Give Canned Baked Beans 10x The Flavor With These 11 Additions

One ingredient that is likely found in everyone's pantry is baked beans. Ready to eat straight from the can, they are satisfying and sweet, and packed with enough protein and fiber to keep you full for a few hours. They make an excellent accompaniment to burgers, hot dogs, and grilled meat, making them a low-effort staple at summer cookouts and barbecues. That being said, they can be a little one-dimensional, which can become boring if you are eating them regularly throughout the summer months. Cooking baked beans from scratch will give them greater depth of flavor, but that can be a time-intensive process that you may not be in the mood for on a hot day.

Fortunately, there are plenty of ways to transform your canned baked beans from run-of-the-mill side dish to cookout superstar, and many of the ingredients are already in your pantry, possibly sitting alongside them. From vinegar to lift the acidity to molasses to intensify the sweetness, numerous store cupboard ingredients can take your canned beans to tasty new heights. We've chosen our favorite options that will make the biggest difference with little effort, so let's take a look at the best additions to boost the flavor of canned baked beans.

If there is one ingredient that was made to be added to baked beans, it is bacon. The smoky, crispy nature of this fatty cut of pork pairs brilliantly with the soft, sweet beans and creates wonderfully deep notes in the tomato sauce.

Cooking the bacon separately is the way to go if you want crispy bits — and why on earth wouldn't you? You can use diced bacon or cook the rasher whole until extra crispy and then crumble through the dish. Once the bacon is done cooking, you can add the beans to the pan to heat, meaning that all the gorgeous umami bacon fat can blend with the tomato sauce and add extra smoky flavor.

Adding bacon to beans only takes a few extra minutes, but it elevates the side dish beautifully. Pair the bacon beans with burgers, hot dogs, or even a hearty sandwich to create a top-notch cookout combination that will really wow your crowd.

If you want to give your beans a super-quick upgrade, grab a bottle of barbecue sauce and give it a shake. Baked beans have a rich, sweet tomato sauce, and a splash of BBQ through them will give the side dish a welcome tangy element.

The beauty of barbecue sauce with beans is that it contains a number of different elements that will elevate the dish. Sweetness, often from molasses or brown sugar, will enhance the tomato notes, while sourness from the vinegar gives the beans the acidic hit they need to shine. If you like your BBQ sauce on the spicy side, don't be afraid to add it, too. The deep tomato sauce can handle the heat, and the result will be a bright, piquant side dish that will complement the grilled food at your cookout.

Start by adding a little bit of the barbecue sauce before heating the canned beans, and taste as you go, since the flavors will develop as the sauce starts to simmer and you don't want to run the risk of overpowering them. Pair with a tasty rack of ribs or grilled chicken, which will benefit from the complex notes of the upgraded beans.

Vinegar may not be the first ingredient you think of to upgrade your canned baked beans, but it should be. Adding a few drops of apple cider vinegar will give them a burst of acidity that will please your taste buds and pair well with the deep, rich tomato sauce. Sugar in some form is usually in canned beans as well, and the addition of vinegar will bring balance and create a tasty sauce with just a hint of acidic tang.

Using apple cider vinegar provides the added fruity notes, but red or white wine vinegar will also work with the beans. Start by just adding a teaspoon to the pan of beans, and add a little more as they cook until you have achieved the perfect harmony between sweetness and acidity. If you think you've gone a little too far, stick with it. You will find that once you add the grilled meat, coleslaw, and salad to the plate, the brightness from the vinegar will be spot on.

One of the issues with canned baked beans is that they lack the depth of the homemade version. Adding caramelized onions to the dish is a great way to create more complex flavors in the sauce and make them taste closer to homemade.

If you are planning ahead and have plenty of time, caramelizing the onions in a slow cooker is an excellent way to create the deep flavors and soft texture with virtually zero effort. If you don't have time to wait for the sugars in the onions to cook down, however, you can cheat slightly by adding brown sugar to the pan as you cook the onions in butter. This will give you a similar, if less authentic effect within about 15 minutes.

Once you have caramelized your onions, add them to your canned beans and simmer to allow the deep caramel notes to infuse with the tomato sauce. If it seems too sweet, add a splash of vinegar to brighten it, or a dash of hot mustard for a flavorful kick.

If you're buying beer for a cookout, try adding some to the baked beans before you start drinking it for a delicious upgrade that may surprise you. Beer makes a great addition to rich foods, and the sweet tomato sauce in canned baked beans will benefit from the depth it provides.

The type of beer matters here, as you don't want to overpower the beans. Amber ale is a good option, as is lager, which won't add too much bitterness. A splash of beer added to the pan of beans should be enough; if you add too much, they will be watery in texture and overly boozy. Add a little at the start, then let the beans simmer and absorb the malty flavor. You can always add a little more as they cook, so keep tasting as the flavors infuse. Serve the beer-infused baked beans with a variety of grilled meats and condiments, and, of course, a frosty bottle of beer.

