Balance Baked Canned Beans That Are Too Sweet With One Earthy Spice

Store-bought baked beans are a time-saving staple, but like most ready-made things, they don't always come with the exact qualities we're looking for. A watery or overly thick texture may be the most glaring issue, but excessive sweetness is the real issue with plenty of canned baked beans. Thankfully, all you need to do is reach into your spice cabinet for a dash of turmeric.

The spice doesn't only have to be paired with beans when making a batch of chili or instant pot rajma. Turmeric is highly versatile, and having it counteract much too sweet baked beans is a great way to put the spice to use. It's earthy, with a subtle heat and mildly bitter edge that tempers the saccharinity of baked beans. We love using turmeric to give sauteed ingredients an umami boost, and it can do just that for beans.

Along with correcting baked beans' sweet flavor and complementing the deep, molasses-rich brown sugar that's often found in the dish, turmeric meshes well with all its other common components — like savory bacon and tangy barbecue sauce. The golden spice is woodsy with hints of zesty citrus, so it won't be out of place in the dish. If you don't want your beans to be turmeric-forward, start out with just a pinch. As they simmer, give them a taste and add more turmeric as needed.

Baked beans aren't complete without all the cozy classics it was made for — mac and cheese, cornbread, smoked meats, you name it. But with the standard dish getting a bold upgrade with turmeric, it only makes sense for its complementary foods to get the same. Barbecue pork-stuffed cornbread takes two incredible dishes and combines them to make the ultimate trio with turmeric-infused baked beans. The sweet, earthy cornbread and tangy pork match pretty well with the spiced beans, but you can add a touch of garam masala to the barbecue sauce.

The gentle heat of turmeric is no match for the spice in a potato salad with harissa yogurt and preserved lemon. Harissa's smoky, bold flavor and the pungent preserved lemons take the heat and citrusy notes from turmeric and amplify it for a dynamic dish. Together, the two make delicious sides alongside grilled chicken or salmon.

Balancing out saccharine baked beans is necessary when pairing the side with a smoked turkey and cherry chutney panini. The stone fruits are mixed with brown sugar, onions, ginger, and mustard seeds to make a sweet and spicy sandwich spread. Both the turmeric baked beans and cherry chutney share a deep, complex taste that harmonizes well together.