Burger Four Bean Bake ~ Crock Pot Recipe

This is one of my favorite pot-luck/family get-together meals.  My aunt always brings this to family cook-outs and I always eat a couple of servings thoughout the day!  It reminds me of our favorite baked bean recipe but is a complete meal with the added ground beef and green beans!

While this is my aunt's specialty, I've also made this a few times as my contribution to cook-outs with friends.  It's always a hit with baked bean lovers.

I planned to make this overnight in the crock pot so we could take it to a friend that is recovering from surgery.  I knew the basic ingredients, but wasn't sure of the exact measurements.  When I looked for my copy of the recipe, I couldn't find it.  I think we may have misplaced it when we moved a few years back.  Rather than call my aunt after 11pm, I decided to search online for a similar recipe!  Wow!  There are so many different variations!  This one seemed to be the closest to what I remembered, and I made a few changes to make it more like my aunt's recipe.

Of course, I forgot to take a picture of the completed dish.  So, here's a photo of our favorite baked beans....just imagine the added ground beef and green beans!

Crock Pot Burger Four Bean Bake
     *Adapted from Calico Beans Recipe

Ingredients: 

• 3/4 lb. pre-cooked ground beef
• 1/2 lb. bacon, cooked and crumbled
• 1/4 cup onion, finely chopped
• 28 oz. can pork 'n' beans
• 16 oz can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• can butter beans, drained and rinsed 
• 2 cups frozen cut green beans 
• 1 tsp. finely ground mustard
• 3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 2 tsp. apple cider vinegar 

Directions: 

• Add all ingredients to crock pot, stirring to mix well. 
• Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.  

Notes:  

• I used some pre-cooked ground beef from my freezer.  A month ago, I browned up 3 or 4 lbs. of ground beef with some added vegetables (onion, red bell peppers, celery and carrots).  Since I knew I was going to throw this together before bed, I decided it was a good idea to save myself some time. I took it out of the freezer earlier in the day and let it thaw partially before adding it to the bean mixture.