Baked Bean and Onion Dogs

Omg omg omg wait. I’m in love. You guys…this is seriously the mother of all hot dogs. The salty, savory hot dog + the sweet baked beans + the sharp onion + the tangy mustard = THE PERFECT combination of amazing flavors to create a summer masterpiece: the ultimate hot dog.

These are a NEEDED item in your 4th of July celebrations. Needed. Mandatory.

What screams summer more than hot dogs? It’s a summer evening, you’re out by the grill watching some hot dogs reach charred perfection, your family and friends are outside playing yard games, and everyone grabs their paper plates and plastic cups full of icy lemonade and loads those plates full of chips, potato salad, other yummy summer sides along with – MOST importantly – the hot dog to end all hot dogs.

^^^ I hope you enjoyed that painted image of summer perfection. You’re welcome.

Before this blissful image can come to life in your back yard, these hot dogs must happen, people. They will make your 4th of July the best 4th of July EVA. Or any other summer night 🌞.

Every now and then, when I am ranting on and on about a recipe, I will talk about the balance of flavors. Balancing the different types of flavors (sweet, salty, acidic, etc…) and combining them all together in one bite is the epitome of the best food out there. There are certain recipes that embody that concept more than others, making them so much fun to eat.

This hot dog. This is that cooking concept wrapped up into a soft bun and begging to be stuffed in your face in the most un-ladylike fashion possible.

The balance of flavors here:

• The hot dog – savory and salty
• The baked beans – sweet yet complex and smoky
• The onion – sharp and crunchy
• The mustard – tangy, acidic, and bright

Since the baked beans are sweet, you need that sharp onion and tangy mustard to balance those flavors out, creating a symphony of hot dog happiness in your mouth as you chew and take another bite – repeat forever.

And now we must spend some time discussing just the baked beans. If happiness is important to you in life, please, please, PLEASE use these brown sugar maple baked beans on the hot dogs. Oh – ma – stars. I posted those baked beans around this time last year, and I haven’t made them since until this past week when I created this hot dog recipe. I forgot hot impossibly delicious they are. I refuse to ever ever ever ever buy a can of baked beans again.

Seriously…they are the things of dreams.

Sweet from the brown sugar and maple syrup, smokey from the bacon, deep and complex in flavor from the onion, garlic, and green pepper + spices, and simmered together for 45 minutes until they are perfect and thick and SO SO flavorful. I have a slight intense and incurable obsession with these beans, and basically I want to eat them every day until fall.

Join me in this obsession. Make these baked beans. And DEFINITELY use them on these hot dogs. I halved the original recipe since I only wanted them as a hot dog topping, but you still have a decent amount left over to use as a side. I’m telling you…you will be in love and join me in my anti-canned-baked-beans vow. It’s worth the extra effort to make them yourselves. I promise. Have I ever steered you wrong before? If I have, don’t answer that.

Happy almost 4th of July!

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If you make this or any of my other recipes, be sure to Instagram it and hashtag #thegarlicdiaries!

In the mood for more yummy 4th of July recipes? Check these out:

Individual 4th of July Fruit Pizzas

Brown Sugar Maple Baked Beans

Jalapeno Popper Cheeseburger