Midweek Inspiration No. 6: Do you have a signature dish?
Photo Credit: FunHappyQuotes.com
Is it the stuffing at Thanksgiving? Or the corn casserole everyone hopes you’ll be carrying as you walk through the door? Maybe it’s the rub coating the ribeye that’s about to go on the grill? Or the sweet treat you’ve slowly perfected over the years?
It’s the dish you feel confident preparing and serving, no matter what. You know its nuances, how it should taste, the recipe eternally committed to memory, sure it will bring a smile from anyone whose lips it will cross
It seems a cooking blog isn’t complete without sharing a favorite family recipe, the beans finding their way onto the menu for this month’s Spaghetti Saturday. Admittedly, this was our first time breaking from tradition.
With summer nearly upon us, we couldn’t help but want to grill instead. My husband cooked burgers and kabobs, these beans simmering in the slow-cooker, and everybody brought a host of wonderful salads. Of course, there was also .. dessert
The beans, one of two signature dishes I’ve perfected in my 40+ years
My twenties were marked by Cheesy Potatoes, and they were, hands down, the best I’ve ever eaten. I’d probably never have branched out it but for a chance conversation between two guys at a lunch table close to mine
“What’d she bring to dinner?”
“Cheesy potatoes.”
“Dude, women who can’t cook ALWAYS bring cheesy potatoes!”
I haven’t made them since.
Which, as fate, would have it, has turned out to be a very fine thing
This recipe happened upon from an old church cookbook with the pastor’s wife giving credit to Betty Crocker. In the description, she added, “You know you have a winning recipe when it shows up again and again, no matter where you are or what the occasion.”
It seems she was onto something.
One can’t help but wonder, all of the small-town Iowa church potlucks the beans had been served at. No doubt on a styrofoam plate, next to potato salad and a white-bunned sandwich
Betty Crocker says one can make them in the oven, or the crockpot. The crockpot method is best; it really is
Though they taste great the first day, let them wait overnight. I promise you’ll have no regrets.
Enjoy!
xoxo
What’s your signature dish? Or the one you always look forward to someone else making?
(** Note from Ali: This post originally appeared in May 2015. The number of times I’ve made since is too numerous to count. If you came to a family gathering, it would be part of the menu. With Thanksgiving nearly upon us, a fresh batch is in the slow-cooker. I thought it might be a fun one to share today for those who maybe haven’t ventured through the archives. Enjoy!)
ps: More fun recipes and stories from Spaghetti Saturdays
— — —
~ Adapted from Sugar ‘N Spice (United Methodist Church Estherville, Iowa), who originally adapted the recipe from Betty Crocker
Slow-Cooker Three Bean Casserole
Ingredients
- ¾ lb pork sausage
- ¾ lb ground beef
- 1 lb little smokies
- 2 - 3 stalks celery, chopped
- 1 onion, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 2 (21 oz) cans baked beans (any variety)
- 1 (15 oz) can lima or butter beans, drained
- 1 (15 oz) can kidney beans, drained
- 2 cups ketchup
- 4 Tbsp ground mustard
- ¼ cup honey ( or packed brown sugar)
- ¼ cup white or cider vinegar
- ½ tsp red pepper sauce (more or less, to taste)
- salt and pepper (to taste)
Instructions
- In a 10-inch skillet, add the sausage, ground beef, celery, onion, and garlic. Cook over medium heat (~8-10 minutes), stirring occasionally until the meat is no longer pink; drain.
- In a slow cooker, combine the meat mix and remaining ingredients.
- Cover and cook on low heat setting for 5-6 hours
- Turn off the slow-cooker, let its contents cool, and transfer to the refrigerator (the flavors really meld over-night)
- The next day cook in the slow-cooker, on the low heat setting, another 2 - 3 hours
- Serve and enjoy!
75 Comments
[…] Three Bean Casserole […]
I work at an orthopedic doctor’s office and took this, in a slow cooker to a potluck luncheon. Afterward, I had 18 requests for the recipe, five were from the doctors, four were from RN’s; big success? I’ll say!!!
I’ve made this recipe for at least ten years. My best friend gave me their family recipe, and (of course) it was from her grandma’s church cookbook. This is so easy and hearty. We always make sure to have big chunks of sourdough bread for dipping because the sauce is my favorite part.
