Best Canned Baked Beans Recipe
This Post May Contain Affiliate Links. Please Read My Disclosure
With just a few ingredients you may already have on hand, you can turn ordinary canned baked beans into something extraordinary! This Canned Baked Beans recipe is an easy, delicious way to make canned beans taste as if you made them from scratch! Perfect with my Baked BBQ Chicken Thighs and Cajun Chicken Drumsticks!
“The first baked beans I’ve made in 50 years of marriage that my husband has really loved!” — Jaye
QUICK TAKE: Baked Beans Recipe Using Canned Beans
- What It Is: An easy way to turn ordinary canned baked beans into a rich, flavorful, homemade-tasting side dish, perfect for cookouts, potlucks, and family dinners.
- Ingredient Highlights: Canned baked beans, bacon, onion, and pantry ingredients.
- Time to Make: 15 minutes of prep and 1 hour and 15 minutes of cooking and baking.
- Chef’s Top Tip: Baking uncovered allows the sauce to thicken and become rich and glossy.
- Why Make THIS Version? A tried-and-true, reader-favorite recipe with hundreds of glowing reviews! Simple pantry ingredients and a few easy steps make canned baked beans taste as if you made them from scratch.
Table of Contents
Why This Canned Baked Beans Recipe is a Keeper!
Short on time or don’t want the trouble of making baked beans from scratch? This recipe transforms canned baked beans into a restaurant-quality side dish with simple pantry ingredients!
This doctored canned baked beans recipe is one you’ll want to save for special occasions, like graduations, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, summer barbecues, potlucks, and even the holidays!
If you love the convenience of canned baked beans but find they lack flavor, my Canned Baked Beans recipe is an easy way to dress them up. This is the best baked beans recipe using canned beans, with hundreds of four- and five-star reviews!
The flavor base in canned baked beans is already there, but with a few simple ingredients you already have, no one will ever know you started with a store-bought convenience item!
This baked beans recipe with canned beans is:
- Tried and true! With almost 650 4- and 5-star ratings, you won’t go wrong.
- Easy! I include plenty of pro tips for layering flavors and textures so no one realizes you started with a can.
- Budget-friendly! You don’t need many extra ingredients —just good, flavorful, mostly pantry-based ingredients.
- Completely make-ahead.
- Always a crowd-pleaser!
Whether you’re feeding a crowd or putting together a simple family dinner, these baked beans are a side dish you can count on!
How to make Canned Baked Beans Taste Homemade:
Recipe Ingredients:
Here’s everything you’ll need for this canned baked beans recipe, plus how to prep the ingredients. See the recipe card below for the exact quantities.
Ingredient Notes AND SUBSTITUTIONS:
- Canned Baked Beans: Use an “original” or simply flavored style such as Bush’s Original Baked Beans. Avoid any that have hickory smoke flavor, maple, or other flavorings; they won’t work with these other ingredients and may compete.
- Bacon: Use your favorite brand, but avoid flavored bacon here, too. Use plant-based, turkey, or beef bacon instead of pork bacon.
- Spicy Brown Mustard: I like spicy brown mustard for this baked beans recipe, but Dijon or yellow mustard will also work.
- Worcestershire Sauce: I’m a Lea & Perrins fan, but it contains anchovies, so it’s not suitable for anyone with a fish or seafood allergy. Use a vegan Worcestershire if there are any allergy concerns.
- Molasses: Readers have reported good results using maple syrup instead of molasses. You’ll get more maple flavor, which I think works well if you don’t mind it and don’t want to complicate the flavors with flavored bacon, beans, etc.
Step-By-Step Instructions:
- Gather and prep all the ingredients.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Spray a 2- to 3-quart casserole dish with cooking spray. Set aside.
- Place the bacon in a skillet or sauté pan and cook over medium heat for 4 to 5 minutes, until rendered and crispy. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate. Reserve the bacon drippings in the skillet.
- Add the onion to the skillet with the bacon drippings and cook for 5 to 6 minutes, or until very soft. If the pan gets dry, add 1 to 2 tablespoons of water and continue cooking until the onions are soft.
- Place the canned baked beans in the prepared baking dish.
