8 Pantry Staples That Give Canned Baked Beans A Delicious Upgrade

We can't stop riffing on canned baked beans, whether we're making them cowboy style (a spin that many call the best) or upgrading them with caramelized onions for sweetness and jammy savor. The coolest thing about customizing baked beans, we think, is the fact that so many permutations call for regular-degular ingredients that you already have in your pantry ... no special trips to the grocery store required. In fact, those comfortable with cooking sans recipes can grab compatible pantry items and get creative. Baked beans work with many common flavors, after all, and much of the process of developing family recipes involves unique tweaks. 

Handled deftly, canned baked beans can be capably transformed into almost anything you want them to be, and it all starts with pantry stalwarts. Whether you're spooning in some piquant mustard or playing up those sweet qualities with a baking staple, your beans are gonna boom when you get flexible with items you already have on hand. 

Almost any kind of mustard is going to make your baked beans sing, from spicy hot mustard to seedy brown to the bright yellow kind in the squeeze bottle ... and this is to say nothing of specialty varieties like the sweet maple mustard we use to upgrade brats. Mustard helps balance the sweetness of canned baked beans, some brands of which tend to be sugar bombs. The contrast of sharp mustard with brown sugar sweetness will put you in mind of the best BBQ sauces, which play on the same dichotomy. 

You can add Dr. Pepper to baked beans for sweetness, but we're also fond of building layers of flavor — the sugar hammer isn't always the play when it comes to beans, although it has its place. Molasses, on the other hand, is an add-in with some character. While some home chefs will avoid blackstrap molasses due to its bitter notes, others will lean in and embrace the interesting note it brings to your bean pot. If you want to mellow the strong flavor of molasses a bit, simmer your beans for at least a quarter hour on the stovetop. 

Buying jarred garlic is a controversial kitchen move, but (almost) everybody condones garlic powder. We can't stop reaching for it, in fact. This common condiment belongs in your baked beans, we believe, because it's a lot easier to lean sweet with canned beans ... garlic powder works in the other direction, adding back some umami. This leads to a more balanced bowl overall. To really lean into the savory notes of baked beans, augment garlic with Worcestershire sauce and crispy bacon. Trying to keep your beans vegetarian? Opt for Impossible meat and soy sauce. 

As one of the seasonings that make up pumpkin spice blend, cloves are usually relegated to recipes for holiday sweets — the pungent flavor and scent can overpower many dishes. In baked beans, however, warming notes are a perfect sub for more common players like cinnamon, ginger, or nutmeg. This isn't saying that you can't add in some of those common clove BFFs, however! Just use a sparing hand ... half a teaspoon is plenty for a big can of beans. For a delightful, unexpected contrast, use more meaty or savory ingredients to round out your pot.

For a kick that isn't as spicy as, say, McCormick's crushed red chili flakes – while packing a lot of complex flavor — we always turn to chili crisp. We love a meal that riffs on British beans and toast: stir some chili crisp into your canned beans, pour them over some crusty sourdough, and broil a bit of fresh-shredded aged Cheddar on top. Something that's based on a struggle meal has no business tasting this good. No matter how you eat your beans, however, the mild funk of chili crisp is almost always welcome. 

When sticky beans with serious tang are on the menu, balsamic vinegar might be what you seek to give zip to your canned product. We often see ketchup or apple cider vinegar mixed into baked beans for a little touch of attractive sourness, but why not balsamic, which plays well with sweet flavors as well? As a bonus, it matches effortlessly with maple syrup — another canned bean VIP. Just keep in mind that a lot of supermarket balsamic vinegar is likely fake and source your bottle accordingly. 

For a starring player among all-time BBQ sides, baked beans can be lacking when it comes to smokiness. A few drops of liquid smoke can swoop in and remedy what's missing, adding a note that plays very well with the brown sugar in your dish. This is another ingredient that works great to combat the one-dimensional sweetness of canned beans and give them the nuance that you might expect from a scratch casserole. We know how liquid smoke is made; now we know that it's the ideal companion to your canned baked beans. 

Rotel isn't just one of two ingredients you need to make copycat Tostitos queso; it's also a star player when you're trying to make baked beans more savory. You'd be surprised by how the combination of diced tomatoes and chilis adds body and unexpected heartiness to something usually served as just one of several side dishes. The sweet qualities of the resulting legumes have been tamed sufficiently to sub for refritos anywhere you might be tempted to use them, whether it's rolled up in a tortilla or piled atop a baked potato.