Recent trips to the grocery store indicate that a lot of us are stocking up on canned and dried edible beans and with good reason. Beans can stay in your pantry for months and are extremely versatile, very affordable and taste delicious. In addition, beans are full of fiber, protein, and essential nutrients like potassium, iron, thiamin and folic acid making them the perfect ingredient to have on hand for all the healthy home cooking we are doing. If using canned beans, they simply need to be drained and rinsed before adding to recipes. Dried beans require some prep, but it’s easy to cook them in an Instant Pot and then freeze batches to use when needed in dips, salads, soups, chilis, Mexican meals and more.

If you find yourself with an abundance of beans right now, here are 4 creative, family-friendly bean recipes so you can dip, dine and dessert with Michigan Beans: