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The perfect potluck side dish or easy weeknight dinner! Grandma’s calico beans recipe comes together in about 15 minutes, can be prepped in advance, and feed a crowd. With ground beef, bacon, and onion in a sweet and savory sauce, the baked beans are delicious alongside a skillet of Southern cornbread, grilled hamburgers, pulled pork, and fried chicken.
Table of Contents
If you’re looking for more side dishes, check out this popular Jiffy corn casserole, a Southern squash casserole, the best baked mac and cheese, and a pot of Southern okra and tomatoes, too!
Why You’ll Love this Recipe
- Easy. With only 15 minutes of prep, this recipe for calico beans is about as simple as it gets. If you can brown ground beef, then you can make this dish!
- Make-Ahead. Whether you’re attending a potluck gathering, hosting a picnic or cookout, or just prepping dinner ahead of time for a busy weeknight, you can’t beat the convenience of a make-ahead recipe. Just pop it in the oven to bake whenever you want to enjoy them — no last-minute stress.
- Budget-Friendly. Thanks to canned beans and ground beef, this hearty, satisfying dish is an affordable way to serve a crowd.
- Moist but not soupy. This particular calico beans recipe is the perfect consistency — moist and flavorful in a thick, rich, sauce — but not too soupy. You’ll achieve this balance by covering the dish at the beginning of the baking time, but removing it towards the end.
What are calico beans?
Calico beans (also called “cowboy beans”) are a hearty and flavorful baked bean dish. The hallmark of this recipe is the variety of beans used. Calico beans include a mix of beans in different colors, shapes, and sizes (such as kidney beans, black beans, lima beans or butter beans, white beans, great Northern beans, or pinto beans). The recipe also usually contains ground beef and/or bacon for added richness and protein.
The beans are simmered or baked in a savory and slightly sweet sauce, often made with ingredients like tomato sauce or ketchup, brown sugar, vinegar, and mustard, giving the dish a tangy flavor. Calico beans are classic American comfort food that you’ll often find at potlucks, barbecues, and family gatherings.
Ingredients
This is just a quick overview of the ingredients that you’ll need for a pan of cowboy calico beans. As always, specific measurements and step-by-step cooking instructions are included in the printable recipe box at the bottom of the post.
- Ground beef: gives the beans a heartier texture and flavor, making them satisfying enough to serve as a dinner entree. You can sub with ground turkey, ground chicken, ground pork, or ground sausage if you like.
- Bacon: for smoky richness. Instead of bacon, you can give the dish a smoky flavor with the addition of smoked sausage.
- Onion: for savory flavor. Saute a chopped sweet bell pepper along with the beef, onion, and bacon for even more flavor if you like.
- Pork and beans, kidney beans, navy beans, and lima beans: use canned beans for convenience. You can sub with other types of beans, such as black beans, lentils, or butter beans. If you can’t find canned pork and beans, use a can of baked beans instead.
- Ketchup, brown sugar, apple cider vinegar, and yellow mustard: combine to create the sweet and tangy sauce. Replace some of the ketchup with barbecue sauce if you like a bolder, smokier flavor. Add 1-2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce for salty, savory, umami flavor. Give the sauce more flavor with about 1 teaspoon chili powder and/or ½ teaspoon garlic powder or onion powder.
- Kosher salt and ground black pepper: enhance the flavors of the other ingredients.
Directions
This easy calico beans recipe comes together with about 15 minutes of hands-on prep time. You’ll find detailed directions in the recipe card below, but here’s the quick version:
- Brown the ground beef, bacon, and onion in a Dutch oven.
- Add the beans.
- Whisk together the sauce.
- Stir the sauce into the bean and beef mixture.
- Transfer the bean mixture to a baking dish and cover with aluminum foil.
- Bake for a total of 45 minutes, removing the cover after the first 25 minutes.
Serving Suggestions
If offering the calico beans as a main dish for lunch or dinner, pair them with a skillet of cast iron cornbread, a basket of 3-ingredient buttermilk biscuits, or a pan of red rice. For extra veggies on the side, try coleslaw, Southern squash casserole, Southern potato salad, or sweet and spicy collard greens.
The baked beans are also a nice side dish when paired with any of entrees like grilled pulled pork, grilled BBQ pork chops, smoked turkey breast, Dutch oven BBQ beef, grilled salmon, and fried catfish.
Preparation and Storage Tips
- Make Ahead: assemble the calico beans in advance, cover, and store in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours before baking. When ready to bake, allow the dish to sit on the counter and come to room temperature for at least 30-60 minutes before it goes into the oven. If the beans are still cold when you put them in the oven, you will likely need to increase the total baking time.
- Storage: leftovers will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days.
- How to Freeze: let the baked beans cool, then store in airtight containers or Ziploc freezer bags in the freezer for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge overnight before reheating.
- How to Reheat: cover the dish and warm in a 350°F oven just until heated through, about 20-25 minutes. You can also reheat individual portions in the microwave for about 30-60 seconds.
Expert Tips
- Do not drain off the sauce from the can of pork and beans. The other canned beans should be drained before adding them to the pot.
- For added heat, season the beans with Cajun seasoning or Creole seasoning, some hot sauce, or a dash of cayenne.
- The total cooking time may vary. For really soft, broken-down beans, cook the dish for 40 minutes covered, and then remove the cover for another 20 minutes.
- If you like more sauce in your calico beans, leave the cover on the dish for the entire 45 minutes.
More Baked Beans Recipes to Try
Cowboy Baked Beans
1 hour hr 15 minutes mins
Homemade Baked Beans from Scratch
16 hours hrs
Franks and Beans
50 minutes mins
Calico Beans
Ingredients
- 1 lb. ground beef
- ¼ lb. bacon, chopped
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced
- 1 (15 ounce) can pork and beans, not drained
- 1 (16 ounce) can kidney beans, drained
- 1 (15.5 ounce) can navy beans, drained
- 1 (15.25 ounce) can lima beans (or butter beans), drained
- ½ cup ketchup
- ½ cup packed light brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon yellow mustard
- Kosher salt and ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9 x 13-inch baking dish or spray with nonstick cooking spray; set aside.
- In a large Dutch oven or large skillet, brown the beef, bacon, and onion over medium-high heat until the meat is no longer pink. Drain off excess grease.
- Add the pork and beans (with their sauce), kidney beans, navy beans, and lima beans.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the ketchup, brown sugar, vinegar, and mustard.
- Stir the ketchup mixture into the bean mixture. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Transfer to the prepared baking dish.
- Cover with foil and bake for 25 minutes. Remove the cover and continue baking for about 20 more minutes, or until hot and bubbly.
Notes
- Alternate Slow Cooker Method: Just keep in mind that the Crock Pot beans will have a more “soupy” consistency. First, brown the beef, bacon, and onion on the stovetop as instructed. Transfer the mixture to a Crock Pot, and stir in the remaining ingredients. Cover and cook on HIGH for 1-2 hours or on LOW for 3-4 hours. Remove the lid during the final 30 minutes to allow some of the steam and condensation to escape and the sauce to thicken.
- If you like more sauce in your calico beans, leave the cover on the dish for the entire 45 minutes.
- The total cooking time may vary. For really soft, broken-down beans, cook the dish for 40 minutes covered, and then remove the cover for another 20 minutes.
- For added heat, season the beans with Cajun seasoning or Creole seasoning, some hot sauce, or a dash of cayenne.
- Do not drain off the sauce from the can of pork and beans. The other canned beans should be drained before adding them to the pot.
Nutrition