- In the prepared baking dish, combine the beans, onions, 3/4 of the bacon, and the remaining ingredients, starting with 2 tablespoons brown sugar. Taste and add more brown sugar as needed. Add apple cider vinegar for a little tanginess, if desired.
- Sprinkle the remaining bacon over the top. Bake uncovered for 50 minutes to 1 hour or until bubbling and the top is caramelized.
And let everyone dig in! So easy, and they’ll be the hit of your get-together!
Chef tips and tricks:
- Baked beans vary in sweetness by brand, so adjust to taste. Start with less brown sugar and add more if you prefer sweeter beans.
- Baking uncovered allows the sauce to thicken and become rich and glossy.
- Prefer saucier doctored baked beans? Bake them covered with foil to retain moisture and prevent the sauce from reducing too much.
- When storing leftovers, make sure the beans didn’t sit out too long at your gathering. The maximum is two hours at room temperature. After that, you’re flirting with foodborne illness.
Canned Baked Beans Recipe FAQs:
You’ll have about an 8-ounce difference, which is just a cup less if you use two 28-ounce cans instead of four 16-ounce cans. I don’t worry about it, because I like saucy beans. However, if you prefer to make precise adjustments, use the following amounts:
>>You can keep the bacon as is because… bacon!
>>A small onion (1 1/2 cups) will also work fine.
>>3 tablespoons + 1 1/2 teaspoons ketchup
>>1 3/4 to 2 1/2 tablespoons light brown sugar
>>1 tablespoon + 2 teaspoons spicy brown mustard
>>1 tablespoon + 2 teaspoons molasses
>>1 3/4 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
>>3/4 to 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar if using
Yes, but the top won’t get caramelized. As a reader suggested, place a tea towel over the top of the slow cooker to absorb the steam produced so it doesn’t water down the beans. Cook for 5 to 6 hours on LOW or 3 to 3.5 hours on HIGH.
Absolutely! Freeze them before baking or after as leftovers. Place them in an airtight container and freeze for 2 to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator or microwave and bake as directed.
Yes! In fact, the flavor often improves after a few hours or overnight. Prep the beans up to 2 days in advance and refrigerate. When you’re ready to bake, let the baking dish sit out for 30 to 45 minutes, so you’re not putting an ice-cold dish into a hot oven.
Yes, but with a few adjustments. Fresh bacon delivers the best smoky flavor and richness because it renders flavorful fat into the beans. Precooked bacon is the next best option — simply chop it and stir it in or sprinkle it over the top before baking, although it won’t contribute as much richness. Bacon bits aren’t a great substitute because they don’t render fat or add the same depth of flavor. If you prefer not to use bacon, add a drop or two of liquid smoke gradually, to taste, because it’s an artificial, highly concentrated flavor.
VARIATIONS:
- Like a little more meat? Add 1/2 pound cooked ground beef.
- Bourbon lovers: Start with 2 to 3 tablespoons. Add it after cooking the bacon and onion, then let it simmer briefly so the harsh alcohol flavor cooks off before adding the remaining ingredients. I suggest adding apple cider vinegar to balance the sweetness and richness.
Favorites from my kitchen!
- For a classic cookout combo, serve these baked beans with my cool, creamy Potato Cucumber Salad.
- If you love turning simple pantry ingredients into something special, my easy red beans and rice recipe is another budget-friendly favorite.
- These beans are a natural side dish for BBQ Chicken Sliders, especially when you’re feeding a crowd.
More Crowd-pleasing sides:
If you tried my baked beans recipe, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it turned out in the comments!
Best Canned Baked Beans Recipe
Video
Ingredients
- Cooking spray, for pan
- 6 slices bacon, diced
- 1 small onion, finely chopped (approximately 1 cup)
- 4 cans (16-ounce each) baked beans, preferably original recipe such as Bush's, undrained
- 1/4 cup ketchup
- 2-3 tablespoons light brown sugar, to taste
- 2 tablespoons spicy brown mustard
- 2 tablespoons molasses
- 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar, optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 2 to 3-quart casserole dish with cooking spray. Set aside.
- Place the bacon in a skillet or saute pan and cook for 4-5 minutes over medium heat until rendered and crispy. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate. Reserve the bacon drippings in the skillet.
