British Baked Beans v’s American Baked Beans
Baked bean originated in the U.S. American-style baked beans are cooked with pork (bacon) molasses and brown sugar and the sauce is much sweeter and thick. These British-style beans are without meat, with a thinner tomato sauce with carrots, celery and Worcestershire sauce.
Baked beans are probably one of the most common (if not the) canned items to buy in England. They are an easy, saucy side for any dish from fish and chips, sausage rolls, beans on toast (the perfect budget meal) and even breakfast.
Yes, Brits eat beans for breakfast because the country is known for its Full English Breakfast consisting of sunny-side up eggs, bacon, cooked tomato slices, black pudding and fried bread.
Dried beans are best
Everyone loves good baked beans, they really go with just about anything and good homemade baked beans start with dried beans, not canned. Dried beans just have better texture. If you used canned for this recipe they would be mush by the end of the recipe.
It takes longer using dried beans but no extra work because they are soaked overnight so they cook faster. Once they are soaked, they are then simmered in boiling water for 45 minutes to 1 hour until tender.
While they cook, onions, celery, carrot and garlic are sautéed, then crushed tomatoes, ketchup and seasonings are added and the sauce is simmered to develop the flavors. To get a nice smooth sauce blended and the beans added and the entire dish is baked in the oven for 20 minutes. That’s all there is to easy, tasty homemade baked beans, British style.
How long will these beans keep?
These beans will keep refrigerated in a sealed container for 3-4 days or frozen for 1-2 months.
I’ve compiled a list of tips from myself and readers:
- Allow enough time to soak the dried beans. This helps them soften and cook faster. Beans that are old (and we don’t know how long they’ve been sitting in the grocery store) can take longer to cook (see more tips below on this).
- If you have hard water where you live, this can prevent the beans from softening. You will have better results if you use bottled water.
- Another way to help soften the beans is add a little baking soda to your bean cooking water they will get extra soft. I used a little less than 1/8 teaspoon and they came out just like Heinz.
- After soaking the dry beans for 8 hours they will be virtually non-gas producing if you rinse them thoroughly at least 3 times before adding water and boiling them.
- Reserve the water after cooking the beans. You can use this to thin out the tomato sauce if it is too thick after baking.
If you’ve tried these British Baked Beans or any other recipe on the blog then don’t forget to rate the recipe and let me know how they turned out in the comments below. I love to hear from my readers!
This recipe yields 1 1/2 quarts, 6 cups, 48 ounces, 1.3 kg.
British Baked Beans
Navy beans are cooked with vegetables and flavorings in tomato sauce for a taste of a British classic.
Ingredients
- 2 cups dried navy, great northern beans or haricot, rinsed
- 2 tablespoons salt
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 large yellow onion, finely chopped
- 1 small carrot, peeled and finely chopped
- 1 stalk celery, finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely grated
- 14-ounce can crushed or chopped tomatoes
- 2 1/2 tablespoon ketchup
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
Instructions
- To a large bowl add 4 cups of cool water to a bowl and add beans, soak for 8 hours.
- After 8 hours drain and rinse the beans.
- To a large saucepan, add 6 cups water and bring to a simmer. * see note
- Add beans, cover and simmer for 45 minutes, stirring often so they don't stick to the bottom.
- Add salt and continue to cook until tender, about another 15 minutes.
- While the beans cook, add the oil to a large, oven-proof skillet and heat over medium heat.
- Add the onion, carrot and celery, cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the tomatoes, ketchup, sugar and Worcestershire sauce. Stir to combine.
- Simmer for 15 minutes. Taste for seasoning and add salt if needed.
- Preheat oven to 320°F.
- Add 3/4 cup water to the sauce and stir. Using an immersion blender blend the sauce in the pan until smooth, or transfer to a blender and blend until smooth.
- Drain the cooked beans (reserve the water to help thin out the sauce later if needed), add to the sauce and stir well. Transfer the pan to the oven and bake for 20 minutes uncovered. If you find that the sauce is getting too thick, stir in some of the reserved bean cooking water.
Notes
- If you have hard water, add a little baking soda to the water to help soften as the hard water can lengthen the cooking time.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
8Serving Size:
1/2 cupAmount Per Serving: Calories: 94 Total Fat: 2g Saturated Fat: 0g Trans Fat: 0g Unsaturated Fat: 2g Cholesterol: 0mg Sodium: 1645mg Carbohydrates: 16g Fiber: 4g Sugar: 4g Protein: 5g
Clair says
They don’t really taste like Heinz or any British beans to me! They taste like beans in tinned tomatoes.
