Sweet, hearty, baked beans and sausage filled with bacon, sautéed onions, and fried Polska kielbasa sausage. A classic comfort dish for winter mountain trips and cold brisk evenings.
Hey yall, it’s Jay and I’m back with another ‘QUICK 30 MINUTE’ baked beans and sausage recipe I know yall are gonna love. I’m gonna show yall how to make the World’s best baked beans and sausage, a modification of my nana’s recipe.
What makes this a good recipe?
- Quick & Easy: it takes less than 30 minutes to make this dish. And If you’re super hungry and lazy or just not feeling it, this might be the simple easy dinner for you to make.
- Great comfort food: This is the perfect recipe for a nice brisk fall or winter evening when you wanna eat something hearty to warm your body up! This is comfort food at it’s best!
- Perfect for winter trips: It’s also the perfect baked beans and sausage dish for winter ski trips when you’re up in the mountains and staying in a cabin with your family or friends. It’s a good baked beans and sausage meal when you’re camping!
- Children friendly: It’s also makes for a great weekend lunch for children. It’s not only very filling but also pretty sweet and we all know children looooove SWEETS!
How I fell in love with Nana’s baked beans and sausage
I used to keep it simple like everyone else when it came to baked beans. I’d cook some baked beans in a pot while boiling a few hotdogs, and when they were done, chop em up and add them to the baked beans with a little sugar.
And BAM, it was all done! LMBO! That was until my Nana, Alice Mae Gibbs, who I was living with at the time, made me a bowl of her delicious sweet & spicy baked beans with fried onions and kielbasa.
I remember asking her one night what she had planned for dinner and she said, “Baked beans and sausage”. I said to myself, “She couldn’t think of anything better to cook besides that kiddie shyt” LMBO!
I, as I’m sure most of you do, always thought of it as a quick simple meal for kids since my mom seemed to always make it for me and my sister when we were young and would never eat any herself. Lol!
But I knew she, being the great cook she was, would spice it up and fancify it because, just like myself, she always had a way of turning a simple dish into a delicious gourmet one.
And so when I finally tasted the Baked Beans with kielbasa… MAN, OH MAN, OH MAN… all I could do was shake my head in awe. LMBO! I was in heaven for as long as I was eating it while sitting in her rocking chair.
Maaaan, I was rocking back and forth while stuffing my face at a thousand miles per second. I even recall her looking at me with that “proud cocky smirk” because she knew I loved it and probably bad-talked the dish before trying it.
If you can get a young picky 22-23 yr old to smack down on some baked beans & sausage the way I did, you know you cooked them the right way. Let’s just say, since that day, this has been the only way I’ve made baked beans & sausage.
Searing the sausage and sauteeing the onions
The seared sausage gives the dish more flavor. Remember, searing aka frying meat always extracts the flavors from within. I also like to add a small amount of chopped onions like she used to.
Now I don’t recall if she browned her sausage or not but I do… I can’t stand soft meat in my beans that haven’t been seared – searing the meat first is a must for me!
I fry my onions and kielbasa at the same time – raw onions are a no-no. They’re too strong and their pungent flavor will ruin the dish so soften the onions by sauteeing them with the kielbasa for 2 to 3 minutes.
I add them to the skillet a few minutes before the sausage is done frying. The remnants left over from the fried sausage and the caramelized onions add both color and flavor to the dish as well.
Loose vs Thick sauce
If you like your baked beans and sausage sauce thick, cook it for 8-10 minutes and it’ll absorb most of the sauce. If you like it loose, just combine the kielbasa and beans and let it cook for 2-3 minutes or until everything’s nice and hot.
Now if you want it thick that’s fine. Just be mindful that the sauce will thicken once you cut off the fire so even if it the sauce still looks runny, after 8-10 minutes understand that it just looks like that because it’s bubbling.
You don’t want dry overly stiff baked beans so you want the sauce to look a little loose when you cut them off because if it’s thick when you cut it off, it’s going to be even thicker when it chills and you’re gonna need 10 cups of milk to drink. Lol!
Tips for best results:
- The Sugar: Now if you’re skeptical about the amount of sugar I use in this recipe, start off by adding a little sugar at a time until it reaches your desired sweetness.
What to serve with baked beans and sausage:
- Fried chicken: This can be served as a side dish. So if you’re thinking of something else to go with it, you can and will not go wrong with fried chicken, fried chicken goes with pretty much anything.
