This baked beans recipe tastes so similar to Heinz it’s almost scary. Except homemade baked beans don’t have underlying tones of artificial flavour, and the sauce isn’t slimy which I really hate about canned baked beans!
These British baked beans can be made with dried or canned beans. Quick and easy, very economical and utterly addictive!
Heinz baked beans recipe
So there’s no misunderstanding, let me explain upfront that this recipe is for British style baked beans which comes in a semi-clear tomato sauce and is traditionally served for breakfast. It’s completely different to Southern Baked Beans which is a Southern food staple and comes with a darker, more intense flavoured sweet/savoury sauce.
Specifically, this recipe today is a copycat of Heinz baked beans. A British export, firmly adopted by Aussies as a breakfast-lunch-dinner staple.
Crack open a can, tip it over toast and microwave – that was the standard method.
Heating it up in a saucepan was the posh method. Add a slice of cheese – now that was getting real fancy!
I think we have the evolution of cooking shows and rise and rise of the internet to thank for the discovery of homemade versions of canned food favourites. And for me, homemade baked beans was one of the greatest eye openers. How simple it is. And how much tastier it is.
And as someone who always had an issue with the sliminess of the Heinz baked beans sauce, discovering homemade baked beans was revolutionary! 😂
What you need to make baked beans from scratch
Here’s what you need to make baked beans from scratch:
Canned vs dried beans
You can make this baked beans recipe with dried or canned beans. The base recipe uses dried beans because:
you can’t get canned navy beans / haricot beans here in Australia, you can only get dried (as far as I am aware); and
cooked dried beans taste better, and you can control the texture. Canned beans are always bloated from sitting in liquid, so they’re on the soft side.
Beans used for Baked Beans
Navy beans, also known as Haricot Beans, are the beans used in commercially produced canned baked beans. They are white beans that are slightly smaller than Cannellini beans.
However, any small to medium beans will work just fine here. They don’t even need to be white!
Chicken vs vegetable stock/broth
Chicken stock gives the sauce a better flavour because it has more complex flavours than vegetable stock because it’s made from meat. It doesn’t make this dish taste “chicken-like” or meaty once cooked.
However, vegetable stock does work fine but for best results, I recommend using homemade vegetable stock (it’s the easiest of all stocks to make, and really worth doing homemade).
How to make baked beans from scratch
It is literally a “mix it all in the pot and simmer” job.
The only thing to do at the end is to add cornflour/cornstarch to thicken the sauce. This needs to be done at the end because excess stirring or prolonged cooking over heat makes cornflour lose its thickening powers (in case you were wondering why cornflour is always added at the end of recipes!!)
How to serve baked beans
Traditionally thought of as a side for breakfast (think a big English breakfast with poached, fried or scrambled eggs, bacon, mushrooms, sausages and toast) or piled onto toast (try adding CHEESE!). But there’s so much more we can do with baked beans to make it an economical, seriously delicious meal! Here are a few suggestions:
Chicken and beans – sprinkle chicken (or any chops, or sausages) with salt and pepper. Pan fry in butter. Serve with baked beans on the side which will act as the “sauce” as well as the starch for dinner;
Sausage and beans – either slice smoked sausages, squeeze the filling out of sausage casings or use ground sausage. Cook it in a pot, add baked beans, stir through spinach = dinner in a pot!
Stuff baked potatoes (add cheese to this too!)
As a side for any dinner – serve it as the starch on a dinner plate. Beans are low in GI so they’ll keep you fuller for longer!
Emergency nachos – pile over corn chips and add a ton of cheese. How can you go wrong??
Stuff an omelette – yep, really. Make an omelette and stuff it with cheesy baked beans!
Breads for dunking
Here are a few bread options – for toasting, dunking, mopping! The first 3 breads are all ideal for slicing > toasting > smothering with baked beans.
For me personally, I like to serve it in a bowl with bread for dunking. The whole “smother toast” thing doesn’t do it for me because I like to eat toast with my hands (well, put another way, I hate using a knife and fork for toast).
And if you pile baked beans over toast, eating it with your hands is messy business.
So I prefer the bowl method – spoon + bread for dunking. Practical and effective! – Nagi x
Watch how to make it
Watch how to make this baked beans recipe – and see how truly similar it is to Heinz baked beans!
