I tested baked beans from Aldi, Tesco and Morrison's – there was clear winner

A recent study from Which? found you can save over £100 a year by swapping out big-brand baked beans. We tested Aldi, Asda, Lidl, Sainsbury's, Tesco and Waitrose baked beans to see what was best

I taste tested baked beans from Aldi, Tesco, Asda and Morrison's – there was clear winner

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Baked beans can be a good, cheap option for a relatively nutritious lunch, crammed full of fibre and protein. But the cost of a can of beans ranges massively in the shops.

A big-brand tin can set you back around £1.40, while most supermarket own-brands are around 40p. This means you can save around £100 a year by swapping your branded beans for those from Britain’s major supermarkets.

As well as being pleasing on the pocket, half a tin of baked beans on a jacket potato or even a slice of toast can offer a relatively solid nutritious meal. On average, half of a tin comes in at around 180 calories, boasting around 5g of fibre and 10g of sugar.

READ MORE: Tesco, Sainsbury's and Asda's baked beans tested as 41p tin beats Heinz

READ MORE: Heinz axes popular baked beans product due to 'culinary trends'

Even Professor Tim Spector, co-founder of nutrition brand ZOE, admits he's "not against" baked beans despite his long-standing criticism of ultra-processed foods.

On the Exhibit A podcast with Abbey Clancy, he said: “Baked beans are a really good source of protein. I’m not against people eating a can of baked beans if they pick one that doesn’t have too much sugar in the sauce.”

With all this in mind, I decided to try and find which supermarket baked bean comes out on top. Here’s how it went:

Waitrose Duchy Organic Baked Beans in Tomato Sauce (£1, 420g)

Nutritional information per half can: 182 cal, 1.1g fat, 0.2g saturates, 9.2g sugar, 1.11g salt

The Duchy Organic Baked Beans were by far the most expensive offering from supermarkets, although there was a slightly cheaper 55p essentials option. Proceeds from every tin goes to the Prince of Wales’s charities. So you can at least tuck into your lunch with a bit of a social conscience.

The tin was also slightly weightier than some of the other options, tipping the scales at a hefty 420g. Something that soon became apparent when emptying the tin is that this seemingly went on the haricot beans themselves.

The beans spilled out coating the thick-cut bread and overflowing onto the plate. Personally, I maybe would opt for a tin with more tomato sauce and fewer beans but it was still a strong option and felt as though some real effort had gone into crafting the product.

RATING: 8/10

Lidl’s Newgate Baked Beans in Rich Tomato Sauce (42p, 425ml)

Nutritional information per half can: 197 cal, 1.5g fat, 0.4g saturates, 10.3g sugar, 1.05g salt

The Lidl Newgate beans looked a very solid choice at first. Beans spilled out onto the toast with a generous dollop of sauce seeping through the soft middle.

Although, they were maybe a little bit herby for my taste. That appears as though it could be a hint of “basil extract” in the ingredients. If you’re a herb lover, this one may be for you, but I was hoping for a bit more of a kick.

RATING: 4/10

Sainsbury’s Baked Beans (40p, 400g)

Nutritional information per half can: 168 cal, 0.9g fat, 0.2g saturates, 8.5g sugar, 1.05g salt

My initial thought was that the Sainsbury’s offering was very saucy. But after combining it with my toast, it worked quite well, and seemed to pack a bit more of a punch than some of the early tests.

The rich sauce was pleasant, and uses tomatoes to make as opposed to puree which seems to be a popular choice to keep down costs. A quick glance at the ingredients showed it contained paprika powder and extract, which was a nice surprise at lunch time.

The beans felt maybe a little firmer than some of the other cans however. It definitely wasn't at the top of my list for taste, but the price boosted its rating.

RATING: 6/10

Tesco Baked Beans (42p, 420g)

Nutritional information per half can: 177 cal, 0.8g fat, 0.1g saturates, 9.7g sugar, 1.03g salt

The beans had a thick strong-coloured sauce that spilled across the toast. Overall it was a solid can of beans, slightly heavier than some of the others too, something that would inevitably please the bean counters.

A quick glance at the ingredients - something I became surprisingly passionate about during my taste test - found the presence of clove and capiscum extract. But also the welcome sight of paprika, which seems to elevate the bean to the next level.

RATING: 8/10

Asda Baked Beans in a Rich Tomato Sauce (42p, 410g)

Nutritional information per half can: 187 cal, 1g fat, 0.2g saturates, 8.6g sugar, 0.96g salt

After surprisingly becoming a connoisseur at beans, and finding myself heading to the label after the first bite, I was pleased to see the slight kick was, again, provided by a hint of paprika.

And upon tipping the Asda beans onto the plate, I couldn’t help but notice the striking bright orange bean juice. My first thought was “solid looking beans".

I’m pleased to say that my initial expectation wasn’t let down. It was indeed a good tin of beans. It weighed in at slightly less than some of the others.

RATING: 9/10

Aldi Bramwells Baked Beans (41p, 410g)

Nutritional information per half can: 187 cal, 1.1g fat, 0.2g saturates, 9.8g sugar, 1.09g salt

From the first pour over the bread these looked like a solid choice of bean with a good mix of sauce and beans. The fact that Aldi’s baked beans won against the big-brands in a Which? taste test was unsurprising.

If I was to offer someone a tin of beans in the hope of saving cash and them not noticing, this would probably be my go-to. My only downside was that it was maybe a touch too sweet for me. I’ve found myself leaning more towards the paprika-centred beans, with the Aldi beans ranked a touch higher than some for sugars.

RATING: 7

Morrison’s Baked Beans (45p, 410g)

Nutritional information per half can: 168 cal, 0.7g fat, 0.2g saturates, 11.3g sugar, 1.07g salt

The first thing I noticed about the Morrisons beans is that they were the only tin that had two yellow options on the nutritional traffic light system, with both sugar and salt outside of the green threshold. Most cans meanwhile were yellow on salt and green for the remaining options.

It was also the dearest can of beans outside Waitrose, albeit only slightly. The beans boasted a strong-coloured red sauce as the beans spread across the bread. Overall, they maybe weren’t to my taste, possibly a little bit too sweet.

RATING: 7/10

Verdict

After seven days testing the supermarket's best own-brand offerings it's Asda's 42p can that came up trumps. It wasn't too sweet and had a solid kicking in the rich tomato sauce.

While it may have been slightly more calorific than some of the other baked beans on the market, it had less sugar, which is always good for the health conscious among us. And while I probably wouldn't recommend having beans on toast for lunch every working day, it did offer a solid mid-day lunch.

What does the NHS say about baked beans?

The NHS website recommends around three heaped teaspoons of baked beans as a portion, which is actually only around a fifth of a tin. The British Heart Foundation meanwhile says half a 400g tin or a 200g tin counts as a portion. The BHF recommends opting for a baked bean that is low in salt and sugar where possible.

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