- Place the onion in the skillet with the bacon drippings and cook for 5-6 minutes or until very soft. If the pan gets dry, add 1-2 tablespoons of water and continue cooking until the onions are cooked to a soft stage.
- Combine the beans, onions, 3/4 of the bacon and the remaining ingredients using 2 tablespoons of brown sugar to start with in the prepared baking dish.
- Taste and adjust sweetness with more brown sugar as desired. Add the apple cider vinegar for a little tanginess if you desire.
- Sprinkle the remaining bacon over the top.
- Bake uncovered for 50 minutes to 1 hour or until bubbling and the top is caramelized.
Notes
- You won’t get the caramelized top, and the beans could be a bit more soupy.
- Place a clean kitchen towel over the slow cooker, then cover with the lid. The kitchen towel will absorb some of the steam, which can water down the beans.
- Cook for 5 to 6 hours on LOW or 3 to 3.5 hours on HIGH.
- Can also use two 28-ounce cans. See the FAQs for the precise ingredient adjustments.
- Although I prefer to use original or simply flavored beans, maple syrup can be substituted for molasses.
- Plant-based, turkey, or beef bacon can be used in place of pork bacon.
- Dijon or yellow mustard can be used in place of spicy brown mustard.
- Baked bean brands vary in sweetness, so start with the lower amount of brown sugar and add more to taste.
- Bake uncovered for a thick, rich, glossy sauce. Prefer saucier beans? Cover with foil to retain more moisture.
- Time can get away from you when hosting a gathering. Refrigerate leftovers promptly. For food safety, don’t leave the beans at room temperature for more than 2 hours.
- Beans can be assembled to the point of baking up to 2 days ahead.
- Let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes before baking, or add additional baking time.
- Freeze in an airtight container for 2-3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator or microwave and bake as directed.
Nutrition
Nutritional values are automatically calculated using unbranded products and are estimates only. Actual results may vary based on ingredients used and portion sizes. Adjust as needed for dietary restrictions, allergies, or health concerns.
Like this? Leave a comment below!
I love these beans so much!!! I freeze half, works beautifully. Also, absolutely add the bourbon. Only different thing I do (because my mother did…) is add a peeled, diced granny smith apple to the onions for the last little bit of saute. YUMMY!!!
Hi, Dolores, Thanks so very much, and I’m so happy you love this recipe! A little bit of apple is a great idea and what a wonderful tradition to carry on. Thanks again, and I appreciate you taking the time to comment and rate.
Why does 4 servings use 1.6 cans. I want recipe for 16 or 32 ounce cans. to use an entire can. How to measure .o1 ounce of something. Recipe is very unclear.
Hi, Pat, Thanks for your question and I’m sorry if it’s confusing. Scaling recipes isn’t an exact science and sometimes the amounts just need to be rounded. If you scale the recipe to 5 servings, it only uses 2 of the smaller (16-ounce) cans and everything else is pretty easy to follow. .13 cup of ketchup would be a little over 2 tablespoons. Thanks again and hope this helps!
Was a hit, pretty much followed to the letter but probably doubled the bacon….because BACON!!! Very well received.
Hi, Jay. Thanks so much, and I’m happy everyone enjoyed it! Good call on the bacon; you can never go wrong with more bacon! Appreciate you taking the time to come back and comment and rate.
Can I use canned great northern beans unflavored. Do I drain them?
Hi, Carole, Thanks so much for your question. Giving you the same answer I gave someone else. You’d have to make some modifications. Definitely drain and rinse the beans. Because that tomatoey base isn’t there, you’ll need to add it. I suggest adding 1 cup (or an 8-ounce can) of tomato sauce and at least 1/2 cup of water. Double the ketchup, brown sugar, and molasses and see what that tastes like. I haven’t tested this recipe with plain canned beans, so I’m flying a little blind here. Hope that helps, and please let me know how it goes! Perhaps I’ll post another recipe using canned navy beans! Thanks again!
Hi Carol, do you think I could add in cut and fried all-beef weiners to this?
Hi, Don, Thanks so much for your question. Yes, I think they’d be great! Enjoy and have a great weekend!