My sister always insists on my mom’s pot roast for his birthday, even though it’s in August. There’s nothing that feels more like home as much as that beloved pot roast coming out of the oven. My husband associates his brother’s amazing smokey BBQ ribs or lamb chops + orange sauce with his family. We joke lovingly about the way his mom starts asking what we want for dinner weeks before she knows we’re coming. So many incredible cooks on both sides of the family and we look forward to dinners with them more than at any fancy restaurant. x
Growing up, my favorite was always shepherd’s pie, which was really just ground beef, canned corn, and mashed potatoes topped with cheddar cheese and Lawry’s salt. The funny thing is that our family’s recipe came from a homemade cookbook that one of my dad’s ex-girlfriends had made for him, haha. My mom used a lot of those recipes!
I make a veggie casserole that is pretty much identical to yours! I absolutely love it 🙂 One of my signature dishes though is a butternut squash lasagne – even the meat-eaters in my family love it!
xo, Rosie
It looks so yummy! I don’t often eat beans and I have no idea why because I love them. I’ll put it on the list for this week 🙂 I always do crepes when I’m asked to cook or an omelet or a quiche. I’m French so it’s super easy for me as I feel I’ve cooked them my whole life. As I live abroad, people are always happy that I bring an “original” French dish.
That looks so good, I am a big fan of beans so I am going to try this one out. I will try it your way, but it’s begging for some bacon.
Beans in the winter is always a winner winner dinner – it’s so comforting. I just read the comment above about the bacon and man, that sounds like a good idea I think. Any dish is an instant success when bacon is thrown in. Of course my kid always picks the bacon out and won’t touch the rest of it 😉
Mine is a pumpkin cheesecake
One of the best things about being an adult is definitely getting to choose the menu (and dessert, if wanted!). No more Spam (my mother’s go-to dish. Yuck!). I cook a lot, and I often use my slow cooker. I am always on the lookout for new slow cooker recipes.
There are a few meals that definitely come to mind from my childhood. The strangest being grilled cheese sandwiches (always cheddar on sourdough) with jalapeno potato chips and chocolate milk to wash it all down. xx
One of the things our family looks forward to every year on Christmas Day is the dark chocolate pavlova my mum makes. She tops it with strawberries, raspberries, and freshly whipped cream. It’s heavenly and so special.
Plus, she’s also known for her chocolate chip cookies. When I was little, her signature good-bye was asking if someone wanted a cookie for the road. I can’t remember anyone ever turning her down 🙂
Love this, Ali! The dishes I remember most from childhood were chili, pesto, and my Italian grandmother’s spaghetti sauce. At my bridal shower, my mom gave me the recipes for all of them and now my husband loves them too. I make them whenever I need something cozy and comforting.
I am from Germany and every day after school I went to my best friend’s house. The one dish I remember his mom making was Frikadellen (big tasty meatballs) with fried potatoes and carrots. There aren’t words for how much I loved it.
Well, this is the sweetest! 🙂 Sometimes my mom made a special breakfast for dinner and it had the same effect on my sisters and me. She passed away six years ago, and there are so many things she used to make that when we make them now they seem to bridge the gap and bring her home again in the same way. It’s crazy too that there are some seemingly simple things she made – white rice with butter and sugar, macaroni with tomatoes – that, try as we might, we can never seem to get just right!
This reminds me of a conversation I had with my husband last week. We were cooking one of our favorite recipes and I thought “Huh, I wonder if one day we’ll be making this for our kids? Will they want to cook these things on their own once they’re grown-up?” Granted, we don’t have any yet, but it was the sweetest thought.
Yeahhhh!!! A slow cooker recipe from you, what a treat! And what a recipe this is, I am making it asap! I love how my slow cooker works while I sleep 🙂
There is something wonderful about a family dish, something that has been passed down through the times.
This three bean casserole sounds delicious as well I shall have to give it a try.
There’s nothing better than a family recipe that is passed down. I have a bean casserole dish that my mom used to make and now I make it for my kids too! It’s delicious.
I love beans and I cook it often, but I mostly make it as a stew. It is actually very popular (even traditional) meal here in Croatia and when I think about it now, I don’t know a single person who doesn’t like it.:-) Based on the recipes I read on your blog, I think you would love Croatian traditional food.:-)
My dad has eaten meat, pasta, and potatoes for his entire life and also travels frequently. Whenever he was gone, my mom, who’s a great cook, had more freedom to experiment. I still dream of her corn chowder because we thought it was the fanciest soup you could make! To this day, whenever I see it on the menu, it feels like a Girls Night out. xx
The three bean casserole looks delicious. I think cooking it in a slow cooker is best, too! 🙂 Mmmm…. My signature dish would have to be pasta. We jar our own tomatoes and so every Sunday we have homemade pasta. (Can you tell my hubby’s Italian? lol)
I think my signature is the roast beef that I usually make for Christmas and one of my oldest reminded me of it yesterday. The 3 bean casserole looks so yummy.
