cut)
• 1 medium Onion, diced
• 2-28 oz cans Pork and Beans (do not drain)
• ¼ Cup Ketchup or Chili Sauce
• ¾ Cup packed Brown Sugar
• 2 tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce
• 2 tablespoon Yellow Mustard

As with all things BBQ, you can make adjustments based on your own preferences.

Our version is fairly sweet so cut down the brown sugar to a ¼ or ½ a cup if you want more savory smoked baked beans.

You can always add more sugar later as they cook if you want them sweeter!

Best Wood Pellets

Smoked Baked Beans will absorb a fair amount of smoke flavor on the Pit Boss since they are a wet side dish.

They also have a fairly strong flavor profile on so they will hold up well to stronger smoke flavors like hickory unlike a delicate fish fillet or even chicken breasts.

If you are smoking your baked beans on the Pit Boss alongside some ribs or a beef roast, you will be fine with whatever type of wood pellet let you chose for the meat.

If, however, you are smoking the baked beans by themselves, we would recommend either hickory pellet or a good gourmet blend like our go-to favorite from Bear Mountain.

For the best results, store your unused pellets in a sealed room temperature container like this 20 lb pellet container rather than in the Pit Boss hopper outside.

Pellets do not last forever, but will definitely last a LOT longer if stored indoors in a quality airtight container.

Set the Pit Boss Temperature

We have previously covered how to season a Pit Boss, how to start a Pit Boss, as well as how to troubleshoot the smoke level of your pellet grill.

If you need a more in-depth review on how to use your Pit Boss for the first time, check those articles out first!

Make sure your Pit Boss grates are clean before turning it on. The bristle-free BBQ Daddy does an amazing job on the crosshatch pattern on our Pit Boss grates.

The best temperature to smoke your baked beans on the Pit Boss is going to be 240°F.

If you are cooking something else like pork butt or beef brisket "Low and Slow" and need to keep the temperature closer to 220°F, don't stress, it's fine, you can smoke the baked beans here too.

We just wouldn't recommend smoking the baked beans any higher than about 275°F on the Pit Boss as you will risk burning the sugars in the sauce on the bottom of the cast iron skillet.

The smoked baked beans will take about 3 hours, so plan accordingly to time them to finish at the same time your meat is finished resting.

Thankfully, in the cast iron pan the smoked baked beans will stay nice and hot for a long while even once you've taken them off the Pit Boss so you don't have to be perfect!

Cook the Bacon and Onions

First cook your bacon over medium heat in the same cast iron skillet in which you will be smoking the baked beans.

Once the bacon is cooked, remove it from the skillet to a plate with paper towels to drain and lower heat to medium-low.

Next add your diced onion to the bacon fat still in the pan. Stir frequently and cook until the onions are soft and translucent.

Once the onions are cooked, push them to one side of the skillet and drain off the excess grease in the skillet from the other side.

Make the Sauce and Add Beans

Next you will add the ketchup (or chili sauce), brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, and mustard to the onions in the skillet.

Stir well until combined.

Crumble up the bacon you set aside and sprinkle and stir into the sauce.

Next add the canned pork and beans and stir well to incorporate everything together.

Turn off the heat and carefully take the hot skillet out to the preheated Pit Boss pellet grill.

Make sure to always use well insulated grilling gloves when handling hot cast iron.  We like these ones that protect up well over 1000°F.

Smoke the Baked Beans

Now it's time to smoke your baked beans in the Pit Boss!

Carefully carry your cast iron skillet out to the Pit Boss pellet grill set to 240°F and put them in the smoker uncovered.

Stir every 30 minutes or so and rotate the cast iron skillet as needed depending on how evenly your Pit Boss throws off heat.

We liked putting ours toward the right side of our Pit Boss that tends to get a little less upward heat from the flame broiler directly underneath .

Let the smoked baked beans cook for about 3 hours and don't stir for the last 30 minutes so that the top gets nice and brown.

You can also sprinkle some additional brown sugar on top during the last 15 minutes for more color and sweetness.

Serving Suggestions

The best part about smoking your Pit Boss baked beans in a cast iron pan is that you can bring the pan right to the table to serve out of when they are finished!

Smoked baked beans go great with brisket, pulled pork, ribs, chicken, salmon, even lobster, or any other dish you can think of!

If you want even more side dishes, make sure to also check out our smoked broccoli, asparagus, and cauliflower if you are eating healthy, or you can indulge in our famous sweet and smokey sweet potatoes to accompany your meal as well!

📖 Recipe