Summary
Are store bought canned baked beans vegan?
Many regular vegetarian baked beans that you buy in the store in cans are probably vegan. There are so many different flavors, brands and varieties of baked beans and some of these are not obviously vegan. This is most commonly because of added bacon or lard to give the beans a smoky flavor.
Digging deeper
Because there is a big demand for baked beans from vegetarians and vegans, you will find many marked vegetarian choices available. However, there is some confusion over whether vegetarian marked baked beans are actually vegan. At first glance, it seems like they must be vegan as there are no ‘contains dairy’ or obviously non-vegan products on the label.
Why don’t some manufacturers mark their vegetarian beans as vegan?
We really can only speculate about their reasons. Some brands give more information on their website that give some more clues.
Here are some screenshots from the Bush’s Best website, a famous canned baked bean company in the US which we found when researching their products.
Some possible reasons why they are not marked vegan could be:
- they aren’t actually vegan because of something in the flavoring;
- perhaps the sugar in the beans would not be considered vegan and they won’t commit to vegan versions of sugar for whatever reason;
- they just haven’t gotten around to update/change their labels and mark them as vegan yet;
Regardless of the reason, it is quite frustrating, especially for new vegans trying to navigate the grocery store. Because of this, many vegans (including us) choose to assume the beans are vegan. Vegans would probably eat vegetarian baked beans unless there was either an obviously non-vegan ingredient on the label, or a marked vegan baked bean product on the shelf.
It would be very helpful if these companies could be clear in their communication and would be more helpful with their labelling for their consumers, rather than having us undertake an investigation.
In North America, the percentage of varieties of beans on the shelf that are vegan is smaller than in the UK .
Are homemade baked beans vegan?
It really does depend on the recipe. If the recipe includes ingredients such as lard, bacon, pork sausage or honey then it’s not vegan. If the ingredients are vegan, then of course, the baked beans are vegan. Do not worry through, there are thousands of vegan versions of baked beans.
What are baked beans?
Different cuisines around the world have made their own versions of beans prepared in unique ways.
For the purposes of this article, we are referring to white beans that have been cooked in a tomato sauce with some extra flavors from mustard or molasses and canned.
Canned baked beans are extremely popular in the UK, eaten on toast or as part of a full English Breakfast. They are also very popular in North America as a side dish.
But I love the non-vegan baked beans!
If you love sausage and beans or love the smoky beans, we’ve got you covered! Here is our guide to veganizing your non vegan canned baked beans:
- Pork sausage baked beans: Get your favorite vegan sausage (we love Beyond Meat’s), slice it in to bite-sized pieces and fry it in a pan until it’s browed to your liking. Add your can of beans until they are heated through.
- Bacon and maple syrup baked beans:
- Method 1: Find your favorite vegan bacon. Cut it into 1 cm strips. Fry until they are crispy. Add your reduced sugar baked beans and add some maple syrup.
- Method 2: Heat up a can of baked beans. Add a few drops of liquid smoke and maple syrup extract. These are very concentrated so start small and add to taste.
- Smoky baked beans: Add a few drops of liquid smoke or some smoked paprika.
- Chilli baked beans: fry up your vegan ground meat, add your baked beans, some jalapenos and chilli types spices.
Non vegetarian ingredients and their vegan substitutes.
| non vegan / vegetarian ingredient | vegan substitution |
|---|---|
|
honey |
maple syrup or maple extract / agave nectar |
|
pork sausage |
vegan sausage |
|
bacon |
liquid smoke / smoked paprika / vegan bacon seasoning OR sliced and fried vegan bacon |
|
ground beef in chilli beans |
a vegan mince like Beyond Meat |
Let’s Discuss!
We’d love to hear from you! Do you have any questions? What’s your favorite baked beans brand or recipe? Let us know in the comments below!
