Cowboy Beans are a full-on flavor stampede – sweet, smoky, meaty, and ready to lasso your taste buds. They’re the kind of hearty side dish that eats like a main course, thanks to ground beef, thick-cut bacon, and a variety of beans soaked in tangy barbecue sauce and brown sugar.
It’s loaded with that slow-cooked, firepit flavor that makes Cowboy Beans taste like they’ve been bubbling on the range all day.
Cowboy Beans got their start by the glow of the campfire, when cowboys needed cheap, sturdy food that could survive weeks of dusty cattle drives. Pinto beans and salt pork were packed dry, cooked slow, and served hot to fill hungry bellies after long days in the saddle.
These days, we’ve swapped the campfire for the crockpot. Turning that rugged trail staple into a bold, belly-warming dish loaded with canned beans, tangy barbecue sauce, and smoky, slow-cooked meats. It’s the type of dish that would’ve made any chuckwagon cook jealous.
Our cowboy beans keep like a charm in the fridge and taste even better the next day, which makes them a make-ahead lifesaver.
They give your ground beef a break from spaghetti duty, and finally find a worthy use for last summer’s half-used bottle of mustard.
Balance all those big, bold flavors with a thick wedge of tender, buttery Skillet Cornbread on the side. And if it’s a barbecue you’re heading to, add Easy Homemade Coleslaw and our Classic Macaroni Salad for a trio of complementary sides that’ll have folks tipping their hats.
Ingredients For Cowboy Beans
Gather the ingredients to prepare our recipe. Culinary professionals call this the “Mise en Place,” which means “everything in its Place.”
Setting up your ingredients not only helps speed up the cooking process but also ensures you have all the necessary ingredients on hand to make the recipe.
Can I Change Up the Recipe?
Absolutely. We made the recipe with ground beef, but you can swap in ground turkey or ground chicken for a leaner version that still has plenty of meaty flavor.
For a heartier version, you can add sausage, sliced kielbasa, bratwurst, or hot dogs.
We used pinto, black, and baked beans for the beans. The recipe can also be made with kidney beans, navy beans, butter beans, or cannellini beans.
If you don’t have Dijon mustard on hand, yellow mustard will do the job without any trouble. And for extra smokiness, add a small dash of liquid smoke or hot sauce to taste.
Add your favorite barbecue sauce to kick up the tangy flavor. Or if you really want to add some flavor, try our semi-homemade barbecue sauce. It’s made with pantry staples into a thick, sweet, and smoky sauce in just minutes.
How to Make Cowboy Beans
Follow along with my simple step-by-step instructions to learn how to make cowboy beans in your home kitchen.
Preheat your oven to 325°F.
- Place a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. When the pan is hot add the olive oil, bacon, yellow onion, and bell peppers to the pan.
- Stir to combine.
- Cook until the bacon is browned and the onions begin to soften, about 5-7 minutes.
- Stir in the ground beef and cook until fully browned, breaking it up with a slotted spoon to avoid large clumps and excess grease.
- Add the chopped garlic, table salt, and red pepper flakes to the pan.
- Stir to combine.
*If you don’t have a Dutch oven, you can cook this in a large oven-safe pan or transfer it to a casserole dish.
- Cook for 1-2 minutes until the garlic becomes fragrant.
- Add the baked beans, pinto beans, black beans, barbecue sauce, and Worcestershire sauce to the pan.
- Stir until well combined.
- Add the apple cider vinegar, brown sugar, and Dijon mustard to the mixture.
- Stir until well combined. Cook the cowboy beans over medium heat for 2-3 minutes.
- Remove the pan from the heat and place it on the center rack of the preheated oven, uncovered. Bake for 25-30 minutes.
This is the kind of rich, smoky, belly-warming side that turns quiet bites into moans. Your guests will be lining up for seconds and thirds. It’s also got a way of turning a side dish into the main event.
Once you’ve had a taste, you’ll be gearing up to go head-to-head over the last scoop.
Let leftover cowboy beans cool to room temperature, then store them in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days. Reheat on the stovetop or in the microwave until you reach an internal temperature of at least 165 degrees F.
For longer storage, freeze them in a freezer-safe container with a little space at the top.
Recipe FAQs
Yes, just follow the stovetop steps through combining all the ingredients, then transfer everything to a large slow cooker. Cover and cook on low heat for 4-5 hours until thick and bubbling.
Absolutely. Skip the ground beef and bacon, add an extra can or two of beans, and build flavor with olive oil, smoked paprika, or a dash of liquid smoke. Just check your baked beans and barbecue sauce for hidden animal products.
Leftover cowboy beans make a great topping for baked potatoes, a filling for wraps, or even a base for a quick chili. Just reheat and repurpose.
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Cowboy Beans Recipe
Equipment
- Dutch Oven
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef lean 90/10
- 28 oz baked beans
- 15.5 oz pinto beans one can drained and rinsed
- 15.5 oz black beans One can drained and rinsed
- 8 slices raw bacon chopped
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 cup sweet onions chopped
- 1 cup bell peppers chopped
- 1 tablespoon garlic finley chopped
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 teaspoon table salt
- ¼ cup light brown sugar or dark brown
- ½ cup barbecue sauce we use Sweet Baby Rays
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 325°F.
- Place a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. When the pan is hot add the olive oil.If you don't have a Dutch oven, you can cook this in a large oven-safe pan or transfer it to a casserole dish.
- Add the bacon, onions, and bell peppers to the pan and cook until the bacon is browned and the onions begin to soften, about 5-7 minutes
- Add the ground beef to the pan. Continue cooking to brown the ground beef stirring as it cooks to break up the big pieces.
- Add the chopped garlic, table salt, and red pepper flakes to the pan. Stir to combine.
- Cook for 1-2 minutes until the garlic becomes fragrant.
- Add the baked beans, pinto beans, black beans, brown sugar, and Worcestershire sauce to the pan and mix to combine.
- Add the apple cider vinegar and Dijon mustard to the mixture and stir until well combined.
- Cook the cowboy beans for 2-3 minutes.
- Remove the pan from the heat and place it on the center rack of the preheated oven, uncovered. Bake for 25-30 minutes.
Charlie S. says
A VERY hearty dish, delicious, stick-to-your-ribs goodness. Your skillet corn bread was the perfect accompaniment. Using what I had in the fridge for protein I used a little less ground beef, and added 1/2 pound of kielbasa cut into half-round bite size pieces.
Slight alteration in the process as I was short of time:
I dumped in EVERYTHING into a crock pot, except the bacon, onions, peppers, ground beef, and kielbasa. I sautéed the bacon, onions, and peppers and dumped them into the crock pot, quickly sautéed the kielbasa to give it a little char, and dumped that in too (do you see a theme forming), finally I browned the ground beef until all the water evaporated, and tossed that in too. Turned in on low and let it bubble for a couple hours. Everyone gave me a thumbs up! Thanks Chef Dennis for yet another delicious and easy recipe.
Chef Dennis Littley says
Working with what you have on hand often yields the best results! I’m glad you enjoyed the recipe.