Let’s make some hearty Cowboy Beans

Posted on by laurenarva

Whenever I hear the term ‘cowboy beans,’ I can’t help but chuckle a little bit. I’m not certain, but given my background in agriculture, I think the use of the word cowboy is intended to signify that the dish in question is hearty, filling and sustaining – cowboys need to eat well in order to perform the hard labour they do, so any dish with the term cowboy included is almost guaranteed to have some serious sustenance.

Cowboy beans are no exception to the cowboy food rule, and because here in Ontario we are just now experiencing some traditional Canadian winter weather, I deemed it appropriate to share with all of you a dish that will keep you warm long after ingesting it. This recipe comes from thepioneerwoman.com.

“Ingredients

  • 1/2 lb. thick-cut bacon, chopped
  • 2 green bell peppers, chopped
  • 1 sweet onion, diced 
  • 1 lb. lean ground beef
  • 4 cloves garlic, minded
  • 1 tbsp. ground chili powder
  • 1 tsp. kosher salt
  • 1 tsp. ground paprika
  • 1 tsp. ground black pepper
  • 1 (15-ounce) can pinto beans
  • 1 (15-ounce) can cannellini beans
  • 1 (15-ounce) can kidney beans
  • 1 (15-ounce) can black beans
  • 3/4 c. ketchup
  • 1/4 c. packed light brown sugar
  • 3 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
  • 2 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
  • 2 tbsp. yellow mustard
  • 2 tsp. hot sauce

“Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350.
  2. In a large Dutch oven over medium heat, cook the bacon until crisp, 7 to 9 minutes. Remove from the pot with a slotted spoon, leaving the bacon drippings. Add the bell peppers and onion to the bacon drippings and saute them until tender and lightly golden, 7 to 9 minutes. Add the ground beef and garlic, and crumble the beef until it is no longer pink. Stir in the chili powder, salt, paprika, and ground black pepper.
  3. Drain and rinse the pinto, cannellini, kidney, and black beans. Stir the beans, ketchup, 3/4 cup water, brown sugar, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, yellow mustard, hot sauce, and cooked bacon into the ground beef mixture. Cover and bake the beans in the oven until the liquid has thickened, about 45 minutes. Serve hot,” the recipe explains.

Let’s enjoy some cowboy beans, shall we?

Photo by Kitera Dent on Unsplash

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