14 Ways To Elevate Your Store-Bought Baked Beans
When it comes to comfort food, things don't get much better than baked beans. This simple, nutritious, and filling dish is a lazy afternoon staple, one of those meals you can throw together and forget about, before returning to a bubbling, delicious pot of goodness. Baked beans have an extensive history in North America, with early forms of the dish being made by the Iroquois, Penobscot, and Narragansett people. Over time, baked beans popped up in various forms amongst different cultures, and today has become a much-loved food, either as a side dish or a meal in its own right.
But look, we live in a modern world. And we don't all have time to make baked beans from scratch. Luckily, baked beans are one of those foods that have a host of excellent store-bought options, and many cans of baked beans can be almost as tasty as the home-cooked thing. There are times, however, when your store-bought baked beans need a little upgrading. And the good news is, there are many ways to do it. Let's take a look at some of our favorite ways to elevate store-bought baked beans.
1. Throw in some hot sauce
Some store-bought baked bean brands can come with a serious kick to them. But other times, you can open up a can of baked beans that promises spice, and be left with a flat flavor that's lacking layers. In situations like that, a few dashes of hot sauce will do wonders. Adding hot sauce to baked beans gives them an instant hit of heat and a smoky, tangy, sweet taste, that complements the inherent flavor profile of the dish.
Pretty much any hot sauce you like will amp up store-bought baked beans considerably, but it's important to remember that they're all built differently. Adding sriracha, for example, will give your baked beans a garlicky, fiery sweetness. A few shakes of Tabasco, on the other hand, can deliver a slight sourness, and a big hit of smoke.
Crucially, though, too much hot sauce does exist, so use your chosen product carefully. Not only can adding an abundant amount of hot sauce tip your baked beans over into excessive heat, but some hot sauces can be super-high in sodium, which is partly what gives them their intense flavor. Check how much sodium is in your store-bought baked beans already, and then add sparingly, so you don't end up with a salt bomb for a meal.
2. Add a little meat
If you're buying a can of pork and beans, you'll be getting a pretty meaty mouthful with every bite. But there are some situations where all you can find is a can of regular baked beans — and let's face it, the pork that comes in those cans can be pretty flimsy and tasteless, right?
So, if you end up with a can of meatless baked beans, never fear. All you need to do to amp them up to the next level is add in some meat yourself. Adding in heavily seasoned meat like black pepper bacon, as well as pork shoulder or ham, is a great way to make a homestyle baked beans dish without having to simmer the beans for hours beforehand. Just pre-heat an oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, and pour your baked beans into a Dutch oven. Add cubed ham or pork shoulder, some cut-up bacon, onion and garlic, and some seasonings like Dijon mustard, barbeque sauce, or hot sauce. You may also want to add some sugar if you wish. Then, cover and let the whole thing bake for roughly one and a half hours, before letting it bake uncovered for a while. Remove from the oven, dish up, and enjoy the feast.
3. Put them into some pastry
Trust us, folks, once you've tried this one, you'll never go back. As a dish that contains protein, fat, and carbohydrates, baked beans are pretty filling on their own. But if you want to do something truly special, grab yourself some puff pastry, and go wild. The baked bean-stuffed pastry is a delicious snack choice that's most common in the United Kingdom, championed by bakery chain Greggs. The fast food eatery stuffs baked beans, sausage, and cheese into slices of puff pastry, and bakes the whole thing until it's molten-hot and unbelievably delectable.
Sounds good, right? And the best part is, you can make this at home with just a few ingredients. It's best to go for U.K.-style baked beans for this treat, to get its full effect. Mix some beans, mozzarella cheese, and slices of cooked sausage in a bowl, and then spoon the mixture onto a square of puffed pastry. Add another square over the top, and press the sides down with a fork to seal them. Put a few slits in the top, place in an oven, and bake until it's golden brown all over. You are welcome, people.
4. Turn them into a casserole
The best baked bean adaptations understand that getting the most out of the dish means leaning into its heartiness and stomach-filling nature. And that's why turning store-bought baked beans into a casserole is a natural and satisfying choice. A baked bean casserole is a great way to stretch any meat you have that needs to be used up a little further. And when served alongside biscuits, potatoes, or even rice, it can make a fantastic weekday meal.
For a hamburger baked bean casserole, grab a few cans of baked beans (pork and beans will also work well), and pour them into a casserole dish. Then, in another pan, sauté some ground beef and onion until cooked through. Add these to the beans, along with any seasonings of your choosing, some chili powder, and some diced-up bacon. Then, pop the whole thing in the oven for about an hour, leaving it to cook uncovered for the last quarter of the cooking time. Serve alongside your favorite carb. And if you really want to make things delicious, sprinkle some cheese on top just before you finish cooking it, and pop it under the broiler.