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Homemade Heinz Baked Beans
Ingredients
Beans – choose ONE (Note 1):
- 2 cups (14 oz) dried Navy beans (aka Haricot) or other white beans
- 3 x 400g/14oz cans harricot/navy beans, cannellini or any white beans , drained
Baked beans:
- 2 cups chicken stock/broth , low sodium, OR homemade vegetable stock (Note 2)
- 1 cup water
- 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 6 tbsp ketchup or Aussie/British tomato sauce (Note 3)
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 3 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder (or more onion powder)
- 1/2 tsp onion powder (or more garlic powder)
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp salt
Sauce thickening:
- 8 tsp cornflour / cornstarch
- 1/4 cup water
Instructions
Cook dried beans:
- No need to do these steps if using canned beans, start with Step 1 under "Baked Beans" below.
- Soak beans in a big bowl of water for 8 – 24 hrs, then drain.
- Skim foam – Place beans in a large pot of water over high heat. Bring to a simmer, then skim off foam.
- Simmer Reduce heat so it's simmering gently (medium or medium low). Partially cover with lid (leaving a crack for steam to escape), then cook for 1 – 1.5 hrs until just tender. (Start checking at 45 min). Beans should be still slightly firm on inside (they're cooked more in the sauce). Drain, use per recipe.
Baked Beans:
- Mix – Place all Baked Beans ingredients in a pot (except beans) and stir, then add beans.
- Simmer – Bring to a simmer, then lower heat to medium low and simmer for 20 minutes, without the lid. Stir every now and then so the beans don't catch on the bottom of the pot.
Thicken sauce:
- Mix cornflour with water. Pour into pot while stirring, then cook for 2 minutes until sauce thickens – it will thicken quickly. (Note 3)
- Check for salt: Taste and add more salt if needed.
- Serve it the traditional way – piled over hot buttered toast. Or ladle into bowls, eat with a spoon and dunk in hot crusty bread! Popular breads – simple crusty Artisan bread, Irish Soda Bread (No yeast) and No Yeast Sandwich Bread
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Originally published May 2014. Updated with more streamlined, better recipe (skipped unnecessary extras that didn’t add to the end result), new photos, new video and Life of Dozer section added in May 2020!
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I am just making this right now, tasted it, and it is awful. What a waste of time, it really is nasty, I used everything the way you wrote it out. 🙁
Hey Jackie…. I’m curious, in what way is it nasty? I don’t know if you’re from America or not, but ketchup might be making it too sweet perhaps? Personally I only use 1tsp of sugar, Aussie Tomato sauce, and I double the onion and garlic powders. But that’s just my tastes.
I think it’s a shame you chose to use chicken stock. Heinz Beans have always been vegetarian.
You can get vegetarian chicken stock, massel brand has one and probably heaps others do too 🙂
Hi Elliot! Chicken stock has more umami (layers of flavour) than vegetable stock which is why I use it here. Vegetable stock also works fine but honestly, the flavour if you use chicken stock is better 🙂 N x
For a vegetarian option I’d use homemade vege stock and MSG. Not quite as good as chicken stock, but close enough.
Your site is our go to, thank you Nagi. 😃
We’re still yet to try this one but any suggestions to make this into a heinz baked beans in BBQ sauce please?
Ps – we love your chilli con carne, cornbread, beef brisket with bbq sauce, beef stroganoff & bread and butter pudding recipes!!!
Regards,
Rae & Cain
Townsville, Queensland, Australia
Hi Navi,
I am interested in pressure canning your recipe to have on hand on my shelf, I am a experienced pressure canner but I thought I would ask if you had any tips for me regarding the process.
I have been looking for a while for a recipe for Heinz style Baked Beans so I am eager to try it. Thanks for your recipe
Laurelle
Hi Laurelle, I don’t have much experience canning sorry – love to know if you give it a go though!! N x
I will let you know how it turns out … possibly in the next week or so … I am fairly confident on how to do it …I am looking forward to giving it a go
LAurelle
I can my own beans all the time. This recipe is in my pressure cooker right now while I’m writing. Easy Peasy. I add the dry beans (1/2 cup) to a pint jar and fill with water. Wait overnight or a few hours. Rinse the beans and empty the water. Make up the sauce. I use Clear Jel as the corn starch because it is OK’d to use in home canning. Process per the Ball Blue Book (1 hr 20 min for pints) and you’re home free! I’ve canned my own beans since the 1970’s when my wife and I were broke college kids. Been doing it ever since.
