Sainsbury's Baked Beans in Tomato Sauce

If you read some of my reviews you know that I like cooking and baking. A few days ago I cooked Chilli con Carne. I know that there are ready made cans of it but I wanted to do my own version. I went to Sainsbury’s to buy beans and meat. I hesitated between Sainsbury’s own brand and Heinz beans but finally choose Sainsbury’s.

Price
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I bought two different Sainsbury’s Baked Beans in Tomato Sauce a normal one and a reduced sugar one. Both of them contain 420 g of beans in sauce and cost 0.48 pounds. The reduced sugar one has thinner sauce and is less sweet but it is difficult to realise the difference. The Heinz beans can contains 315 g of beans in sauce and costs 0.55 pounds.

Package
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The beans come in a steel can which has a ring-pull on the top. The label on the can is red and in a dark blue square it is written with white Baked Beans and with yellow in Tomato Sauce. Above this square is the Sainsbury’s logo. Below this square there is a plate with beans in tomato sauce. I have to say that it looks inviting.
The reduced sugar one looks similar but its wrapper is light blue. These Baked Beans are not from the Basics series.

First impressions
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It was easy to open the cans and I like that they are recyclable. The two types of beans looked very similar. It was dark already when I opened them but at the light in my kitchen the normal one looked a bit more orangey. The Haricot beans are about medium size beans and were baked very well. The sauce of the normal one was thicker a little bit and was sweeter than the reduced sugar one. I liked them both but I think I will use the normal one in the future. Their smell was very nice the tomato smell dominated mostly.

Ingredients:
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Haricot Beans (51%), Tomatoes (33%), Water, Sugar, Modified Maize Starch, Salt, Seasoning (Salt, Onion, Paprika, Rapeseed Oil, Clove Extract, Cinnamon Extract, Paprika Extract, Natural Chilli Flavouring, Capsicum Extract, Garlic Oil).

Nutritional information per 100 g
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Energy: 81kcal
Protein: 5.2g
Carbohydrate: 13.9g
Sugars: 4.4g
Starch: 9.5g
Fat: 0.5g
Saturates: 0.1g
Fibre: 4.6g
Salt: 0.75g
Sodium: 0.30g

My chilli con carne
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I bought pre-packed beef meat that was already cut in small cubes. I spiced the meat with chilli con carne spice mix then fried it quickly on a little oil. When it became brown all over I added a little water I covered it and cooked it ready. Then I added the baked beans and cooked them for 5 minutes. I had to add some further chilli con carne spice mix to it. I served it with fresh bread and decorated the middle of the plate with a bit of sour cream.

My opinion
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I tried Heinz and Sainsbury’s own brand of baked beans and I found that the difference is very little. Probably the Heinz beans were cooked even more. I will stick to the red labelled baked beans of Sainsbury’s in the future. It was easy to open, it was delicious and most of all ready made. I have to find some further recipes so that my sons could it them as well. My chilli con carne is too hot for them. I recommend you trying them.