Pork and Beans Plus - Skillet Dinner Recipe
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We Call This Family Recipe El Rancho Beans
Easy skillet dinners made in a large cast iron frying pan, one dish dinners, or casseroles are my favorites when it comes to making our main meal of the day. It's the reason why I love this family recipe. All I add is a nice tossed salad to complete the meal.
This recipe, or a close variation of it (all my recipes "evolve" with time), was my contribution to a cookbook put together for a family reunion we attended years ago.
I hope you enjoy reading the directions for this recipe...and the extras added to this page...and of course, hope you like the meal when you've made it for yourself or your family.
Claudia a/k/a happynutritionist
Updated 1/26/12
Do You Eat Beans?
Not everyone likes beans, because...to put it delicately...they cause digestive upset....which might be helped by one of the items available in the right margin. How about you?
Shopping List
1 Can Pork 'n Beans
1 Can Red Kidney Beans
1 lb. lean Ground Beef
1 Large Onion
1/2 Large Green Pepper
1 T. Ketchup
1 T. Prepared Mustard
1 T. Chili Powder
Gr. Beef Substitutes:
1 lb. Ground Turkey or
1 lb. Ground Chicken or
Prepare Textured Vegetable Protein if Vegetarian
Photo of Recipe Ingredients
A Cast Iron Skillet
The only skillet I use with this and other recipes...here's why:
At one of the stands a young man was doing his best to convince us that the non-stick skillet he had was MUCH better than a cast iron skillet, saying that because cast iron cookware is porous, you never really get the flavors from previous meals out of the pan. My husband and I looked at one another and said "no wonder the food tastes so good when we cook it in our cast iron skillet". It is the most used piece of cookware in our kitchen.
We seasoned our pan according to the instructions that came with it, never wash it with soap, and always coat with a light spray of olive oil after each use. The heat while cooking will kill any bacteria that may remain.
In case you haven't gathered, we're going to be using a cast iron skillet for this recipe....you can use any kind that you like, but that's what I'm using and what you'll see in the pictures.
The one featured here is the one we own...though I don't think ours was pre-seasoned.
Lodge Logic L10SK3 12-Inch Pre-Seasoned Skillet
Amazon Price: $20.95 (as of 06/04/2012)
Usually ships in 2-3 business days
Preparing the Meal:
1 - Chop Onion and 1/2 Green Pepper
You don't have to be too particular about the size.
2 - Add Beef, Onion, Green Pepper to Pan
Brown until beef (or other meat on the shopping list) is cooked through and vegetables are tender.
Tip - How I Remove Fat from the Pan
Tilt as pictured, moving meat to high end, carefully soak up pool of fat with paper towel and discard, carefully avoiding flame
3 - Rinse the Canned Beans
But NOT like I did here, only rinse the Red Kidney Beans. Use the liquid in the Pork and Beans in the recipe
4 - Add Beans to Pan, plus the following:
Stir in 1 T. Ketchup, 1 T. Prepared Mustard and 1 T. Chili Powder
Sorry this picture is a bit blurry:-)
5 - Cover and Simmer About 15-20 Minutes
Stir occasionally so ingredients don't stick to the pan.
I admit this doesn't look as pretty as some recipes, but it makes up for that in flavor. Sprinkling a couple of pinches of shredded Cheddar Cheese over the top after the burner is turned off will make it look more appealing.
Making it More Like a Mexican Dish:
If you want to make the dish more of a Mexican dish, leave out the Ketchup and Mustard and add a few tablespoons of Salsa, a couple more Tablespoons of Chili Powder, some chopped tomato, and Cilantro either fresh (chopped) or dried to taste.
There are so many creative things you can do to make this dish your own, have fun with it, and enjoy!
6 - Balance the Meal with Salad or Veggies
You have your protein in the meat, and carbohydrates in the beans. A salad or green vegetables will round this meal out nicely.
Skillet Dinner Video Recipes
I'm saving these for future reference, you may like them too!
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Guestbook
Please say howdy, or let us know if you tried the recipe and what you thought.
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clouda9
Nov 23, 2010 @ 12:29 am | delete
- This sounds like total comfort food in a skillet. Yumo and on my to-do list of recipes to try!
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ICanCook
Nov 11, 2010 @ 8:32 am | delete
- I'm making beans for dinner tonight. My kidney beans are soaking and I'm thawing out the ground Buffalo. Thanks for the recipe.
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hlengelsman
Sep 17, 2010 @ 6:33 am | delete
- Yeah I do remember it having a lot more sauceyness to it so I will probably use 2 cans pork n beans and like a half a can kidney... but I do see that u drained the juices and said not to do that so maybe that's the only difference... Idk either way I can remember the taste and mmm mmm mmm ;)
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hlengelsman
Sep 16, 2010 @ 10:20 pm | delete
- MOMMA THANK YOU!!! I have wanted to make this!!! I keep forgetting now I have the recipe and no excuses! lol
This is soooo yummy!!!
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happynutritionist Sep 16, 2010 @ 11:21 pm | delete
- Your welcome! I think when you were still home we were just using 2 cans of Pork n Beans, now I'm exchanging 1 can for Red Kidney Beans, as you can see:-) But either way works.
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tandemonimom Sep 14, 2010 @ 11:18 am | delete
- Looks yummy except the green bell peppers. I just can't stand them! (Love red ones, though.)
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- I think the red peppers would be a great idea...they would add more color! Thanks for the visit.
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tssfacts
Sep 14, 2010 @ 8:08 am | delete
- I use the same tip in removing the excess fat from my cooked hamburger. Works great. Great recipe will have to add it to my list.
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- I wondered if anyone else had thought of this way to remove fat....have only been doing this for a year or so. Thanks much for your visit.
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BuckHawk
Sep 14, 2010 @ 7:35 am | delete
- This looks similar to something I make, but I add in chopped potatoes. And a cast-iron skillet is essential!
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- I like the potatoes idea, I'll have to try that. I'd probably use less beans then...or it would be a great way to stretch the meal for a larger number of people. Thanks for stopping by!
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Susan52
Sep 14, 2010 @ 7:27 am | delete
- I absolutely love recipes like this one, especially as the weather cools down. I'll be fixing this one soon. Beautiful presentation!
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- You and I seem to be like-minded about quite a few things:-) Yes, this is a good cool weather recipe, also quick on a warm day...doesn't heat up the kitchen much. Thanks so much for stopping by, and appreciate your comment about the presentation.
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Table of Contents
- Do You Eat Beans?
- Shopping List
- Photo of Recipe Ingredients
- A Cast Iron Skillet
- Preparing the Meal:
- 1 - Chop Onion and 1/2 Green Pepper
- 2 - Add Beef, Onion, Green Pepper to Pan
- Tip - How I Remove Fat from the Pan
- 3 - Rinse the Canned Beans
- 4 - Add Beans to Pan, plus the following:
- 5 - Cover and Simmer About 15-20 Minutes
- 6 - Balance the Meal with Salad or Veggies
- Skillet Dinner Video Recipes
- % Donated to Food for Everyone
- Let Us Know You Enjoyed Your Visit
- Love Hearing From our Visitors!
- Random unrelated pages you might like
- Follow Me on Twitter
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