The next time you are asked to bring something to a potluck dinner, do yourself a favor and make this dish! Believe it or not, I’ve been making this hearty “hotdish” for about 30 years now. The recipe was originally given to me by my mother-in-law Dorothy shortly after I married into the Nystul family. (But what exactly is a hotdish, you ask? It’s a type of casserole dish that originated in the Upper Midwest, but many people use the term to describe any kind of casserole dish!)
Oddly enough, around the same time I received this recipe from my mother-in-law, my dad’s long-time secretary Rose shared a very similar recipe with me. Both recipes were products of the Norwegian Lutheran immigrant population that settled in North Dakota and Minnesota in the late 1800’s. After making both recipes, I couldn’t decide which one I liked better, so I decided to combine the two! But they were really so similar that I didn’t have to change all that much.
Related: The One Salad That Will Steal The Spotlight At Your Next Potluck
The best way I can think of to describe this hotdish is that it’s somewhere in the middle between baked beans and chili. It’s savory with a hint of sweetness, and most importantly, it’s always a hit no matter when or where I serve it! And here’s how you can make it at home.
Dorothy’s Five-Bean Hotdish
Ingredients:
1/2 lb bacon, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 lb ground beef
1 medium white onion, diced
1 (15-ounce) can green beans, drained
1 (15-ounce) can lima beans, drained and rinsed
1 (15-ounce) can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 (15-ounce) can yellow wax beans, drained
1 (15-ounce) can pork and beans
2 cups ketchup
2 cups brown sugar
2 tsp vinegar
1 tsp salt
Directions:
Add the ground beef, bacon, and onion to a large skillet. Cook over medium-high heat until the ground beef is cooked through. Drain the meat mixture and transfer it to a large roasting pan.
Add the green beans, lima beans, kidney beans, wax beans, pork and beans, ketchup, brown sugar, vinegar, and salt to the roasting pan.
Stir everything together, then cover the roasting pan with the lid. Place the covered pan in your oven and cook for 60 minutes at 350°F.
This may seem like the perfect dish to bring to a summer picnic, and it is! But trust me, you can whip up this hotdish at any time of the year, and you will still have happy eaters! I’ve served this recipe at barbecues, picnics, church potlucks, and even holiday dinners to rave reviews. And feel free to substitute with whatever beans strike your fancy! You can’t really mess this recipe up.
What’s your favorite dish to bring to a potluck or picnic?
Dorothy’s Five-Bean Hotdish
Ingredients
- 1/2 lb bacon cut into 1 inch pieces
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 medium white onion diced
- 1 15-ounce can green beans drained
- 1 15-ounce can lima beans drained and rinsed
- 1 15-ounce can kidney beans drained and rinsed
- 1 15-ounce can yellow wax beans drained
- 1 15-ounce can pork and beans
- 2 cups ketchup
- 2 cups brown sugar
- 2 tsp vinegar
- 1 tsp salt
Instructions
- Add the ground beef, bacon, and onion to a large skillet. Cook over medium-high heat until the ground beef is cooked through. Drain the meat mixture and transfer it to a large roasting pan.
- Add the green beans, lima beans, kidney beans, wax beans, pork and beans, ketchup, brown sugar, vinegar, and salt to the roasting pan.
- Stir everything together, then cover the roasting pan with the lid. Place the covered pan in your oven and cook for 60 minutes at 350°F.
Video
We call these “Calico Beans” but I do not use waxed beans or green beans. I throw mine into a crock pot. Yes everywhere I take this it is a huge hit. Since it makes so much and there is only two in my family, I would take some to a gentleman at church because he liked it so much.
Another recipe that people request of mine is “Broccoli Salad”. Here’s the recipe. Feel free to try.
BROCCOLI SALAD
1 bunch broccoli
1 purple onion
1 C Sharp cheddar cheese (coarse or fine)
* I take the broccoli stalks and shred them in a salad shooter this makes all the difference in the salad.
