Cowboy Beans are a hearty side dish made with ground beef, onion, bacon, brown sugar, baked beans, and barbecue sauce. Packed with flavor, this dish is the talk at any gathering!
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EASY COWBOY BEANS
You’re probably wondering what cowboy beans are, right? Well, Cowboy beans is a bean dish popular in the southwestern United States. The dish consists of pinto beans and ground beef in a sweet and tangy sauce. The flavor is similar to baked beans, but with a southwestern twist.
I tried to look up where the dish originated from and unfortunately, nobody really knew. Perhaps from the chuck wagon days where cowboys ate lots of beans due to how filling, protein packed, and inexpensive they were!
Ingredients needed for these Cowboy Beans:
- Ground Beef- you can also use ground turkey if desired
- Onion- chopped
- Ketchup
- BBQ Sauce- use your favorite flavor
- Sugar
- Brown Sugar
- Molasses
- Chili Powder
- Salt/Pepper
- Mustard
- Pork n’ Beans- I prefer Bush’s
- Kidney Beans
- Pinto Beans
- Bacon- if you like a little heat, use Jalapeno bacon
Directions:
- In a skillet, cook the ground beef over medium heat until no longer pink.
- Add in onion and cook until tender.
- Drain off excess grease.
- Add in all of the remaining ingredients, excluding the bacon.
- Pour mixture into a casserole pan or slow cooker and top with crumbled, cooked bacon.
- Bake in a preheated oven, 350, for about 1 hour, OR in the slow cooker for 1 hour on high, then reduce heat to low and cook an additional 2-4 hours.
- Enjoy!!
CAN I FREEZE BAKED BEANS?
Sure can! Since this hearty recipe makes a big batch, freezing the leftovers is a great option! Let the beans cool off completely and pour them into an airtight container.
Stick container in freezer for up to 6 months!
Check out these other great side dish recipes:
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Cowboy Beans
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef *or turkey
- ½ onion *diced
- ¼ cup ketchup
- ¼ cup BBQ sauce
- ¼ cup sugar
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 2 tablespoon molasses
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 tablespoon mustard
- 16 oz pork n' beans
- 16 oz kidney beans *drained
- 16 oz pinto beans *drained
- ½ lb bacon *cooked/crumbled
Instructions
- In a skillet, cook the ground beef over medium heat until no longer pink.
- Add in onion and cook until tender.
- Drain off excess grease.
- Add in all of the remaining ingredients, excluding the bacon.
- Pour mixture into a casserole pan or slow cooker and top with crumbled, cooked bacon.
- Bake in a preheated oven, 350, for about 1 hour, OR in the slow cooker for 1 hour on high, then reduce heat to low and cook an additional 2-4 hours.
- Enjoy!
Nutrition
Patricia Escalera says
Love your chicken recipe
Kristin says
Thanks!! Glad you enjoy it!!
[email protected] Daisy9920 says
On your recipes show a print logo
Kristin says
If you scroll to the bottom of each recipe, you will see a green “print friendly” icon. If you click it, it leads you to the printable version of each recipe. Hope that helps 🙂