Heinz Beans - A Copycat Recipe

Heinz Beans, produced in England, are a staple for many Brits both in the UK and abroad. If you've ever been to the UK, you might have been surprised to see the Heinz Beans served as a delicious side dish in a full English breakfast. They are also the star of the show for beans on toast or as a filling in jacket potatoes (a.k.a. baked potatoes). Heinz Beans are the ultimate in comfort food, no matter how they are served.

The UK version of Heinz Beans is an absolute favorite of the Master Taste Tester. Through the years, I tried unsuccessfully to reproduce this humble product. However, RecipeTin Eats published a copycat recipe that looked so much like the real thing that I just had to give it a try. They were about as close to the real thing as I could have imagined. 

Jump to:

• About Heinz Beans
• Ingredients: Here's What You'll Need
• Step-by-Step Directions
• How I Serve Heinz Beans
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Other British Recipes
• Recipe

About Heinz Beans

Heinz is an American company founded in 1869 in Sharpsburg, Pennsylvania. In 1886, Heinz baked beans were exported to England and first sold in Fortnum & Masons.

Originally, the beans included pork and much more sugar than now. Over the years, the sugar level was decreased to suit the British taste. Because of meat shortages during World War II, pork was omitted. 

Some significant differences exist between the Heinz beans produced in the UK and those produced in the US. The two main differences are the sugar level and the sodium level.

The US variety has twice the amount of sugar and almost double the amount of sodium, both of which are unnecessary, at least in my opinion.

Today Heinz beans are produced near Wigan, in Northwest England. The Wigan factory is the largest food factory in Europe. An astonishing 3 million cans are produced every day. Of that, over 2 million cans of beans are consumed every day in the UK.

If you're interested, you should check out the Inside the Factory episode showing the amazing process whereby these delicious beans are produced. 

Ingredients: Here's What You'll Need

The following ingredients are used in this awesome recipe.

• The Beans: While different beans can be used, my choice was the dried Navy bean, known as the haricot bean in other countries. This is the bean that is used to make the Heinz baked beans.

• The Liquid: The liquid noted on the Heinz can is water. However, I used a combination of chicken broth and water. I also included some Worcestershire sauce and cider vinegar.

• Tomato: I used two types of tomato products: (1) Ketchup; and (2) Tomato Paste.

• The Spices: For the spices, I used garlic powder, onion powder, Kosher salt, and freshly ground black pepper.

• The Sweetener: My sweetener of choice was light brown sugar.

• The Magic Ingredient: Towards the end of cooking, the beans needed a thickener to produce the telltale sauce. I used none other than cornstarch for this.

Step-by-Step Directions

1. Soaking the Beans: Because the beans are dried, they need to be reconstituted. Therefore, the first step was to soak the beans in water.

Two methods can be used to soak the beans: (1) long-soak in cold water; or (2) quick-soak in hot water. I tried both methods and prefer the quick-soak method because it’s quicker and does as good a job as the long-soak method.

With the quick-soak method, I rinsed the dried beans and added about 6 cups of filtered water to them in a large Dutch oven. I heated the water to boiling and let the beans boil for about 2 minutes. Then, I removed the pan from the stove, covered it, and let the beans soak for about an hour.

2. Cooking the Beans: After the beans soaked for an hour, I drained and rinsed them. Now, it was time to cook the beans.

I returned the soaked beans to the Dutch oven and covered them with about 6 cups of filtered water. I brought the beans to a boil. Then, I reduced the heat to medium-low, covered the pan, and cooked the beans for about 45 minutes, just until the beans were tender but still slightly firm on the inside. The actual time will vary depending on the beans.

After 45 minutes. the beans were perfect. They were soft on the outside and slightly firm on the inside. I wanted to be careful not to overcook the beans at this point. The reason was that the beans still needed some cooking in the sauce.

Once the beans were cooked, I drained them and set them aside to make the sauce.

3. Making the Sauce: Beans are beans. However, it's the tomato sauce that defines Heinz Beans.

Making the sauce is super simple. Basically, I whisked together chicken broth, water, ketchup, tomato paste, brown sugar, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, salt, garlic powder, onion powder, and black pepper in the same Dutch oven that I used to cook the beans. That's it!

4. Adding the Cooked Beans to the Sauce: Once I had whisked together the sauce ingredients, I added the cooked beans to the Dutch oven. I stirred everything together and set the Dutch oven over medium heat. 

5. Cooking the Beans in the Sauce: After the mixture came to a slow boil, I reduced the heat to medium low heat and cooked the beans uncovered for about 20 minutes until the beans were perfectly done.

6. Making the Slurry: While the beans were cooking in the sauce, I made the slurry by whisking together cornstarch and water.

7. Adding the Slurry: After the beans had cooked for 20 minutes in the sauce, I poured the cornstarch slurry into the Dutch oven. I stirred the beans constantly until the sauce had thickened. 

8. Amazing Transformation: The transformation into the finished dish by adding the slurry was amazing. Before my very eyes, the soupy, nondescript mixture turned into thick tomato-coated beans that looked just like the Heinz beans!

I let the beans cook for about five more minutes before removing them from the heat.

How I Serve Heinz Beans

Heinz beans are an amazing dish that is quite versatile. All that is required is to heat them up in the microwave or stovetop for a delicious side dish.

We like to eat Heinz beans as an amazing side dish for when we have turkey burgers without the mushroom cream sauce or with British sausage rolls. For breakfast, they are awesome when served with British sausage. They are the perfect addition to a weeknight meal.

As an added bonus, when we want the ultimate in simplicity and comfort food, we have beans on toast buttered with unsalted butter. This may sound odd to Americans but is delicious. The Heinz beans are also delicious served on crusty french bread.

Sometimes, we do as the British do and have a jacket potato (a.k.a. baked potato) loaded with Heinz beans. This may also sound odd to Americans. However, it's delicious.

The bottom line is that there is no best way to serve this delicious dish.

This recipe for Heinz Beans is about as close to the real thing as I can imagine. If you're a fan of this British staple, you should give the recipe a try. Yum!

Frequently Asked Questions

Other British Recipes

If you're a fan of British food like I am, you should try these delicious recipes:

I first posted this amazing recipe on May 18, 2020. Since then, I’ve made this recipe a number of times. This update contains improved text, photographs and a video. It also includes the same great recipe, with weights added in the recipe card.

I hope you liked this recipe for Copycat Heinz Beans as much as I do. If so, please consider rating it and leaving a comment. Also, if you’d like to receive notifications of new posts by email, enter your email address in the Subscribe box.

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