Mix together
DRESSING
1 C Hellmanns mayonnaise (do not use Miracle Whip does not taste right)
2 Tbsp Vinegar
1/3 C Sugar (original recipe calls for 1/2 but I find that too sweet)
Whisk well together until sugar dissolves
Put dressing on salad. Enjoy!
When I go to parties I throw into a large baggie then put into bowl when I arrive. Saves on mess.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Sounds delicious!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Thank you. If you try it I would be interested in your thoughts.
Love your blog. I have tried and found useful many of your suggestions.
Thank you so much for the printing of recipes function! It is especially nice to have the Nutrition Facts with the recipe like that.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.~ginny
You’re welcome Ginny! :-)
Please log in or create a free account to comment.We always called that Block Party Beans, a delicious pot luck
Please log in or create a free account to comment.This looks delicious! I can’t wait to try making it. Keep the recipes coming!!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Will do, Andrea! :-)
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Is there a printable link?
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Yes! I just added the recipe card to the bottom of the post, which has a print button on it :-)
Please log in or create a free account to comment.You can also put follow the recipe, but put it all in a slow cooker in the morning and in a few hours it’s ready. Hate using the oven on these hot summer days!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Great idea Kathy!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I make this dish but also add a tablespoon of liquid smoke to it. Gives it a real nice flavor.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Yum!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I can’t have sugar. Would this be good without the brown sugar?
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Yes! :-)
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Does 2 cups brown sugar make it too sweet? Is there a substitute for 2 cups ketchup which has a lot of sugar?
Please log in or create a free account to comment.You can use a sugar free ketchup if you want, and you can always leave out the brown sugar or only use a little bit. It is a sweet dish, but it’s balanced by the meaty flavors and the tangy vinegar. :-)
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I’m not able to print it and too lazy/busy to hand write it.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Hi Patty! I actually forgot to add the printable recipe card, but I just added it now! It is very easy to print out now – just press the print button on the recipe card at the bottom of the post :-) Sorry for the hassle!!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I would if I made this just leave out the Lima beans. My mom has a bean salad that’ good. It has kidney, green beans, garbanzo, wax beans, onion and green pepper. I think it has vinegar. You let all the ingredients marinate in the fridge..Sorry I don’t have the recipe in front of me. We are on vacation.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Awesome. I make this too, adding some sugar. I just do to taste.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.We also add some oil. Probably the sugar. I’d have to ask my mom.,Sounds like probably the same recipe. It’s delicious.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.In IOWA we called this sh– casserole….ummm for good reason. But it is soooo good.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I take a new spin on baked beans. I mix red kidney and pinto beans, drained, add onion and peppers, ketchup, brown sugar, molasses, a little yellow mustard and cilantro. I do not like my beans real sweet so I very little of the sweeter. Bake at 350 till hot and bubbly.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.In Nebraska and Iowa, it’s called Pioneer Beans or Calico Beans. Very similar recipe, but with just a few different types of beans in it. And it is yummy!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Thanks!!! Looks wonderful!!! A nice surprise for our Labor Day family get together. We’ll let you know the
Please log in or create a free account to comment.ooooohs and ahhhhhs. I do a cold dish that I call my 29 Bean Salad — way less than that actually, but just an expanded 3-bean salad. Whatever rinsed canned beans you like — red pinto, black-eyed, black, limas, garbonzos, what-have-you, with cauliflower nubs, corn off the cob, crunchy fresh uncooked green beans, red bell pepper in nickel-size bits, sunflower seeds, even rough chopped sweet pickles, feta or other cheese you pick, chopped chives, slivers of fresh green onion (or not), water chestnuts, drained canned or fresh mushroom slices, a few crispy bean sprouts, minced parsley . . . anything you fancy that you can eat cold — the works!!! Your own homemade or even a bottled oil/vinagrette dressing with a dash of Balsamic and a squirt of Tabasco green works wonders. Warning: it GROWS as you combine your faves . . . you’ll end up with enough to happy a whole neighborhood. Happy Summer, Jillee!!!
Sounds great! Happy Summer Cde :-)
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