A medley of mixed beans make up this baked bean dish, often referred to as Calico Baked Beans because of the variety.
Baked Bean Medley
I'm pretty sure that The Cajun has had his fill of baked beans, after the Hawaiian Pineapple Baked Beans that I made last month and my classic Southern baked beans I made before that, and now this Baked Bean Medley.I just really don't really know how to make a small version of baked beans without changing the flavors, so we end up eating them for days! Of course they can also be frozen pretty successfully. Trouble is, both of my freezers are full and every time I work things down a little bit, my favorite sale items like ribs and sausage or whole chickens go on sale again, and I fill it up again. Not complaining.
Anyway, this is a great mixed bean version of baked beans that's been around a long time and is sometimes called calico baked beans because of the varied mixture of beans. There is no set in stone bean to use. Folks use a wide variety of canned baked beans or pork and beans, great northerns, pinto, kidney beans, lima beans or butter beans, all of which are good to use.
While you can use plain ole pork and beans as the starter, I have always started my baked beans with a large can of Bush's, and from there, I just add in a mixture of three other cans. This time I used what I had in the pantry - Bush's Original Baked Beans, Bush's seasoned black beans, Margaret Holmes seasoned pinto beans and Ranch Style brand beans, which is also a type of pinto.
I like to use the Ranch Style brand beans sometimes because, depending on the variety used, it adds a sort of southwestern, Tex-Mex bend, and sets them apart from my usual brown sugar baked beans recipe. There are a number of flavors in the Ranch Style brand available now.
These can be made using only with beans with no meat, although many recipes will also include ground beef to make them into a meatier version. I love using a seasoned breakfast sausage myself, though Italian sausage, removed from the casing will work well too.
Of course, as a Southerner, I just have to include bacon too.
I think you'll enjoy this variation on traditional baked beans. Here's how to make them.
For more of my favorite baked bean recipes, visit my page on Pinterest!
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