Janette says
I’m sorry that the beans didn’t turn out the way you expected. I make these myself regularly as have a lot of my readers (per the comments) and they turn out very well for me also. There are enough ingredients in the sauce so you should not be just tasting the tomatoes, I’m not sure what happened when you made them.
Karen says
I don’t know what I did wrong, I followed the recipe exactly. The sauce came out really thick and fiberous. I used navy beans (I couldn’t find the other kind mentioned) they are much too large and some of the skins soaked off the beans are impossible to pick out. The flavor is kind of off to me, nothing like Heinz. I don’t know how it went so wrong. I so much wanted this to be an amazing dish, as we love the Heinz beans and they’re sometimes hard to find in the US. I’m going to try to doctor it up and see if I can save them.The sauce is kind of the consistency of tomato juice, kind of broken, not smooth. I blended the heck out of it but maybe the veggies weren’t soft enough or something.
Yes I saw the tips for the beans after I already made them. I will try that next time as I do have very hard water. I tried them today and the flavor has come together so next time I’ll make the proper adjustments and it should be perfect! I’m going to see if I can find the other beans and try the recipe again. Thank you!
Janette says
I’m sorry that it didn’t turn out right. It does sound like you did not cook the vegetables until they were soft enough to blend smooth. I hope you were able to recover the dish.
John Nixon says
Great recipe! I really like Heinz beans and this recipe comes out similar but better! After cooking the beans and finishing the sauce I drained the beans and saved the bean water. When I combined the beans with the freshly blended sauce they turned out to be a bit thicker than I thought they should be so I thinned out the sauce with the bean water using about a quarter of a cup at a time until it became about the same consistency as appears in the picture at the top of this recipe.
Janette says
I should hire you to help me develop recipes and right the text. 🙂 Thank you for the great comment and tips, I’m glad you enjoyed the beans.
Kalie says
We really enjoyed these but I think we prefer them a bit saucier, so I’m going to add some tomato sauce 🙂
Janette says
I’m glad you were able to make them to your liking. Thank you for stopping by.
Robert says
Do these taste anything like heinz or Branston as I would really like the idea of that
Janette says
I haven’t tried Branston, but they are as close to the taste of Heinz that I can get them. If you try the recipe, please come back and leave a comment on the bottom of the recipe to let me and others know how they worked for you.
Leah says
I really, really enjoyed these beans. I had to cook my beans longer (they’re a bit old, I think), I added a little extra celery to clear out my stock, and used liquid aminos instead of the Worcestershire sauce. They turned out great. Thanks for the healthy and plant based recipe. It was exactly what I was looking for!
Janette says
You’ve made my day and I love the use of the liquid aminos. Thank you.
Anita French says
I made these beans today. SOOO good! I used crushed fire roasted toms instead, and subbed the sugar w monk fruit zero calorie sweetener. All else just as instructed. Thank you so much for this veg version. I will be making these often!
Janette says
My favorite kind of feedback, I’m so glad you liked them
MHC says
Not a Brit and never been there, but I developed a love for beans on toast and this recipe beats any other I’ve tried. Tasty and simple. Plus I know that I can make them truly vegan not just vegetarian and with a lower sugar and salt content than any UK imported canned beans. The recipe makes for enough to freeze and keep on hand for lots of breakfasts and lunches. Thanks for the recipe and all the tasty background info.
Janette says
I’m so glad you liked them and I hope you get to try them in England one day. Thanks for the great feedback.
Thom says
I’m enjoying your recipe at the moment, devouring a lunch of beans on toast. They’re subtly flavored, mild on the tongue and definitely delicious. The recipe yielded enough to fill three pint jars with enough left over to cover a piece of toast.
I checked a popular brand of vegetarian baked beans and found a single (pint) can has 10 times the sugar as in this entire recipe!
The one nit I have is that I would like to find a way to make them with a bit more sauce so that it can soak into the toast.
I had an electrician come just as the beans went on the stove, and they boiled over. Boy, you really do have to keep an eye on it. It went everywhere. Fortunately, starch cleans up easily.
The post cooking cleanup was a little more daunting, since we don’t use a dishwasher. The sink was full between the bean pot, colander, measuring spoons, saute pan, knives, cutting board and blender parts.