Ooops. Skipped a notch. Fill the jar of drained beans with the mixed sauce. For me, it made exactly 4 pints and the sauce filled the jar with beans exactly right.
I have made this recipe many times, my husband has never been a tinned baked beans fan… but he can’t get enough of this recipe! It’s also great to add to a beef casserole!
Woah what a compliment!! That’s great Finny! N x
I was very happy that these beans were exactly how you said (just like Heinz), I put them in portions into Ramekins and froze. When frozen I removed from Ramekins and placed them all in a freezer bag. One portion just enough with an English breakfast. Thanks.
What a great idea Kath!!! N x
Hi there, I plan to make using canned beans. Could you please tell me how long these will these last in the fridge please and also is this suitable to freeze. Many thanks
Sorry if i’ve missed something but when i was looking for vegetarian recipes this came up, but it has chicken stock, im not vegetarian but is this considered okay to eat for them or has the recipe been put in the wrong category? thanks 🙂
Lots of standard chicken stock these days is actually vegan friendly weirdly.
Hi Rory, you can easily sub with vegetable stock here 🙂 N x
I made this and it’s yummy! Way less sweeter than the baked beans bought in US. I like it even less sweeter and only put half of the sugar in the recipe! Thank you for this recipe!
cont’d.
I love the way you write your recipes, you answer my questions even before I have thought them e.g. put lid on, take lid off, tomato sauce vs ketchup etc. Vanilla cup cakes and Asian Sesame dressing is next. Wish I knew more about GMO and oils, etc. Thank you.
Kath
Hi Nagi, I had yo write this even though it is after 10 pm in Toronto, Canada. Just taken off the stove your recipe of Heinz Baked Beans – Excellent!!! I have many Australian friends in Australia and here in Toronto and these beans won’t last long. Would it work if I doubled the batch or should I do two separately? Also, If I wanted to could I add a little Maple syrup or molasses?
looks good any issues if I halve the recipe ?
No problems – it’s fine to halve JJ! N x
many thanks!
It actually tastes better that what it intends to copy, probably because ingredients are all fresh and does not have that ‘canny’ aftertaste. Is there a pressure cooker variant for this same recipe? Am intrigued to try it, if there is a recipe for it. Thank you.
I want to change my rating because actually the sugar and salt needs reducing but probably as sweet as the real thing and tastes the same if not better. But now I can have baked beans at the level of sweetness I decide.
Loved this recipe!! Far superior than the tinned variety! I added a tablespoon of Sriracha in replace of one tablespoon of ketchup which gave it a little heat which I love. Perfect!!
I added a teaspoon of Keens dry mustard powder – very good. Next time I’m going to try Maple Syrup.
These were lovely and i don’t even like heinz! It’s always been Cross & Blackwell for me less slimy and less sweet don’t know if you get them in Oz anyhow i split it into two at the ingredient stage so i could make a chilli batch for cheese & bean jacket spuds, both versions were absolutley lovely.It made 12 good portions in all and they’re all gone,i better get cracking on another batch.thanks again for another blinder.
Wish I,d seen this before I went and bought 12 tins baked beans.
One for next time Sian 😂 N x
Hi, I’m a bit late to this party as I only discovered your recipe yesterday (after a Google search for ”home made baked beans”) Anyway I can only echo what so many others have said. The beans are excellent, nicer than Heinz in my opinion. I live in the UK so can buy Heinz at any supermarket, but I shall definitely be taking the time to make these in future. The only tweak I made was to use maple syrup as I’d run out of brown sugar. I’ll use brown sugar next time and see if they come out even better.
Excellent recipe. Used Pinto beans. I cut the water out as the dish had enough liquid. Will make again. Thanks
Thanks Nagi for this wonderful recipe. Absolutely delicious!
I managed to find dried small white beans. After reading a comment here that the beans cooked in 25 min, I tested after 25 min and they were cooked. After cooking a further 20 min with the seasoning, I decided that I wanted them much softer like Heinz´. 🙂 So I kept cooking and cooking and cooking. Probably ended up with 1.5hrs like you recommended. Ha, ha!
In the end, I had to add more water and then adjusted the seasonings cos I was after that Heinz taste.
I only had some granulated stock powder so I used about a tsp and filtered out the dehydrated veggies floating around.
Will definitely be making this again.
Thank you!