The Umami-Packed Sauce You Should Splash Into Canned Baked Beans

A little sweet, savory, and sometimes smoky, baked beans are a backyard barbecue staple. But it can sometimes feel like once you've tried one can of baked beans, you've tried them all. If you're looking to switch up your side dish game, and don't have the eight or more hours to prepare homemade baked beans, then try this special addition to your next batch of legumes: soy sauce.

While typically relegated to Asian dishes and marinades, soy sauce is much more of a dark horse ingredient when it comes to amping up savoriness in all kinds of recipes. Using some in baked beans can create a more homemade taste and, once you've taken out your kitchen's recycling, nobody will know these came from a can. The soy sauce's notes of umami perfectly balance out the sweet and smoky beans to add a depth of flavor.

If your main complaint with premade baked beans is their sugariness, then your first instinct may be to reach for the salt shaker. However, swapping in soy sauce instead of salt can make for a more flavorful dish, due to its more complex taste — plus, it will even out the cloyingly sweet bean sauce. Don't overdo it with the soy sauce, though, as most store-bought baked beans already have a decent amount of salt added. Start with a splash at a time of either regular or low-sodium soy sauce, and try it as you go to avoid an overly salty final dish.

Beyond the realm of soy sauce, there are plenty of other condiments that can help create a homemade flavor in your store-bought baked beans. Worcestershire sauce can add subtle savory notes thanks to the hard-to-pronounce condiment's inclusion of anchovies and onions in its ingredients list. You can also keep on-theme with the barbecue and add a hefty dose of yellow mustard and ketchup to create a zingy and sweet flavor profile.

Beyond sauces, there are countless ways to dress up canned beans. A few strips of bacon can infuse savory, meaty flavor throughout the dish after a quick trip to the oven. Go beyond pork by cooking up a pan of ground beef to create cowboy baked beans, which can be used as a side or main dish. And if you need only pre-cooked ingredients for the sake of speed, chopping up some prepared kielbasa infuses the beans with its sweet and garlicky taste.

Lastly, don't forget to eat your veggies! Sauteing some minced onions and bell peppers can act as a base for delicious vegetarian baked beans. Choose red onions for a more stand-out appearance, or opt for a naturally sweeter onion such as Vidalia to highlight the bean's sauce. You can also heat things up by swapping in spicier peppers like jalapeños or poblanos.