Cozy Stovetop Calico Beans Recipe

Like many popular home recipes, we have no real idea who first came up with the concept of calico beans, nor who was first to name it, but the name does seem to derive from the fact that the different colors of beans bear some resemblance to this old-timey fabric. Calico beans do have a few other names, though, including cowboy beans and Roosevelt beans. The latter makes us suspect that this church cookbook staple may have been around since the Great Depression, although we can't say for sure. It's pretty economical, though, and according to developer Patterson Watkins, "It is a rib-sticking dish, protein-packed, and something I will gladly make again when the forecast calls for snow." 

As Watkins says of the recipe, it's "a whimsical, sorta-kinda combination of BBQ baked beans and sloppy Joes. It is also a fantastic way to use up some pretty standard pantry staples." The staples in question — these being brown sugar, cider vinegar, ketchup, and yellow mustard "... cover most of the taste spectrum; savory, sweet, salty, and a tiny bit of tangy, and mesh nicely with the trio of beans; creamy butterbeans, meaty kidney beans, and delicate navy beans (pork and bean beans)." As it's made with canned beans, it comes together pretty quickly and makes for a very satisfying meal without much effort.

This recipe calls for three types of canned beans: butter beans, kidney beans, and pork and beans. It also has two types of meat, bacon and ground beef, along with a yellow onion. Additional flavoring elements include garlic, paprika, salt, ketchup, beef broth, cider vinegar, yellow mustard, and brown sugar.

Cook the bacon in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat until crisp.

Using a slotted spoon, remove the bacon from the pot, and set it aside to drain on a paper towel-lined plate.

Add the ground beef, onion, garlic, paprika, and salt to the pot and stir to combine.

Saute for 5 minutes or until the ground beef has browned.

Add the ketchup, beef broth, vinegar, mustard, and brown sugar to the pot and stir to combine.

Add the pork and beans, butter beans, kidney beans, and cooked bacon to the pot, stir to combine, and bring to a simmer.

Once simmering, reduce the heat to low, cover, and cook for 20 minutes.

Remove the lid and continue to cook for 10 minutes or until thick and saucy.

Serve hot with your favorite sides.

• Kimchi Mac and Cheese Recipe
• Southern-Style Homemade Cornbread Dressing Recipe
• Copycat Texas Roadhouse Rolls Recipe
• Basic Stovetop Steamed White Rice Recipe
• Sweet and Savory Upside Down Cornbread Recipe

The types of beans that can be used in this recipe aren't set in stone, so you can use any canned beans you like or happen to have in your pantry. (Keeping to the white, red, or pink colors will result in a more calico-like appearance, but if you feel like throwing in a can of black beans, that works, too.) If you'd like a dish that isn't so sweet, you can also swap out the pork and beans for a can of pinto or navy beans.

Another way to make the beans more savory than sweet would be to reduce the amount of sugar and splash in a little Worcestershire sauce. You can also add some hot sauce — a smoky, chipotle-based one would work particularly well with the flavor profile of this dish.

As for the ground meat, you could go lower-fat by subbing ground turkey or you could use a plant-based alternative and leave out the bacon to make it more vegetarian-friendly. (The beef broth can easily be replaced by vegetable broth.) It's also okay to leave out the meat altogether and just add another can of beans, plus whatever you're subbing for the pork and beans. To make up for the loss of the bacony flavor, you can always add some smoked paprika or liquid smoke.

We went with a stovetop version here for ease of preparation (no need to preheat), and it also has the added bonus of making this dish something you could cook in summertime without making the kitchen too hot. Calico beans, after all, make a great barbecue side dish. Still, if you want to be a tad more traditional, you can always bake them. This recipe should fit into a 13 x 9-inch pan and can be baked at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 to 40 minutes until it's hot and bubbly.

Using your slow cooker is also a possibility, and a great option if you're making the dish for a potluck and want it to stay warm over a longish period of time. You'll first need to fry the bacon (or bake or microwave it, if you prefer) and brown the beef. You'll then dump everything into the crockpot, stir it up, and simmer it on low heat for six to eight hours. (Three to four hours on high will also work if this better fits your timetable.) For the best texture, though, you may want to add two tablespoons of tomato paste to your crockpot calico beans to help the liquid thicken.

• High-Protein Tex Mex Soup Recipe
• One-Pot Red Beans and Rice Recipe
• Italian-Style Butter Beans Recipe
• 5-Ingredient Cowboy Caviar Recipe