Homemade Barbecue Beans Recipe

When it comes to choosing side dishes for a barbecue, there are a few choices that are a given. Potato salad, cole slaw and baked beans are standard fare whether dinner is being prepared at home by Aunt Sal or catered by an elite party planner out of Hollywood. The caterer may toss in a few exotic ingredients and spiff up the name, but a good old-fashioned homemade barbecue beans recipe is the only way to go for a true barbecue.

Whether you decide to go hometown or gourmet, the basics remain the same: beans, sauce and spices & vegetables and meat. You can make baked beans without meat, but the roots of barbecue beans are firmly planted in the carnivore category. It is rare to find a "quick and easy" homemade barbecue beans recipe that doesn't start with canned pork and beans. And the more authentic the recipe, like the ones that call for soaking dried beans overnight, the better chance you will find some type of meat in it. These recipes are, after all, for barbecue beans and in parts of the South, barbecue is another named for slow cooked pork.

The sauce in the homemade barbecue beans recipe should consist of some combination of ketchup, mustard & molasses. Some recipes call for barbecue sauce, but the real homemade barbecue beans recipe will have you make your own sauce. Most start with ketchup and build from there with mustard, molasses, honey, brown sugar or Worcestershire sauce. There are more exotic choices such as maple syrup, pineapple juice, beer and soy sauce; most of these add sweetness that compliments the smokiness of the barbecue they are paired with.

Spice is the other universal ingredient. Salt and pepper, of course, but cumin, coriander and any number of others can be found in a homemade barbecue beans recipe. For added kick, many home chefs will add peppers to their barbecue baled beans; some go mild with green bell peppers, others wild with chipotles or habaneros. Onions and garlic round out the flavor for most recipes.

When searching for your perfect homemade barbecue beans recipe, you will have to decide which variety of bean to use. Pinto beans are popular as are canned pork & beans, or navy beans. Some recipes utilize more than one type of bean to present an aesthetically appealing appearance as well as a delicious combination of flavors. These combinations may use lima beans, cannelloni beans, kidney beans and even black-eyed peas. Not only do the flavors blend well, the textures and colors are nice, too.

Choosing meat for homemade barbecue beans is an interesting task. The more traditional recipes call for bacon or the burnt ends from the brisket; ground beef, sausage, turkey wings and even oxtail are found in some of the homemade barbecue beans recipes. Any of these will do & will really boost the flavor of your homemade barbecue beans recipe.

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