Food and Recipes Side Dishes These Easy Baked Beans Are My Most Requested Summer Side Dish Recipe If the grill is fired up, you bet these are in the oven. By Patricia Shannon Patricia Shannon Patricia Shannon gives how-to content a can-do attitude, sharing her knowledge and research on housekeeping, decorating, gardening, etiquette, beauty, and more. She has been writing and editing lifestyle content for more than a decade. Southern Living's editorial guidelines Updated on July 2, 2022 Share Tweet Pin Email Only 11 minutes of hands-on time goes into the summer side dish recipe that my friends and family can't stop raving over. Who doesn't love an easy win? With our Baked Beans recipe, that's exactly what you'll get. No matter whether there's a brisket on the smoker or burgers on the grill, our Baked Beans with bacon are always in my oven. I've been making a version of this summertime staple for nearly a decade at this point, and they still go down as one of my requested dishes of all time. side When I pass along the recipe—against my inclination to disregard the request with a nonchalant "oh, it's just something I whipped together"—it's always eyed suspiciously, almost as if the reader is determining whether or not the flavor payoff is worth crisping bacon and sautéing onions. After the first bite they realize the answer is a resounding, yes! (Please do not skip those steps.) Antonis Achilleos After the aforementioned bacon crisping and onion sautéing, grab four (15-ounce) cans pork and beans in tomato sauce and give them a good drain. Grab your trusty casserole, lightly grease it, then pour in the beans and next five ingredients (ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, dry mustard, brown sugar, and molasses or sorghum syrup). Give the mixture a stir and you'll be rewarded with a thick and flavorful concoction that'll have you taste-testing before it even hits the oven—trust me, it's that good. Oh, and don't forget to top it with the bacon. Once the beans hit the oven to bake at 350° for 45 minutes, you'll almost immediately start getting wafts of savory, sweet, barbecue-y goodness. It's been my experience that this is typically when our dinner guests start arriving—and the timing could not be more ideal. I don't even need to usher them into the house, somehow, the scents coming from the oven lead them in a type of trance straight to the kitchen. Hot Tip (literally): These beans will be absolutely molten when you pull them from the oven. Let them sit for about 10 to 15 minutes before serving. Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit