Baked beans are a staple British food, and there is one traditional way to cook them: in a saucepan over a stovetop. But what if we told you that there was another way to do it? Baked beans are actually a diverse food, and there are many ways to enjoy them. Of course, they taste delicious when they are simply heated up and placed over a few slices of toast. However, there are so many things you can do with them.
If you want to make them “rich” and more “flavourful”, then there is one method you should use, and it actually involves putting them into the oven. Oven-cooking baked beans can take a bit longer, but it means that the flavours of the beans and sauce will melt together more, creating a richer experience. It can also result in a thicker sauce, a much nicer texture than runny tomato sauce. One cook has shared her recipe for oven-cooked baked beans, and she adds a number of ingredients to make them burst with flavour.
Karen, who is the head chef at Soup Addict, shared her baked bean recipe and it’s rather mouth-watering, with the cook claiming it takes canned baked beans from “meh” to “wow”.
She uses a simple “dump and bake” method, which allows you to simply place the beans in the oven and set a timer, with no time spent over a hot stove.
The beans can be cooked this way on their own, enhancing the flavours. However, if you want to make a more well-rounded dish out of them, then you can add a number of ingredients to change the flavour.
For Karen, the essential ingredients are diced onions, green bell peppers, ketchup, brown sugar, barbecue sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and Dijon mustard.
To make her baked beans, the first step is to mix all of the ingredients into the tinned beans in a baking dish. The oven is preheated to around 180C.
Before the ingredients are placed in the baking dish, you should use a bit of spray oil.
You then bake the bean mix uncovered for between 60 and 70 minutes. The slower they are cooked, the more the flavours will fuse.
Once they are done, you should let them rest for five minutes before serving. As well as the fused flavours, this method should give you a nice caramelised top on the dish.