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!
Hungry for more? Subscribe to my newsletter and follow along on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram for all of the latest updates.
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!
More mean bean recipes
Life of Dozer
Dozer on the weekend – Pupcake vs Lamb Shoulder. Agony of indecision….
How would you make the Heinz Deep-Browned Beans in Tomato Sauce version?
I’d need to look into this one Tak!! N x
Nagi, the beans are out of this world. I had canned Cannellini beans so that’s what I used. Delicious and I am looking forward to making them with dry navy beans next time. Question: under bakes beans #2-bring to a simmer then lower heat to medium low and simmer for 20 minutes. I am wondering if you meant “bring to a boil then lower heat ……….. “which is what I did . Anyway they were great. Thank you ,!! Shelley
Dear Nagi
I always try your magic recipes and your mum’s ones as well.
Reading Dozers life story is a bliss
Lucky guy!!
Let me know when he needs a companion
Thanks so much for the feedback Lallie ❤️
Can’t believe how good these are !
I used soaked Borlotti beans which needed only approx 45 minutes to cook . The black pepper gives them a nice little bite .
Loved them .
WOOT! Thanks so much for letting me know Sue! N x
Hi Nagi,
Just come across this recipe now. My absolute favourite is SPC BBQ Baked Beans but they don’t seem to be in any of the Coles in Brisbane since this Covid stuff. Any chance you could come up with a Nagi version?? SPC aren’t gluggy like Heinz.
We always had homemade baked beans while I was growing up. My Mom served them on toast and called it 1000 & 1. One piece of toast and a thousand beans. Sometimes we had wieners cut up in the beans. Brings back fond memories. I will give this recipe a try. Thank you!
I love this Cathy!!! N x
Nagi, I love your site, your recipes and Dozer. You two make such a cute couple. And I can see he has you wrapped around his slim paw. Please just keep loving him too much because one day your life will be turned upside down and you will miss him. I know because we had to put our 13-1/2 year old Old English Sheepdog, a rescue named Wizard, to sleep and I miss him so, so much. In his later years he became unable to get up off the ground so he became very dependent on us for everything. We had had 3 female Old English Sheepdogs, all named after flowers (Daisy, Rosebud, and Lily) before him and now we really are too old to have any more pets. They might outlive us and that wouldn’t be fair to them.
So, everyday give thanks that you still have him to love, to laugh at, to enjoy, to be with. He is a real treasure. And when he passes you should wait a while to grieve but then I suggest you adopt a dog and share your love with it. You still have many years in which to share your love.
I want to thank you for sharing all your wonderful recipes and especially for sharing your life with Dozer, He is a wonderful, beautiful creature full of love for you.
Sincerely, Linda
Oh no Linda, sorry to hear! Dozer lives his best life every single day – he’s very spoilt and loved ❤️
Your bean recipe gives me a great idea. I make traditional baked beans that bake all day using jazzed up canned bake beans. I intend to try these out as a base for my recipe.
No more canned beans for me. They will now be named Pandemic Beans.
I hope you try them and love them Adeline, they are so much better than canned! N x
Looks good…Wondering if you have the timing for making this in an Instant Pot?
Hi Jennifer, I don’t unfortunately – you really want to simmer these beans to help them thicken & reduce slightly so unsure if this would work in an instant pot. N x
I have been looking for a recipe for baked beans ala Heinz for ever. I keep finding ‘Boston Baked Beans’ which are really something different. Thank you so much.
You’re so welcome Miriam, I hope you try them and love them!! N x
great stuff again. Chef love den beans I use them in soup and a 3bean wit garlic scallion cold salad ,,never knew that’s what was used by Heinz gonna try this today buy in a small crock pot I just got ,, thank you. so much for being you ….
I hope you enjoy them Joseph – keep me updated! N x
I’m anxious to try this recipe, it sounds tasty. I live in Canada. I once bought a can of Heinz Beans from England, having heard about them often on Corrie etc. My beloved and I thought they were totally tasteless and lacking salt. I’m hopeful that your beans will be as good as all your other recipes. 🙂
Love to know how they go Uncle Ben! N x
How could you? Heinz? Before I came Boston, when I was in Washington, I had a Bostonian confrere who insisted that the only baked beans that were moral to serve were Bush’s. He was afraid I would serve B&M brand. So I fixed him. I cooked a pot of Maine style beans (from a John Thorne recipes). It involved a different bean and maple syrup instead of Molasses. He raved about it until he learned I had cooked it from scratch. I didn’t have the heart to tell him it wasn’t even a Bostonian recipe.
Sounds divine D – enough to covert anyone! N x
Hi Nagi
Can I do this recipe in a crock pot? Have you ever done it in a crock pot – if so what would be the proper way to get the same results ? Thank you – love your site!
Hi Nancy, I haven’t to be honest sorry! N x
Can’t wait to try this recipe over our favourite bake bean breakfast. Which is, a slice of cheese, bacon, fried egg just under done & topped with baked beans all over a slab of toast. I’ve never liked baked beans until I came across this delicious combination.
Wahoo – sounds perfect Jeff, you’re making me hungry! N x
Hi Nagi. I just cooked up a pot of white beans and then came on here to find your recipe for the vegetarian baked beans so I could finish them off.
I started typing “baked beans” in my Chrome browser address bar, and the address for previous page I’d visited came up. However, this new recipe came up, not the one I was looking for! 😭
Please, may I see the old recipe? It was so delicious and I was so looking forward to cooking it tonight!
The ingredients were perfect and I don’t think I can remember them…
All I can remember is the beans and the 800g can of tomatoes 😫
I would be so grateful.
Is it possible to bottle these baked beans (as a preserve).
I haven’t tried Merle! N x
This looks just like the English breakfast beans while living in the U.K, which I miss. I also liked the comment about the hot dogs which I think is always good. I also have a question if you have time to answer. Do you have any tofu recipes that you bake or grill? I’ve just mastered the Garlic Chinese Eggplant and now the children are requesting baked or grilled tofu. So hard to find and not even sure what brand or type to buy. Thank you for all of the amazing recipes. I’m rating this a 5 star because each recipe I have tried so far is a 5 star.
Hi Mary, I don’t – but feel free to pop a request on my recipe request page 🙂 N x
May I please ask where you find your dried Haricot beans? I have seen one place in Australia that tells them (online), otherwise the only similar white beans I’ve found are the Great Northern beans. I had to buy my Navy Beans from iHerb in the states!
This recipe looks great and I can’t wait to try it 🥰
Woolworths sells white beans in the international section, there’s a local whole foods store here that sells haricot beans too 🙂 N x
I’m rating without making it because I make it once a year! Yours is the same recipe my mum & granny made – English, therefore savoury, not smokey or sweet 🙂
Yep, just once. I start with 5kg of navy beans and then pressure can them……all day long 😛 I leave the cornflour out because 1. thickener in pressure canning is a big no-no, and 2. the sauce thickens with the canning anyway 😀 So I get a pantry full of proper (English) baked beans – just heat in a pan, tip onto toast and drown in grated cheddar. When I was a student, I added scrambled egg to make it a ‘complete meal’ 😛
Thanks so much for the tip Beth!!!