The Classic Southern BBQ Side That Fully Embraces The 'Swavory' Flavor Trend

Umami, earthy, briny, and the ever elusive piquant — every day there seems to be a new flavor descriptor that bubbles up to the top of our collective foodie vocabulary. Then again, sometimes new words are formed in order to describe emerging food trends. Such is the case with swavory. Swavory is a trending term referring to dishes that combine both sweet and savory elements (to delicious effect). Food Network even named swavory snacks as a popular 2026 food trend. Though the term may be relatively new, swavory dishes have been a part of our culinary landscape forever. 

In fact, there is one Southern barbecue staple that is pretty much the embodiment of this savory and sweet trend: baked beans. A staple side at many cookouts, barbecues, and Southern dinners, baked beans are a slow-cooked dish made from beans simmered in a rich sauce that usually includes spices like garlic and paprika, and often smoked meats such as bacon or flavor-packed ham hocks. It also features brown sugar or molasses for a caramel-driven sweetness. The dish works because all of these seemingly discordant ingredients are tied together by complementing flavors. The brown sugar, for example, has a richness that helps bring out the smokiness of your ham hock or bacon, and the creamy, subtle flavor of the beans provides a base for both flavor profiles. Of course, none of this is new to anyone who has ever been lucky enough to enjoy a bowl (or two) of the stuff.

Baked beans are far from the only swavory food to predate the trend. The combination of sweet and savory is a well-worn recipe for deliciousness. Take, for example, teriyaki sauce, which combines the umami-rich soy sauce with brown sugar. Other examples include fried chicken and waffles, and even classic sandwich combinations, such as turkey, brie, and apples. The key to perfecting swavory dishes is to find a flavor that adds dimension to your dish, not just sweetness. 

For example, teriyaki works because the molasses-based brown sugar brings a complex, smoky, and sometimes bitter flavor that adds dimension along with sweetness, and it also plays well with the similarly roasted, nutty, caramel-like undertones of savory soy sauce. Adding apple slices to a turkey and brie sandwich brings sharpness to the creamy cheese and a fresh sweetness that plays well with the light flavor of the meat. The tangy, smoky, spicy sauce of baked beans, infused with the warm sweetness of brown sugar or molasses, works in a similar way.

Now, if you want to be really adventurous, you can always add a spicy edge to this flavor formula. For example, using hot honey to drizzle atop your swavory chicken and waffles might just be the key to your next great brunch. Or, you can stir some sriracha into your baked beans for added spice and another kick of sweetness.What would you call that flavor combo? Swicory? Any way you say it, it's undeniably delicious.