The Best Bush's Baked Beans Flavor On Shelves Skips This Flavorful Ingredient

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When it comes to canned baked beans, there might not be a more famous brand than Bush's. Originally founded in 1908 by A.J. Bush in Chestnut Hill, Tennessee, the brand has a long history of providing quality canned beans. In 1969, the founder's great-grandson created the famous baked beans recipe — using now-standard navy beans — that's seasoned with bacon and brown sugar, and took the Bush's brand to a whole new level.

Because Bush's is such an iconic brand in the canned baked beans universe, we thought we should try 10 of its canned varieties and rank them all. Perhaps shockingly, our favorite version was the can of vegetarian baked beans. With so many delicious recipes that include bacon, ham, and other sorts of meat, we were legitimately surprised when we realized Bush's Vegetarian Baked Beans topped our list. Before the taste test, we honestly thought this version would fall dead last — but that's why we do firsthand research. In some of Bush's canned baked beans, the overall sweetness, combined with the bacon's smokiness, was almost overwhelming. We really enjoyed the more balanced, subtle notes of sugar, and the acidity from the tomato, in this vegetarian version, and we're not the only reviewers who think these beans are outstanding.

Walmart shoppers give the Bush's Vegetarian Baked Beans a 4.7 rating out of 5, after nearly 2,400 reviews. Amazon reviewers love these as well; one five-star review says, "The beans are small, white, and whole, not broken up or smashed, so good texture. Light tomato flavor, not spicy." 

Another Amazon customers adds, "These are the classic vegetarian style, and so they don't have the tang of bacon or other added flavors, but that's actually good because I can add my own flavors when I want." Many Facebook reviewers take that same approach. One says they add sauteed onion, ketchup, mustard, and brown sugar and bake them. Others add some lean meat to the vegetable equation, "Added some ground turkey, Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce, brown sugar, ketchup, and mustard for some good cowboy beans."

You can purchase a 28-ounce can of Bush's Vegetarian Baked Beans from Walmart for $2.77, which is similar to what you see price-wise at other stores. You could also grab a 12-pack of Bush's Vegetarian Baked Beans in 16-ounce cans for $26.12 on Amazon. In terms of Bush's other baked beans, we thought the Original version, with bacon and brown sugar, was a standout, as was the Sweet Heat version. On the flip side, we advise you to take a hard pass on the Dill Pickle and Apple Pie versions.