This is my own recipe. I have a recipe somewhere that my mom gave me, but I couldn’t find it. I checked out a few recipes online, and then just kind of went with my own variation. I made these in an enameled cast-iron Dutch oven on the stove. You can bake them in the oven, or cook them in a slow cooker as well.
Ingredients:
1 to 1 1/2 lbs of ground beef
1 lb of bacon (you can use more or less depending on what you like)
2 tbs minced garlic (3-4 cloves if you use fresh chopped garlic)
1 16 oz can of Bush’s Homestyle Baked Beans
1 16 oz can of Bush’s Original Baked Beans
1 16 oz can of dark or light red kidney beans
1 16 oz can of cannellini beans (most recipes call for butter beans and lima beans, but I don’t like either so I used these instead)
1 16 oz can of navy beans
1/2 cup of brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup of ketchup
1 tbs of cider vinegar
1 tsp of Gulden’s Spicy Brown Mustard
1 tsp salt (use more or less to taste)
1-2 tbs molasses
Directions:
1. Brown ground beef in a large skillet with the chopped onion and garlic. After the beef is browned and the onions become translucent, remove from heat and drain well.
2. Cook bacon in a skillet or in the oven, whichever you prefer. Place on a paper towel-lined plate to cool and drain. Allow to cool and then chop or crumble bacon into beef mixture.
3. Put the beef mixture into a Dutch oven or slow cooker, on low to medium-low heat.
4. Drain and rinse the kidney beans, cannellini beans, and navy beans. Add beans to Dutch oven and stir into the beef.
5. Add 1/2 cup of packed brown sugar (light or dark) to Dutch oven, and stir into mixture.
6. Add 1 can of Bush’s Homestyle Baked Beans and 1 can of Bush’s Original Baked Beans, with juice, into mixture and stir. (You can use whatever kind of baked beans or pork and beans you like. I just happen to like these two varieties of Bush’s beans)
7. Add ketchup, mustard, vinegar, and salt to the mixture and stir well.
8. Add molasses and stir well. If you do not want a lot of sweetness, you can skip the molasses. I personally think it gives the flavor an extra little kick.
9. Simmer on low to medium-low heat until the beans reach your desired thickness. Be sure to stir the beans periodically.
Notes:
1. There are many calico bean recipes on the internet. A lot are very similar. You can pick whichever one you like a go with it. I like this one myself. Then again, I am a bit biased, as it is my recipe.
2. You can use whatever kinds of beans you like. The ones I used seem to be what most other recipes use except for the cannellini beans, which are really just white kidney beans. Most of the recipes call for butter beans and/ or lima beans. I personally do not like either of those. I substituted the cannellini beans for them. You can do whatever you like.
3. A slow cooker works very well for making this dish, as does a Dutch oven. It’s up to you which way you want to make it. You can also get everything mixed and simmering, cover, and put it in the oven to bake.
4. Do not be surprised if the aroma of this dish cooking makes you hungry.