Growing up in London, I loved having jacket potatoes with British baked beans. My all-time favorite!
I am always looking for new slow cooker recipes to try and I printed this recipe a year or so ago and finally got around to making it. It’s incredible. I didn’t change a thing. This is the perfect dish to take to a gathering. Just be sure to serve with a slotted spoon as it is quite juicy.
I’ve just loved reading about all of the dishes and how most came from our moms. They just know how to make everything taste better. Like mine and her chocolate cookie squares. Predictably awesome every time. x
Haha! I usually outsource the cheesy potatoes to one of my kids!
As for a signature dish, I remember my grandma making her famous chicken tostadas. I always loved seeing all of the fresh ingredients chopped up in pretty bowls, just waiting for us to build our own. She’d also make two or three types of salsas and customized sour cream. Even though she gave me her recipes, I swear it was magic because I was never able to get it right.
Hats off to my dad, who was a single parent to four kids! While he wasn’t the greatest talent as a cook, he always reminded us “Well, you survived, didn’t you?” Spaghetti bolognese with crusty garlic bread was an almost weekly favorite. Cheap and easy, and it’s definitely a comfort food for me now. xo
I need to make a veggie casserole, removing the beef portion out of it. I’m sure you can help me get one veggie version of this, which will add another signature dish to your credential:). As of now, I don’t have any signature dish of myself, need to experiment much more in cooking side. But I love trying out vegetarian options that I read online.
The thing I always remember about my mom’s kitchen was her homemade waters. She always had a pitcher in the fridge. He favorite? Lemon + chia. I also remember grape + lemon water, strawberry banana, and blueberry + mint. Yum! No Kool-aid in our house because we had homemade goodness all of the time. My friends always asked, “What kind of water did your mom make this week?”
As soon as cooler weather sets in, my mom will start baking homemade bread pudding. It’s one of her many specialties that she’ll give it away as gifts and bring it to all the fall/winter gatherings. I remember several mornings of café con leche and a slice of her amazing bread pudding.
I have a few signature dishes. For Thanksgiving, I always make a Pecan Pie and Cranberry Ice. Cranberry ice is a special cold treat for the hot meal. It is nice to have that cold refreshing cranberry goodness during the meal. YUM! Happy Thanksgiving, Ali!
I don’t have a signature dish, but my family knows very well that I’m a master at giving leftovers a second life. I can be proud to say I am good at recycling meals. Thanks or the three-bean casserole recipe. I’m adding that to our menu plan for next week.
I love the thought that meals bring in terms of memories and sentiments from our childhood, and how we pass that along to our kids. I’ve always enjoyed cooking, and treasure the meals where we are all gathered together, with all its noise and mess. Growing up in Norway, with a mother who spent her childhood years in South Africa, we had a mix of traditional Norwegian dinners, but with a twist. I especially remember my father’s lamb roast with crispy potatoes and macaroni and cheese, a meal my boys enjoy today. Now, I hope my kids will remember some of our “specialties”, like our apple crumble pie, the lamb roast as my father used to prepare it, our Friday night tacos (a Norwegian thing – “everybody have their taco on Fridays) and our version of lasagna. xo
Slow cookers are bloody brilliant, aren’t they? I love just sticking ingredients in and coming home from work to the perfect meal. I also love the idea of meals that represent childhood- especially because it is so true! My husband is from the Indiana and his mom makes a mean “taco pie”-so midwestern! 🙂 xo
Oh no! Mine is cheesy potatoes!! Haha I think I may need to branch out a bit now Ive read that! I like the look of your recipe, it sounds yummy!
I’m so excited because my mom is retiring and coming to live us! I can’t wait for her to make for my kids all of the favorites I remember from childhood. xx
My mom has always been crockpot fan, so growing up I always remember her preparing food in the morning before I went to school and then coming home in the evening, after school and my afternoon activities, and dinner was ready. My favorites were vegetable stew and pulled pork. It’s funny to look back on that now because as a kid I definitely assumed she’s slaved away all day! 🙂
Cinnamon sugar toast. My dad made it every time I was sick. He was the master of the cinnamon to sugar ratio–one of many things I miss so much about him. Plus, he’s always cut the toast up into little vertical strips, and it never tasted right if it was the whole piece.
