Calico Beans – a hearty bean dish you can serve as a whole meal.

Calico beans are made of several cans of beans, bacon, and hamburger, help to make a very easy to put together dinner.  This recipe doesn’t take a long time to prepare, you can keep this dish warm in a crockpot.

Several cans of beans, bacon, and hamburger are the basis for this hearty and colorful calico bean dish. This bean casserole is the best for an easy weeknight meal option. It’s also an ideal bean dish to take to pot lucks and is the perfect side for any backyard party or cookout. I love the color mix almost as much as the taste.

It’s easy to feed a crowd with this calico beans recipe, and it will soon be that time of year – think graduation parties, Memorial Day and July 4th picnics. This hearty baked beans dish will disappear fast! I don’t know anyone who will eat just one helping.

Calico Beans Crockpot

A colorful medley of tasty beans are smothered in an easy, made-from-scratch BBQ-ish sauce and cooked to flavorful perfection in a crockpot. I prefer to cook my beans in a crockpot, so they don’t burn. The texture seems to be better as well this way.

What Kind of Beans Should I Use?

Get ready for this – my calico beans recipe uses no less than five kinds of canned beans! – baked beans, butter beans, kidney beans, navy beans, and pinto beans. Don’t worry if you look in your pantry and you are missing a can of one type of bean. As far as beans go, this recipe is flexible – just substitute an extra can of another bean. And, if you are interested in reading about the different kinds of beans, click here.

These beans don’t take much time to prep. They can also be made ahead of time and taste even better the next day. Pass me the hot sauce and a big plate of these beans!

If you’ve tried this calico beans recipe, please rate it below in the comments and let me know how it went – I love hearing from you!

Calico Beans

These Calico beans a hearty enough to make a whole meal. 

5 from 1 vote

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Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Beans, One Pot Meals, Slow Cooker

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 2 hours

Total Time: 2 hours 10 minutes

Servings: 8

Calories: 647kcal

Author: Stephanie Manley

Ingredients

• 1 pound ground beef
• 1/2 pound bacon sliced into small pieces
• 1 cup chopped
• 3 teaspoons garlic
• 14 ounces baked beans
• 14 ounces kidney beans
• 14 ounces pinto beans
• 14 ounces butter beans
• 14 ounces navy beans
• 14 ounces three bean salad use half the juice
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 1 teaspoon honey
• 1 teaspoon vinegar
• 1 teaspoon dry mustard

Instructions

• Over medium heat saute ground beef, sliced bacon, chopped onion, and minced garlic.  Cook until ground beef has been browned.  Drained if desired. 
  
• Add beans to the crockpot. 
  
• Add brown sugar, ketchup, honey, vinegar, and dry mustard to the slow cooker.  Stir well. 
• Cook on low heat for 2 hours. 

Recipe Tips for the Cook

Variations:

• You can add Ranch Style Beans with jalapeno peppers this will add a nice bit of heat to the recipe.
• You can omit the ketchup and honey if desire.
• Switch the ground beef for Italian sausage.

Nutrition

Calories: 647kcal | Carbohydrates: 89g | Protein: 32g | Fat: 19g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Cholesterol: 42mg | Sodium: 556mg | Potassium: 1446mg | Fiber: 23g | Sugar: 20g | Vitamin A: 1.7% | Vitamin C: 6.6% | Calcium: 14.7% | Iron: 44.6%

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Hungry for more bean recipes? Give these a try:

Baked Beans Quintet
Best Ever Baked Beans with Smoked Sausage
Easy Barbeque Baked Beans