What hot dog and burger cookout is complete without a side of beans? It’s easy enough to heat a few cans of prepared baked beans — and there are plenty of great canned options in our aisles that meet our exacting Quality Standards — but have you ever made baked beans from scratch? I think our version of Classic Baked Beans is pretty awesome!

It’s not a very complicated dish and you can choose to cook dried beans or simply use canned white beans. Here’s what I think are the keys to great baked beans:

• Building blocks of flavor: bacon (optional) and onion
• Something sweet:  brown sugar and molasses
• Something tangy: apple cider vinegar
• Something complex: chili powder, dry mustard, tomato paste
• The beans: Navy beans or Great Northerns are the classic choice for baked beans, but you could try other white beans or any bean for that matter.

Baking beans is a classic seasonal way to enjoy them, but that’s just one of many delicious summery approaches.

Make some of these bean recipes for your next cookout:

I want to know: do you have the best-ever bean dish? Share your great summertime bean recipes, baked or otherwise, in the comments below. Let’s see who can claim bragging rights. Happy summer cooking!