You might not have considered adding this one extra ingredient to baked beans before, but it can add a huge amount of flavour to elevate this simple British classic. A proper British breakfast often consists of baked beans. Whether it’s as simple as beans on toast or a full English breakfast, beans are a tasty part of the classic British diet. Plus, baked beans actually count as one of your five a day. If you want to make your baked beans taste better, then there is one quick trick you can try, and it barely costs a penny. The secret is an ingredient that you may already have in your kitchen cupboard.
Things like salt, pepper and paprika are common additions to baked beans. Even spices like cumin make it into baked beans for some people. However, none of these is the secret ingredient that some consider a game-changer. The secret ingredient is Worcestershire sauce. This is an iconic British sauce that divides people, with some adoring its strong and tangy flavour and others avoiding it. However, some people swear by adding it to their baked beans to elevate the flavour of the family-favourite British food.
Stephanie A Ganz from Simply Recipes has revealed that Worcestershire sauce is her secret ingredient for making baked beans taste delicious. In a 2024 post, she revealed: “Worcestershire sauce gives my baked beans a certain je ne sais quoi that makes them sing.
“Worcestershire sauce is a fantastic kitchen-sink condiment for building layers of flavor in savory dishes, especially beans.” In fact, she makes her baked bean sauce from scratch, but it resembles the one we buy from the supermarket.
She mixes ketchup, brown sugar and Worcestershire sauce to make her sauce to cook her beans in. Worcestershire sauce might seem like an odd choice to some.
It is made from anchovies, shallots, garlic, soy sauce, tamarind, salt and vinegar. It is usually used for marinades and dressings when cooking, or as a dipping sauce for things like steak and burgers.
When one Reddit user tried adding Worcestershire sauce to their baked beans, they called the results “God tier”. They received a slew of responses to their post.
One person said: “The lunch of true scholars. Next time, try mixing Reggae reggae sauce into the bean sauce, it makes it deliciously spicy.” Another responded: “Try it with sriracha sauce next time.”