Canned baked beans need a kick to make them super interesting, and while apple cider vinegar is a great option for a sour tang, mustard will give them a different kind of pizzazz altogether. German cuisine often sees mustard added to baked beans, and since the Germans are mustard aficionados — pairing it with Bratwurst, pasta sauces, and even ice cream! — we trust their judgement when it comes to beans too.

If you don't eat mustard often, choosing the correct type is crucial, as they are certainly not all created equal. English mustard, for example, is made from a mix of mild yellow mustard seeds and fiery brown ones, so it has a spicy kick that will clear your sinuses as soon as you open the jar. American yellow mustard, however, only has the white/yellow seeds, making it less of a shock for the palate. In the case of baked beans, aim for the middle ground by using medium-hot German mustard so you can get the best of both worlds.

Add a small spoonful of the mustard to the beans before heating, then allow the flavors to bubble together for as long as possible. Serve with sausages, burgers, or grilled chicken, all of which will benefit from a big dollop of the pungent mustard too.

Sausages and baked beans are a classic pairing, but if you really want to boost the dish, adding chorizo can enhance the flavor significantly. Packed with intense notes from paprika, garlic, and chilis, chorizo can lift the rich tomato sauce and balance the sweetness with savory elements.

The type of chorizo you choose will depend on how much time you want to spend cooking. Fresh chorizo needs to be cooked first and will result in a soft texture once the beans are added and they have cooked together for a while. Cured chorizo, on the other hand, can be added directly to the canned beans, either sliced or diced, and will remain chewy and firm, creating texture contrast with the soft beans.

Adding chorizo to canned beans transforms them from an average side dish to an impressive main event, but they can still be served alongside grilled meat for a barbecue or garden party. The beans will inevitably have more spice thanks to the chorizo, so sour cream or crème fraiche can be a welcome topping to counteract the extra heat.

Fruit may seem like a strange addition to canned baked beans, but apples work much better than you would think. The natural sweetness from the tomato sauce is enhanced by the fruit, and the smoky notes from the beans are balanced by the slight tang from the apples too.

The key question when adding apples to beans is — how sweet do you want them? To keep them on the right side of savory, use fresh apples, either sliced or diced, and bake with the beans until the apples are tender. If you fancy pulling the beans closer to sweet, you can use applesauce or even apple pie filling, which will give a much richer feel to the dish. Just be sure to add a little at a time and taste frequently to avoid turning your cookout side dish into a dessert.

To keep the balance right, pairing the apple with strong savory ingredients works well. Bacon or chorizo will add smoky notes, or a teaspoon of mustard can lift the whole thing if it is teetering on the edge of sweetness overload. Serve with sausages or a baked potato for a meal with amazing contrasts of sweet and savory that work perfectly in the summer.

If you find regular canned beans fall a little flat in the excitement department, adding chili peppers is a great way to crank up the heat. Jalapeños are an excellent option, but adding the pickled version can be even better, as they will introduce brightness from the vinegar as well as the spice from the peppers themselves.

Jalapeños are at the milder end of the chili pepper scale, with a Scoville rating of up to 8,000 units, making it a much more manageable option than, say, a habanero pepper at 350,000 units. This milder spice is ideal for the canned beans, with the heat lifting the sauce without scalding your palate in the process. Together with the acidity from the pickle juice, they create layers of flavor that upgrade the canned beans without overpowering them with heat. Add a few chopped pickled jalapeños to the beans before heating, introducing a splash of the pickle juice if you think they need some extra tang.

Molasses is an excellent addition to canned baked beans and the perfect way to intensify the sweetness of the tomato sauce without turning them into a dessert. Unlike regular sugar, molasses has a dark, slightly bitter flavor and lends interesting notes to the canned beans.

If the beans you have bought are a little runny, adding molasses can thicken the sauce and make it richer, though restraint is key. The sweetness from molasses is intense, so start by adding one spoonful, then taste as they cook before adding any more. If you want to contrast the extra sweetness, adding pork or bacon will enhance the smoky flavor further and rebalance the savory elements.

Molasses baked beans are a fabulous addition to a cookout, as the rich, sweet sauce matches grilled meat to perfection. Add in some creamy coleslaw and crunchy salad, and you'll have an utterly delicious plate of food that will satisfy your sweet and savory cravings at the same time.

It may not make it onto a list of gourmet ingredients, but adding Spam to your baked beans could be the tasty upgrade you didn't know they needed. The canned meat, with a name that is a contraction of "spiced ham," has a salty, ultra-savory quality that creates fantastic contrast with the rich, sweet beans.

Spam is already cooked when you take it out of the can, but to get the most of this ingredient, it's best to add it to the beans and cook them together to create an umami-rich combination. If you want to intensify the flavor even further, you can brown the diced Spam in a frying pan first, before adding it to the beans.

Be aware that Spam is very salty, so avoid adding extra salt until the very end of cooking, as the sauce can continue to change as the meat infuses with the beans. Incorporating fresh herbs and dried spices as seasoning instead will further enhance the dish without pushing the salt level too far. Spam baked beans make a great filling for a jacket potato, or can even be served as a hearty brunch dish with a thick slice of toasted bread.