Baked beans are the perfect side dish to pair with a delicious barbecue meal. They come in many varieties to please just about every palate, so they’re always a crowd favorite. But how did baked beans happen to become so popular?

How We Got Baked Beans for Our Barbecue

Origins

Baked beans were created by Native Americans, specifically the Iroquois, Narragansett, Penobscot, and other eastern tribes. Their original recipe used navy beans and maple syrup. English colonists in the 17th century enjoyed the dish so much that they adapted it for their own, changing out the syrup for brown sugar. The recipe was published in cookbooks in the 1800s, which is when it started to gain popularity around the United States, Canada, and England.

Boston and Baked Beans

In New England, Christians couldn’t do labor on Sundays, which meant they couldn’t cook, so baked beans came to the rescue. They were able to prepare them on Saturdays, leave them on the smoldering fire, then have a warm meal for Sunday evening. 

Many people call baked beans Boston baked beans because the city was a famous exporter of rum, which creates molasses as a byproduct. This molasses was added to the baked beans instead of syrup or sugar, creating the Boston baked beans recipe. 

Use Today

Baked beans have become even more popular now that they’re canned. The H.J. Heinz company was the first to sell canned baked beans in America in 1895 and then sold in the UK in 1901. Americans enjoy baked beans with their barbecue, and people from the UK eat them during English breakfasts or on toast.

American and English baked beans differ. The American version has almost double the sugar of the UK version. UK baked beans are also firmer than American ones. These differences probably explain why the two countries eat their beans differently.

If you’re looking for some delicious BBQ and baked beans, come right on over to Dickey’s Barbecue Pit in Amelia, OH. Their calling is to bring the big, bold flavors of Texas barbecue to Ohio. They offer two types of baked beans: barbecue beans and jalapeno beans. Visit their website to take a look at their menu or call (513) 802-2700 for more information.