My mother had quite a few signature meals that she made often when I was growing up. One of my favorites was fried fish (that my dad had just caught from the lake). With extra tartar sauce for dipping, I was one happy camper.
I have a special place in my heart for taco salad. Growing up, my mom had taco salad on the menu nearly every week. Her secret was mixing together the sour cream and taco sauce. It made a creamy, spicy sauce that we dipped extra tortilla chips in while we talked at the end of the meal.
For potluck parties, I usually bring dessert. I make pies and chocolate treats for the kids. I am not very confident in bringing a casserole dish, because my preference might not be the same with the guests. So to play safe, I bring dessert. Every one loves dessert anyway. Oh, BTW, thanks for the 3-bean casserole recipe. Even if it is only me and my eldest son who eats beans in this family, I am still going to try your recipe. Looks so good!
My signature dish is a sunday roast – slow cooked beef, roast potatoes, mash, veg, Yorkshire pudding and smothered in gravy! This looks lovely and I bet it tastes delicious!
My mom has always been the best cook, but by far the thing I remember (and loved) most was her “Plate of Little Things” She’d serve a random assortment of little things: slices of an orange, cheese cubes, plump juicy raisins, mixed nuts, cut-up hot dogs, etc. Not that I’m a mom, I realize that’s what she did on days when she didn’t know what to make for dinner. Just goes to show it doesn’t have to be complicated.
Chicken divan is my go-to happy childhood food. I look forward to eating it every year for my birthday.
Sounds like a really tasty and wholesome dish. A great recipe to make for anytime I say. My sister often makes a delicious bean casserole, and you’re quite right, the flavours seem to get better the next day. Really lovely.
Beef stew and dumplings! Oh dear, now my mouth is watering just thinking about it. I always requested stew on rainy days. Every birthday when I got to pick dinner? You guessed it, stew! It’s still my favorite meal of all-time and I make now for my family just the way my father taught me. 🙂
My mom makes the best lasagna and enchiladas. My husband associates chicken and dumplings with his grandmother. My nephew apparently associates BBQ chicken pizza with me. 🙂
When I got married, I really did not know how to cook, and my husband was fine with frozen dinners for a while. I was the “cheesy potato” woman too, when it came to potluck parties. Thankfully, I eased into the role of a homemaker/kitchen queen and now my family eagerly awaits whatever I would bring to a get together. Thanks for sharing the recipe for the 3 bean casserole. I am going to try that next time.
My signature dish will probably be ox tail stew. I got the recipe from my mom which she got from my grandmother. No pre-packaged ingredients. Everything is made from scratch. Thank you for sharing the recipe for your signature dish, the 3 bean casserole. It looks so delicious! I have added it to our menu plan for next week.
When I was little, my mom always made pancakes on weekends and special occasions. We also had a garden with lots of raspberry bushes, so we were able to make jam all summer long. The smell always takes me right back to around 1996.
The idea of a signature dish is really important to me and I started working on a few for my kids even before they were born. We’ve got the big ones mastered; the dishes you make for holidays or other special occasions. Warm buttery french toast for breakfast, a giant meat and cheese plate for lunch, and roasted game hens for dinner on Christmas. Warm hard boiled eggs mashed with a bit of butter and salt when you’re not feeling well. Banana pancakes when Dad works on Saturday morning (and breakfast tacos when he doesn’t). They even get a special “kid” dinner on Friday nights (fish sticks or mac and cheese, things I don’t normally allow) and pizza and movie nights on Sunday. During the week I just try to keep it simple and healthy, but I’m realizing those meals will feature in their minds as well. My father traveled almost constantly for work, and my family moved all the time, and as a result, family meals and stability and rituals are hugely important parts of my parenting!
My grandma’s Spanish pot roast and Spanish chicken and rice; my dad’s fried shrimp with mac and cheese or omelets with potatoes and peppers for Lent. Oh, and my husband’s love of breakfast for dinner!
My mom’s repertoire included chicken divan (minus the cheese and + the curry powder), chili with kidney beans and a side of Jiffy cornbread, and pasta salad with Italian dressing. Every family get together (about twice a year) she’ll still make our three favorites to welcome us home. Her pasta salad is a summer icon -I put my own twist on it and serve it to my kids every year with sliced melon. I also make loaf after loaf of banana bread because it’s my son’s favorite. I’ll probably send it to him when he goes off to college someday.
