New Year's Recipe: Confetti Beans

With New Year's Eve on the horizon, there may be another mad dash to set up for yet another holiday party. If you're all out of ideas for a quick and easy, stay-hot side dish to serve, then you've come to the right place. I'd like to share my absolute favorite side dish recipe, Confetti Beans (aka Calico Beans or Cowboy Beans).

This flavorful side dish is always a hit, and thanks to the crockpot simplicity, making this dish ahead of time is possible for the busy season. In fact, the longer the beans sit in the crockpot, the more flavorful the dish becomes. So here it goes: Calico Beans!

Confetti Beans

1/2 lb bacon, cut up
1/2 lb ground beef
2 large onions
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1/2 tsp dry mustard
1/2 c vinegar
3/4 c brown sugar
1 can kidney beans
1 can lima beans
1 can butter beans
2 cans pork and beans

Drain juice from kidney beans, lima beans and butter beans. Empty all three drained cans in the crockpot. Do not open pork and beans yet. Fry bacon until crisp and ground beef until browned. Scoop meat into the crockpot, making sure to reserve the grease in the pan. Chop onions and add to the reserved grease until done, and then scoop the onions into the crockpot. Add vinegar, garlic, salt, mustard and brown sugar. Stir well.

At this point, you may refrigerate all ingredients in the crockpot until the day of the party. If serving that day, cook on low for 5 hours. 1/2 hour before serving (or before the party begins), add the pork and beans, including the canning liquid.

(Recipe courtesy of Renee Till of Bellevue, Iowa)

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