Best baked beans: Heinz and Branston versus supermarket own labels

Few things beat the comfort of beans piled high on toast or a steaming baked potato – they’re not just tasty but quick, cheap and healthy, too.

But should you splash out on Heinz or will a cheaper supermarket tin hit that distinctively sweet, tomatoey spot?

We gathered 60 baked-bean enthusiasts to tell us what they thought of 12 different cans, pitting Heinz and Branston against supermarket own-brands, including Asda, Lidl, Morrisons and Tesco.

The cut-price supermarket beans from Aldi and Lidl tied for top spot. 

Heinz beans were just a smidge behind, but a lot pricier. We also found a supermarket own-brand that’s best avoided – read on to find out more.

Best baked beans

Aldi and Lidl achieved joint top-of-the-table position, narrowly edging out Heinz. All three are Best Buys, and the two supermarket beans also win our Great Value badge.

The other big brand, Branston, was also popular with our tasters and costs less than Heinz.

Best Buy & Great Value: Aldi Bramwells Beans in a Rich Tomato Sauce

Price: 40p (410g)

Score: 77%

Aldi's own-brand offering was an excellent all-rounder, with close to three-quarters of our testers finding the texture of both beans and sauce to be just right. They looked appetising, and nearly two-thirds of our panel said that they tasted delicious. Most agreed that they were pleasantly sweet.

Aldi’s beans come in at just 40p a can, making them not only a Best Buy but also Great Value.

Available from Aldi.

Best Buy & Great Value: Lidl Newgate Baked Beans in a Rich Tomato Sauce

Price: 42p (410g)

Score: 77%

Good looking, flavourful beans that our tasters enjoyed just as much as Aldi’s, meaning these Lidl beans are a joint top Best Buy.

Most thought the beans looked good and nearly two-thirds said their sweetness suited them.

Texture was also highly praised, with the beans and the sauce complementing each other well.

Lidl’s can is slightly heavier than Aldi’s but equivalent in price per 100g, so it's also a Great Value choice.

Available from Lidl.

Best Buy: Heinz Beanz

Price: £1.40 (415g)

Score: 76%

Heinz was pipped at the post by the budget supermarkets, but was a favourite with our testers, so we’ve also made it a Best Buy.

These beans look just as baked beans should and the texture of the beans themselves, as well as the sauce, were enjoyed by most.

Over half said sweetness levels were right. Their tomatoey flavour was also approved by most, though more than a third would prefer this to be stronger.  

Heinz was the priciest on test by a long way, but you can get these beans more cheaply in multipacks or via offers, such as two for £2.

Available from Amazon, Asda, Co-op, Morrisons, Ocado, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Waitrose.

Branston Baked Beans

Price: £1 (410g)

Score: 74%

Branston beans were generally enjoyed by our tasters, though not quite as much as the top three.

They looked good, and the texture was another high point – the sauce was about the right thickness and the beans had a good level of bite, without being over-hard.

These beans achieved just over half marks for sweetness, with most other tasters wanting them a touch sweeter. Also, a stronger tomatoey flavour would have put them up there with the top scorers.

While the standard price for Branston beans is £1 per tin, you can get them cheaper if you buy a multipack.

Available from Amazon, Asda, Co-op, Morrisons, Ocado, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Waitrose.

How other baked beans compare

Our tasters also particularly enjoyed Asda and Sainsbury's baked beans.

Tesco and M&S were less liked, while Co-op's beans were the least favourite.

• Asda Baked Beans in a Rich Tomato Sauce – 73%. Good looking with a decent texture. Over half of our testers approved of their flavour and sweetness. 40p for 410g (10p per 100g). Available from Asda.
• Sainsbury’s Baked Beans in Tasty Tomato Sauce – 73%. Good all-rounders with a pleasing texture, but a bit on the bland side. 40p for 400g (10p per 100g). Available from Sainsbury’s.
• Morrisons Baked Beans in Tomato Sauce – 71%. Flavour could be more robust, but otherwise reasonably good. 45p for 410g (11p per 100g). Available from Morrisons.
• Ocado Baked Beans in Tomato Sauce – 71%. Tasters generally liked the look, texture and sweetness of these beans. A stronger flavour would have boosted their popularity further. 42p for 420g (10p per 100g). Available from Ocado.
• Waitrose Essential Baked Beans in Tomato Sauce – 71%. Delicious looking with an excellent sauce texture. A little more flavour and sweetness would have helped them score higher. 55p for 420g (13p per 100g). Available from Waitrose.
• Tesco Baked Beans in Tomato Sauce – 68%. Not bad, but two-thirds wanted a stronger flavour and fewer than half approved of their sweetness. 42p for 420g (10p per 100g). Available from Tesco.
• M&S Baked Beans – 64%. Dull-looking beans that lacked flavour, though nearly half our testers said their sweetness was spot-on. 45p for 400g (11p per 100g). Available from M&S (in-store only) and Ocado.
• Co-op Baked Beans in Tomato Sauce – 57%. Least enjoyed of all the beans: two-thirds of our panel said their flavour was too weak, and most wanted them to be sweeter. 45p for 400g (11p per 100g). Available from Co-op.

If you like your baked beans on top of crispy toast, find out which supermarket sourdough bread won our recent taste test

Full results from our baked beans test

How we tested baked beans

We gathered 60 people at our specialist test lab and cracked open more than a hundred tins of baked beans in our quest to find the best beans out there.

All the beans were blind-tasted, so our tasters didn’t know if they were eating Heinz beans, Branston beans or one of the 10 supermarket own-labels on test. 

Each taster had their own private booth, which meant they couldn’t discuss their opinions or influence each other.

The tasters judged the beans on flavour, aroma, appearance and texture, and told us what they liked and disliked about each. 

The overall score was based on:

• 50% flavour
• 20% appearance
• 20% aroma
• 10% texture

Find out more about our editorial independence policy and see behind the scenes of our taste tests to understand more about how we work

Are baked beans good for you?

A half-tin serving of baked beans supplies nearly 10g of protein, along with a decent dose of gut-health-promoting fibre.

While most beans had similar amounts of protein and fibre, Waitrose beans stood out with a high protein content of nearly 16g per half tin. 

But it’s also worth noting that, for a savoury food, beans are relatively sweet, so your half-tin contains around two teaspoonfuls of sugar. Also, expect to take in around 1g of salt per serving, bearing in mind that the NHS recommends a maximum of 6g per day.

Baked beans are gluten-free and virtually fat-free, too. They’re vegan-friendly and supply around 170 calories per half can.

High-fibre foods: cheap and easy ways to increase your fibre intake and improve gut health  

What does a tin of baked beans weigh?

You might think that all these cans weigh the same, but there are subtle differences.

The four lightest cans weigh 400g, while the four heaviest are 420g. A tin of Heinz comes in at 415g. 

See the table above for more detail, including price per 100g for a fair cost comparison.

Reduced-sugar baked beans

If you’re keeping an eye on your intake, there are lower-salt and lower-sugar baked beans available for around the same price. 

Many supermarkets, including Asda, Morrisons, Sainsbury's and Tesco, do own-brand versions.

If you prefer to go for Heinz, then sugar is reduced from 4.3g to 1.9g per 100g, and salt from 0.6g to 0.4g per 100g. Branston drops its sugar from 4.7g to 2.8g and salt from 0.6g to 0.39g for its reduced-sugar tins.

Price and availability checked: January 2025