- Grilled BBQ chicken or ribs: Listen, baked beans are a well-known side dish for grilled food. And we know southerners love to grill their sausage or hotdogs before adding them to their baked beans.
- Seared steak: The savory beefy flavor of steak tastes lovely with sweet and spicy beans. You don’t even have to try it to know that. Some combos you just know will work and this one does perfectly.
- White rice: You can also serve your beans over something like rice. You can simply look to Popeye’s to know that. Just because these beans are a little sweet with sausage doesn’t change that! Lol!
- Cold milk: And if it’s a late cold winter night and you don’t want to overstuff yourself and need a nice cold drink to flush these beans down with, look no further than a cold glass of milk. You will thank me later for this.
Storage and reheating
- How to store it? You can just pour these beans in a glass Tupperware bowl and cover them with a lid. Or you can place them in a similar container or dish and cover them with plastic wrap or aluminum foil then store in the refrigerator.
- Can you freeze the beans? Yes! Just make sure you seal them tightly in a ziploc bag and place them in the freezer.
- How to reheat in a microwave: Place it in a microwave proof dish and let it go for 3 minutes, stir half way through. If need be, let it heat up for another minute.
- How to reheat in a skillet: The sauce stiffens especially after sitting in the refrigerator so when you warm them up, place them in a pot or skillet over medium heat and add a splash of water if you need to loosen it up a bit. Let it simmer for 8-10 minutes.
Give this recipe a shot! It’s the BIZZIDY BOMB BOMB, trust me! You’ll definitely be making this dish more than once! Leave a comment down below letting us know how you like it.
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Enjoy, later!
PBJ~
Bush’s Baked Beans & Polska Kielbasa
- Prep Time: 5 Mins
- Cook Time: 15 Mins
- Total Time: 20 Mins
- Yield: 6
- Category: Pork
- Cuisine: American
Description
 Sweet, hearty, Bush’s baked beans filled with bacon, sauteed onions & fried Polska kielbasa sausage. The perfect old-fashioned comfort dish for winter mountain trips and cold brisk evenings
Ingredients
- 14oz Polska Kielbasa Sausage
- 2 Cans (2 Lbs) of Bush’s Original Bacon & Brown Sugar Beans
- 1/4 Cup Finely Chopped Onions
- 2 Tbs Vegetable Oil
- 1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
- 1 Tsp Salt
- 1/2 Tsp Black Pepper
- 1/8 Tsp Cayenne Pepper (Optional)
Instructions
- Chop the onions into fine pieces and chop the kielbasa into 1/8 or 1/4 inch circular size pieces.
- Place a skillet over med-high heat, add in the oil, chopped kielbasa, onions, and seasonings, then toss well.
- Fry for 5 minutes and stir periodically to prevent each side from burning.
- Once done, reduce the heat to medium, then stir in the sugar & beans.
- Let the beans & sausage cook for 8 minutes.
Notes
If you’re skeptical about the sweetness of the beans, start off using 1/4 cup of sugar. If you then decide that you want it sweeter, continue adding more until it reaches your desired level of sweetness.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 6
Making this now it’s gonna be 75 today in Philly so you know how we do pulling the grill out thank you
Yes, getting warm now Danielle. So cocktails, salads, and grilled food here we come.
Can I tell you how much you were missed, not enough words! Happy you’re back!
Plan to make this for dinner tonight. I was hungry for baked beans and happened to have the kielbassa in the freezer. I’ve found, after cooking for many years, that sausage is a versatile protein. Thanks for the recipe!
O wow that was delicious! I lowered the amount of cayenne pepper and used just 1/4c brown sugar and it was amazing. Not to mention how easy and quick it was.
I found your recipe for shepherds pie on YouTube. I can’t tell you how good your food recipes are. I am glad I searched that day, and I am tell you, you can cook! Thanks for your recipes!
I am latina and our beans are savory, never sweet. I attended a children’s party where one of the side dishes was baked beans, and although they won’t replace my frijloles I enjoyed them very much. My boyfriend makes this (using hot dogs and regular white sugar) for his daughter all the time. Well today I had a craving for these and knew you posted this recipe and decided to give it a try. I didn’t use the measurements being that I only got a small can, but I followed steps and tasted for seasoning. Delicious as all your other recipes I have tried. I’m so glad you’re back. Can’t wait until you get your place and video production up and running.
Karen I was the same… never was into sweet beans or food period unless it was a dessert but as I’ve gotten order i’ve began to enjoy food with a touch of sweetness especially if it’s also spicy…. great combo!