5. Make them Boston-style
Of all the regional styles of baked beans out there, Boston-style are arguably the most famous. This variety of baked beans likely developed from the Puritans, who would traditionally cook a baked bean-style dish the day before the Sabbath, to avoid using the kitchen on a Sunday. As this dish was passed down through the generations, molasses entered the fold, a key flavor in Boston-style baked beans and an ingredient common in the area. Over time, other ingredients also became super important to the dish's standard recipe. And now, it's a melange of beans, molasses, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, and seasonings, simmered for hours until the beans are tender and flavorful.
But if you don't have all day, you can still make Boston baked beans with the store-bought can in your pantry. Cook some onion, garlic, and bacon, and then stir them together with the key ingredients needed to make things Boston-style, along with a can or two of baked beans, in a large pot. Bring it to a boil, reduce the heat, and let everything bubble away for about 45 minutes. Keep an eye on the beans as you do this, as some baked bean varieties can disintegrate quite quickly. Once the time is up, dish it out, and enjoy the complexity of those sweet, smoky flavors.
6. Serve them on toast
Sometimes, you just can't beat a classic. Beans on toast is a quintessentially British meal, and arguably one of the best ways to take store-bought baked beans to the next level, simply by adding some toasted bread. This staple dish became popular in the United Kingdom during World War II, as an inexpensive, quick, and easy-to-make meal, and a particularly good way to boost one's daily protein intake. And thanks to its simplicity and versatility, it can be eaten at virtually any point in the day.
One important thing to note about beans on toast, though, is that the beans you use are essential. This is a meal that's value lies in its simple, effortless charm. Therefore, picking store-bought beans that are too heavily flavored or spiced will turn it into a different dish entirely. For best results, try and find U.K.-style baked beans, ideally made by Heinz, which is a widely used brand in Britain. Toast up some slices of your favorite bread, and slather them in butter. Then, pile a portion of hot baked beans on top, grab your fork, and go to town.
7. Mix them with other beans for a Carolina-inspired dish
Baked beans are popular all over America. But in the Southern States, they know how to turn this simple legume into something pretty special. And store-bought baked beans can be a fantastic ingredient in a larger, Carolina-style bean dish. Carolina-style baked beans are deeply rooted in Southern barbecue, and as such, it's a meal that showcases the very best of its flavors, with layers of smokiness, tang, heat, and sweetness. The use of multiple types of beans in a Carolina-style baked bean dish also provides variety through different tastes, shapes, and textures.
Remember, therefore, that unless you can find store-bought baked beans that have many different types of beans in them, you should try and use whatever variety of bean can you find as just one part of this dish. Grab yourself some cans of red kidney, butter, and great northern beans, and mix them with your baked beans. The baked beans will impart some smoky flavor, which you can reinforce further by adding barbeque sauce, hot sauce, and any spices you like. Fry up some bacon and onions, stir them into your bean mixture, and then bake until bubbling and comforting.
8. Sweeten your baked beans up
We tend to think of baked beans as a savory dish, but without a bit of sweetness, they can lack the complexity that makes this meal truly special. Unfortunately, though, some store-bought baked bean brands may lack the sweetness you need for everything to shine. Fortunately, with a little bit of doctoring at home, you can bring out the baked beans' sweeter notes. And all you need is a bottle of maple syrup.
Maple syrup is the perfect addition to baked beans, as it has a slightly mellow, multilayered flavor. This nuance makes it less of a pure sugar hit than granulated sugar or corn syrup, which will add sweetness without any depth. The favored sweetener of barbecue recipes worldwide, maple syrup is also actually much healthier than you thought and it comes with a fair amount of minerals and antioxidants.
Crucially, you'll want to make sure that you're using natural maple syrup, and ideally, one that has as short of an ingredients list as possible. It's also useful to only add a little at a time, tasting the beans as you go, so that you don't inadvertently turn your baked beans into a dessert dish.
9. Put them in a sandwich
We make no secret of the fact that we love carbs. And if you do too, then you're going to love this next baked bean hack. Putting baked beans in between two slices of bread and turning it into a sandwich is a quick and simple way to rustle up a filling meal. While it might sound slightly odd to some, the baked bean sandwich is a popular and beloved dish in New England and can be eaten hot or cold, at home or on the go.
And for folks who are slightly work-shy in the kitchen, the baked bean sandwich is as easy as it sounds. Just grab a slice of bread, pour some baked beans onto it, and top it with a second slice. Boom. It's best to go with dense bread with thick slices, as things can get a little saucy with this sandwich. The last thing you want is sogginess. And if you want to make a baked bean sandwich extra special, cheese is your best friend. Try adding a few spoonfuls of baked beans into an otherwise-boring grilled cheese, to make a mind-blowing meal.