I love slow cooker meals this time of year so I will definitely give this recipe a try. As for a signature recipe, whenever I go home, I always ask my mom to make me pancakes for breakfast. They’re Aunt Jemima, and truly the best ever. xo
Looks like a winning recipe for this season! I would say my signature dish would be some type of pasta.Whenever there is a potluck or some holiday party, I will bring the pasta dish. It appears like people enjoy what I make, but then again, I am among friends / family so they HAVE to be kind haha!
I always make the 15 bean soup but have never tried making a 3 bean casserole yet. I would love to try this, looks and sound so delicious! The fact that I can make it into a slow cooker is a plus.
When I was little, my dad grilled burgers every Saturday night. Even though we’re all grown-up now, whenever we come over, he still makes them. He’s so cool and always remembers our favorite kinds of cheese. We also always start my great-grandmother’s cinnamon rolls on Christmas Eve and let them rise overnight so they’ll be fresh on Christmas morning.
My mom’s baked macaroni and cheese always takes me back to my childhood. I’m pretty sure I lived on it for most of my childhood. My dad’s specialty was his homemade fishcakes and cod au gratin (a Newfoundland classic)
My mom always made casseroles and my dad open-faced beef sandwiches on rye bread. Lasagna was my all-time favorite and my grandma made it for me, along with a birthday cake. I have great memories of baking chocolate chip cookies with her and sampling the dough. Now that I’m married, I love to make my husbands favorited form his mom’s recipes. Meatloaf, egg burritos, tuna casserole are some of our favorites.
I don’t think my bean casserole has ever looked this good! Lately, I’ve been contemplating getting a slow cooker; I spend most of my time “binge-pinning” slow cooker recipes because they look so easy and tasty to make. I wonder if it’d come out as great if I were to substitute the ground beef for turkey, chicken or veggies. I’m organizing a pot luck at work and may have to test this out!
Nothing beats my mom’s homemade tacos. Chicken divan was also a staple when I was growing up, as was something we called Oodles and Boodles of Beefy Noodles. (I can’t remember where it got its name). These are the meals that always remind me of home.
I love cheesy potatoes! Those guys didn’t know what they were talking about. My fav dish is the roast chicken my fiancé makes every Friday night. While I’m in the bath, he’ll make the most incredible roasted potatoes. Then we’ll open a bottle of wine and the weekend will stretch out ahead of us. It started in the craziest of ways, mostly because the chicken takes longer than we would spend on a weeknight, but it’s become the happiest part of our week. xx
One of my signature dishes is veggie pasta salad. I’ve never made cheesy potatoes but they actually sound good. I think it’s important to have a signature dish that you can just whip up without worry. This 3 bean casserole looks pretty tasty.
My signature dish is a dessert. I love making cobbler – I always change them out a little bit using a different filling each time I make them. They are so easy and yummy as well.
I am smiling at the cheesy potato conversation. I love cheesy potatoes too! Seriously I have never heard Casserole before or never had one. I love that it has all the beans I like. Maybe I can make it without meat or add tofu instead of meat. I love the photography here. You are so talented
This looks so delicious! My favorite dish is my mom’s homemade noodles with roast beef and mashed potatoes. It’s so good. She uses my grandma’s recipe, which is why we call the Grandma’s Noodles. I’m so excited to have them this Christmas.
I’ve eaten variations of this dish countless times at barbeques, etc., but I’d never made it before. This weekend we had a bunch of people over and this seemed like a good entree. I doubled the recipe and put in a full pound of bacon, cooked crisp and drained. I used kidney beans, great northern beans and canned baked beans. Lean ground beef. The vinegar and dry mustard were indispensable, in my opinion: they provide the tang. Also added little ground cloves, not enough to recognize, just enough to add the deep complexity cloves has. It was fantastic: meaty, thick, tangy and DELICIOUS! Thank you for the recipe.
This looks delicious!!! Added to my recipe list anything in the slow cooker is always a GREAT idea!
Ooh I am so glad I saw this today as my husband and I just said earlier that we really want to start eating more veggie dishes this year too. I never experiment with beans, but this looks so wholesome and filling too!
I can see very much why this would be a signature dish. It really does look delicious. But beans really are a thing that works well in so many different settings. While it was unkind what those gentleman said, at least it inspired you to branch out from what you were doing and find other great dishes to try out. I am not sure I have one except the eclairs I do every Christmas for my daughter. She likes to show them off as much as anything else I think.
What are little smokies? (UK here)
Hey Richard, they’re miniature smoked sausages.
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