The Flavorful Thai Sauce That Gives Canned Baked Beans A Delicious Upgrade

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When you aren't feeling jazzed about plain canned baked beans, here's a novel thought: add some Thai peanut sauce to the mix for an instant pop of zingy flavor. Asian sauces have always gone surprisingly well with baked beans — remember when we suggested soy sauce as an upgrade? — and, once you get over your initial shock at the thought of peanut butter and beans (it's a match made in heaven, trust us!), we think this might just become your new favorite way to put some fusion pep in your meal. After all, when you think of some fundamental baked bean ingredients like brown sugar, molasses, or honey, you are already part of the way to a sweet and spicy Thai peanut sauce. The sauce, whether homemade or store-bought, is simply made more by the medium in which the beans are cooked, while the beans themselves become the protein star of a rich, hearty dish.

It's up to you to decide how much peanut sauce you'd like in your beans. We suggest starting with a couple of tablespoons per can of beans and working your way up, tasting constantly as you go. This recipe works equally well with a commercial sauce like the well-reviewed Pretty Thai stir fry sauce as it does with a DIY condiment. You can get away with a quick-and-easy peanut sauce made with PB, water, sesame oil, sriracha, and your sweetener of choice; you can even mix it up effortlessly in a nearly empty peanut butter jar. Of course, nothing's stopping you from gilding the lily with some lime juice, garlic, or full-fat coconut milk to thin your sauce and add richness.

Want to make the most swicy Thai peanut butter beans around? How about adding maple syrup to your peanut sauce to increase the sweetness and stirring in your hot sauce of choice? Stir in several slices of crisp-fried bacon, and you'll have candy-sweet beans with a spicy kiss of heat and a sliver of meat in every bite. It'll be a lip-smacker.

We can think of a few ways to make your beans into a main dish with tons of panache, too. Like your beans hot? Stir your heated Thai peanut sauce into cooked canned beans, pour generously over basmati or jasmine rice, then adorn your plate with pickled carrots and daikon, slivers of Persian cucumber, cilantro, and julienned red cabbage. The freshness will be off the charts, the crunch will be insane, and the dish will be Insta-worthy! 

Or, hear us out, go in a chilly, refreshing direction by letting your beans cool and serving them over salad greens garnished with chunks of fresh mango, diced peanuts, edamame, Thai basil leaves, and cooked tofu. Here's a third suggestion that's a little "out there," but long on flavor: puree your beans and peanut sauce to form a thick condiment, then toss it with coleslaw mix and use it to stuff vegetarian tacos (assuming your baked beans are meatless). As far as we're concerned, Thai peanut sauce is an upgrade to baked beans in every culinary direction and a foodie experiment worth testing again and again.