10. Sub them for pinto beans in a Mexican meal
Beans are a ubiquitous ingredient in Mexican cuisine, and pinto beans are one of the most widely-used varieties. But what do you do if you want to make a Mexican meal with pinto beans, and you don't have a can of them around? That's where store-bought baked beans come in. In many cases, baked beans can be used as a straight swap for pinto beans, especially if the brand you're using has Mexican-inspired flavorings. You also don't have to worry about cooking beans from scratch, as store-bought baked beans are ready to eat straight from the can.
There are a few caveats to using baked beans in place of pinto beans, however. The first is the difference in the bean themselves. Baked beans are often made using navy beans, and while they can be used fairly interchangeably with pinto beans, they do have a slightly less pronounced taste. Additionally, store-bought baked beans can often be drowned in sauce, and if you add too much, this can alter the taste of your food considerably. That's why it's best to drain or even rinse your baked beans slightly before using them, especially if the baked beans you plan to use don't have the same flavor profile as the dish you're making.
11. Add some curry powder
Legumes are plants that are generally well-suited to curry flavors, with popular Indian dishes like chana dal being beloved by vegetarians and non-vegetarians alike. And as it turns out, curry flavors work very well with store-bought baked beans too. More simply-flavored baked beans pair very well with punchy, spicy curry powders, and shaking a few dashes into a baked bean mixture can heighten their heat and deliver brand new taste combos.
Curry powders can vary considerably in not only spice but in flavor profile, so the one you choose will affect your final result. For a gentler warmth that places more emphasis on aromatics, garam masala is your best friend. Made with toasted, finely-ground spices, garam masala has a nuttiness to it that other curry powders sometimes lack. If you're making curried baked beans, though, make sure you're not trying to spice up a brand that's heavily flavored in other ways. Trying to amp up sweet, BBQ-based baked beans with curry powder may produce mixed results, and leave you with an unnecessarily-complicated plate of food.
12. Pour in a little Coca-Cola
Adding sweetness to a meal is a delicate balance. Add too much, and you end up with a syrupy-sweet result that lacks any nuance. Add the wrong kind of sweetness, and you might take your dish in a completely different direction. There's also the risk that you just opt for simple, granulated sugar, which may work in some meals, but probably won't be the best choice for baked beans.
What's the solution to all of these issues? It's probably something you've got on your shelf already. A simple can of Coca-Cola is the perfect addition to store-bought baked beans, both in terms of adding sweetness and doing so in a manner that suits the natural flavor profile of the beans. Coca-Cola has a longstanding presence in Southern cooking, and while it's commonly used to cook meat, it's equally as good in a bean dish. The soda adds both extra sugar and acidity to meals which boosts their flavor from all sides. And if your store-bought baked beans are already barbecue, a bit of Coke will only make them better.
When adding Coca-Cola to beans, make sure you only add a bit at a time, so you don't drown the meal you're making in sugar. Crucially, too, avoid adding Diet Coke, as the artificial sweetener in it just won't have the same effect.
13. Get yourself a couple of potatoes
Store-bought baked beans are hearty enough on their own, but if you really want to get your fill, you might want to enlist some extra help. And here, the help comes in a delicious, fluffy form, by way of a baked potato.
A baked potato and beans is a classic lunch or dinnertime treat in the United Kingdom, where the potato is usually called a jacket potato. And it's a delightfully simple meal to make. All you have to do is bake a potato until it's crispy on the outside and pillowy within, by rolling a spud in oil, dusting it with salt, and popping it in a 350-degree oven for an hour. Once it's cooked, slit it open on the top, and gently squeeze it, to make some space inside. Add a pat of butter and allow the heat of the potato to melt it, and then pour some piping-hot beans into the gap you've made. Finish the whole thing off with a generous handful of grated cheddar cheese and a little salt and pepper, and you've got yourself a meal fit for the King of England himself.
14. Add a splash or two of Jack Daniels
Adding extra flavor to store-bought baked beans needn't just come in the form of extra salt, sugar, or spices. There are multiple clever ways to add new layers to store-bought baked beans and which amplify their inherent barbecue-focused taste. And one of our favorite methods comes courtesy of our old friend Jack Daniels.
Jack Daniels, and other whiskeys, can provide a serious amount of flavor in a relatively small amount. "Whisky has an incredibly diverse flavour spectrum, much more so than wine," states Bowmore Distilleries' master blender Rachel Barrie via The Guardian. Its production method, which sees it develop in wooden barrels, allows it to take on unique smoky flavors that suit the classic tastes of baked beans perfectly. Whiskey also works to reinforce the other flavors in any dish you add it to, making everything taste just a bit more intense. And a Southern-style whiskey like Jack Daniels is the perfect one to use.
Importantly, you don't need to add a lot to get a good result: Just a splash or two into your baked beans should be plenty to liven them up. If you don't want your beans to be too boozy, ensure that you cook the alcohol off, by allowing the beans to simmer a little once you've put your whiskey in.