The Classic Cowboy Meal You Can Make With 3 Simple Ingredients

Looking for a hearty, satisfying meal this week, especially one made with just three simple ingredients? Well, then, let's take a page out of a cowboy's cookbook and whip up a batch of cowboy beans, which, like huevos rancheros, is a classic cowboy staple. While not made with eggs, cowboy beans are a protein-packed and fueling stew that you can easily make in one pot with just ground beef, bacon, and beans. 

In its purest, simplest form, you cook ground beef and mix in chopped bacon and a can of your favorite beans, be it black or pinto. The types of beans that are best for chili will work for cowboy beans. Then add salt and pepper to taste, and once everything is cooked and hot, the meal is ready to serve. Rice lovers, this meal pairs beautifully with a bowl of it. You can also serve cowboy beans with crusty bread or toast. 

After making the dish once, you may feel like sprucing it up with more ingredients the next time you cook it. If that's the case, try elevating the dish with a pinch of smoked paprika, cumin, or a dash of hot sauce or soy sauce. For those who believe every savory, meaty dish can benefit from a touch of acidity, add a splash of apple cider vinegar or Worcestershire sauce. And, for a pop of green, top the dish with chopped scallions, chives, or parsley.

Cowboys counted on staples to fill up on the trail. While the exact origins of cowboy beans are murky, we can trace the recipe back to the American Old West. During that time, cowboys would cook cowboy beans over a campfire in cast-iron pots. This dish was also known as chuckwagon beans. 

Since beans were lightweight and quite shelf-stable, it made sense for cowboys to bring this staple on the trail. They were easy to prepare with whatever meat was on hand. Beef and beef jerky made sense, since they herded cattle. Preserved meat, like salted pork or bacon, also made sense since it wouldn't spoil easily on the trail. 

Upon further digging, we realize the roots of cowboy beans stretch even further back. Indigenous agricultural systems domesticated staples like beans, corn, and squash thousands of years ago. This laid the foundation for the cowboy trail and chuckwagon cooking to build upon. And thanks to that, you can today enjoy dishes like cowboy beans at home without a campfire or a chuckwagon.