BUT, it’s all worth it. Thank you so much for providing a healthy, delicious recipe. It’s definitely going into our collection and will be used frequently! Best wishes!
Janette says
Thanks for the detailed feedback Thom and I’m glad you liked them. The British recipe is very different than the American one that is quite sweet and smokey. To make them more saucy, try adding a little more crushed tomatoes, ketchup and little stock or water. You’ve got me thinking about beans on toast and now I want some 🙂
Pete Douglas says
Pete says,
Before I saw this recipe I tried to recreate the heinz uk beans flavor and thought I got pretty close. I soaked white navy beans for 24 hours. Drained them, covered with V-8 juice(Campbell) added a dash of milk and cooked in a pressure cooker (instant pot)for 15 minutes. They came out very close, l may try to tweak but very close.
Janette says
Thanks for your recipe, this is a heck of a shortcut, thank you for sharing.
Thom says
It’s not clear when and where to to use the divided salt. Could you please clarify?
Janette says
I can see where this doesn’t read clearly and I’ve make the change. The extra 1/2 teaspoon salt is for step 10 after you taste for seasoning so the cook can add as much or as little as you like. I hope this helps.
Sam says
I followed the recipe exactly and they came out hard. Any ideas?
Janette says
Hi Sam, I’m sorry this happened to you. This could be due to the beans themselves, if they are old (maybe they have been sitting in the store for a while) they will take longer to cook. You could just try baking them longer and keep tasting them until they are tender. I hope this helps.
Frank says
Question: At what temperature for the last part in the oven ? Thankyou
Janette says
Hello Frank, sorry for leaving that out. The temperature is 325°F and I’ve updated the recipe.
helen @ Scrummy Lane says
This is something I’ve been wanting to have a go at making for ages, Janette!
It’s very true what you’re saying about British baked beans. I have them at least once or twice a week, sometimes just for dinner on toast with a little sprinkling of cheese, and sometimes with a full cooked breakfast at a local pub (for about £3 if you can believe that!).
Thanks so much for the recipe – they look just like Heinz!
Helene D'Souza says
I have been looking for a real deal baked beans recipe for ever. I am such a huge banked beans lover, I could eat it anytime of the day. So cool you ad Worcestershire Sauce, yum! 😀
Elizabeth says
I do love my tinned beans, but I bet these would give them a run for their money! Yum!
Lisa Huff says
Oh yum! I’m saving this one. I really need to make more beans at home!
Sandhya Ramakrishnan says
I love baked beans, but have never made them myself. Being vegetarian, I always have a hard time picking something that is without meat. Love your explanation about how the British Baked Beans are different from the US ones. Now I know vegetarians have to go the British way when making the baked beans. Great recipe and thanks for sharing!
Kathleen | Hapa Nom Nom says
Homemade is always better! And paired with your English breakfast… I’m drooling just thinking about it! My husband would totally go nuts for this dish.
Cindy Jamieson says
I just love baked beans. There is just something about the sweet and savory together. Yours look incredible!
Healing Tomato says
I love this recipe. Growing up, we would eat baked beans and toast on Friday nights. We would groan at the site of the beans, but, my parents insisted that they are good for us. I will be making these beans on recipe on Friday nights.
Heather Riccobono says
Baked beans are so good and I have never tried making them homemade. Perfect to pair with a warm pot pie on cold days!
WorkingMomMagic says
I love baked beans.. this sounds amazing! Thanks for sharing!
Helen @ Scrummy Lane says
Oh, Janette, this recipe is getting pinned immediately! My husband will love you if I make him these homemade beans (he loves beans and made us a bean and cheese toastie today … mmm!) Really keen on trying these! Especially love that you added bacon.
Sarah Bouvier says
These look so much better than canned! Definitely a recipe I will have to try! My husband LOVES baked beans!!
Kathleen says
I love baked beans, but I’m a bit embarrassed to say I’ve never made my own – that’s right, I’ve only had them from a can. I know… it’s shameful. This recipe looks so delicious, you’ve inspired me to make my own. I have all of the ingredients in my pantry – looks like I’ll be soaking beans tonight 🙂
KC the Kitchen Chopper says
Your baked beans sound incredible. This recipe is worth stepping away from the can! Thanks Janette.
Janette Fuschi says
Thank you KC. These really do taste so much better than canned, I was very pleased with them, so was my husband 🙂
Rachel (Rachel's Kitchen NZ) says
Oh, I do love homemade baked beans – and a good pie – yum – I guess that’s the Kiwi in me:)