Calico Bean Casserole Recipe

Wow, awesome recipe. I made this for a BBQ I went to and everyone wanted the recipe. I used 2 cans of baked beans in chile sauce which I did not drain. I drained the two other cans of beans, one was kidney, one was pinto. I used a pound of bacon, fried it crisp and crumbled it into the beans when everything was mixed. In the bacon grease, I sauteed 1/2 cup onion, 1/2 cup green pepper, and 1/2 cup red pepper. My family loved it and I am making it for the third time in two weeks. My older sons fought over who was taking the little bit of leftovers home. You have to try it!! Easy and delicious.

This is an excellent main dish. In my opinion, it is not a side dish as I saw someone else thought it should be used for. But, I do make it a bit different and don't know if it's better because of the changes. I fry the bacon seperate from the ground beef and cook it until crisp, but not burnt. Then I brown the ground beef. It will take longer then cooking them together, but recipe is very good when the bacon is cooked crisp. I also mix the brown sugar (1 C) with the ketchup to form a sauce. I then mix all the ingredients. I also do not use mustard or vinegar and it is always a huge hit! I saw some commented that they disliked the butter beans. Although I like the butter beans I always try to find baby butter beans since there not so big. Really much better in this dish then regular butter beans.

This is one of those recipes you see at hundreds of potlucks any season - often, brought by some aunt 😉 - yet, for me, I have never made it. I wanted to pair this with our 4th of July ribs. While finding butter beans was quite the feat (4 stores!) it was worth it. I am sure Northern Beans are a good sub but when your feeling nostalgic- you want the closest replicate as possible. Since it rained 4th of July, the ribs moved to the oven and the beans got moved to the crockpot - on high - for 3hours and then the last, fourth hour; uncovered in the crockpot (still on high). This allowed them to thicken to the consistency I remembered. Move over Aunts! I can do this too now! Thanks Dee Dee! It was delicious!!

This is a mandatory dish at our family reunion. I rarely measure anything and change it up every once in a while, but even though they never come out the same way twice, everyone loves them. I use all of the listed ingredients with the exception of dry mustard, I use prepared and I use cider vinegar instead of white. I also cook the bacon until crisp and remove and drain it leaving some of the bacon grease in the pan to saute the onions in. I cook the ground beef separately so that I can drain the grease off of it. With the exception of the pork and beans, I drain and rinse all of the other beans. I use dark red kidneys, baby butter beans because they are closer in size to the others and pinto beans. I always add lightly sauteed red and green bell peppers and sometimes hot Hungarian wax peppers. I also sometimes add sauteed matchstick cut carrots. If I have an opened bottle of barbeque sauce in the fridge, I put some of that in as well. I have made this with all ground beef and with beef and sausage, either way it is alway a hit. I take it to the reunion in a six quart slow cooker and I am disappointed if there is not any leftover since it's just the two of us and it makes too much to be practical to make regularly at home. You really can't go wrong with this when you adapt it to suit your tastes. If you don't like really sweet baked beans, use less sugar. If you like a little heat add hot pepper. The key to a successful recipe is to taste as you go and adjust accordingly.

First time making this and the children loved it. I did make a change to speed up the making i used already cooked bacon and crumbled it into the meat and onion pan. I found this easy and less grease.

I used Jimmy Dean breakfast sausage instead of ground beef. I cut the brown sugar and ketchup in half. I like onion, so I upped the onion by about 1/3. I also used more bacon, just because I like it. It received rave reviews at the BBQ I took this to. It is a very flexible recipe, according your preferences and what you have on hand. I will make it again and probably tweak it again (just because that is what I do).

This was the second time I made this delicious bean recipe. Unfortunately, sometimes I cook like a bride, and that's what I did this time. I added a 12 oz. package of frozen baby limas along with the canned beans but didn't precook them and they weren't cooked enough. Tonight I added all the leftovers to a pot and slowly simmered them about 30 minutes, and this is the dish I remember loving.

This is an excellent recipe. I made it in my slow cooker. I combined all the ingredients in the slow cooker exactly as written, but didn't add any extra salt. I cooked for 3 hours on high. Perfect results!

I made it as is the 1st time I made it and it was a little sweet, but it was great! I've made it many times since with these changes: I use a 28oz. can of Bush's original baked beans, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/2 lb. of bacon, 1 tbsp. white vinegar, and 1 pepper (I usually mix 1/2 red and 1/2 green peppers). It's not quite as sweet and the peppers add something is was missing!

This recipe is in our state cookbook and my Mom and I have been making it for many years. After cooking the meat, bacon and onion we throw it all in the crockpot on low all day. Huge at family reunions, summer parties, etc. Men especially love it.

Great recipe! I sprinkled some flour over the ground beef For browning at the end and to thicken the beans up a bit. I also added a packet of McCormick mesquite grilling packet to the mix. I didn’t have any bacon, and it was still awesome!

I made this casserole using the recipe as published. It was delicious. The three different beans provide nice colors, texture, and taste. The flavor of the bacon is in every bite. I served it with fresh biscuits, and it was a huge hit. I encourage everyone to try this outstanding recipe.

I also add mushrooms.

Everyone thought it took hours!

Delicious and super easy! We substituted Northern beans for the butter beans and didn't add any brown sugar - plenty sweet enough already!

This is definitely a family favorite and is much more than a side dish. It is very easy to make and worth the time! I use a little under 1/2 cup brown sugar so it wouldn't be that sweet. I couldn't find butter beans so I used norther beans, no one tasted the difference because it was equally delicious. I believe this dish tastes better day after day, the longer it sits. YUM!

This with scalloped potatoes and ham is one of my favorite dinners!!

It's really good recipe as is.. I've made many times.. Always drain & rinse kidney beans, drain butter beans.. , Bush's Grillin beans . I have substituted many different BBq sauces for the ketchup. I usually add green pepper along with the onion . Im a tangy girl ,so more vinegar, less brown sugar. Thanks for the recipe: )

love it

A tweak that I use in this is to use smoked sausage cut in 1/4 inch rounds instead of the ground beef. I also use 4 cans of beans-usually add black beans to what recipe calls for and drain and rinse all but the baked beans-Bush's of course! Reduce the brown sugar but sometimes add a little molasses, use more onion and a little green or red or both adds to the flavor levels. Great recipe-for us it's a meal and add some corn muffins-perfect!!