I love baked beans, but not the amount of added sugar that is typical for the recipes, particularly from canned brands like B&M and Bush’s. My culinary adoration is cultural: Home-cooked baked beans are a Saturday night tradition throughout parts of Maine. The practice goes back to the Puritans, who cooked beans ahead for the Sabbath. That method remains in the Modern era as “bean-hole beans“, which inside a cast-iron pot are buried in burning embers of a campfire to cook overnight.
One canned option does appeal to me. While not the liveliest recipe, being somewhat bland, Heinz baked beans imported from United Kingdom are tasty enough and they have the lowest amount of added sugar—4 grams, for a total of seven—of any variety from any manufacturer. Serving size: Half cup. I last bought them from World Market in summer 2021—two 12-can cases. But the cost currently is too high: $3.99 for a 13.7-ounce can, or $47.88 per case.
No longer. Costco comes to the rescue, and the Wilcox pantry is restocked with four 6-can cases of Heinz Baked Beans. I was absolutely stunned to see them at the club warehouse today. Larger cans: 14.6-ounces. Lower price: $7.99 a case ($1.33 per can). Less total sugar: 6 grams (but still four added) per half-cup serving. And they’re “British Recipe”, “Made in England”. Gosh, I haven’t had beans on toast in about five decades; the Heinz variety are the recipe for a little rediscovery.
If you’re eating other canned baked beans, you’re getting too much added sugar—11 grams for both B&M and Bush’s original recipes (for total 12) per half-cup. Some varieties have as much as 14 grams of added sugar (for 16 total). The American Heart Association recommends that women consume no more than 25 grams of added sugar per day; 36 grams for men. One cup of these beans blows away the day’s allotment. You’ve been warned.
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