Cowboy beans

Cowboy beans (also known as chuckwagon beans) is a bean dish popular in the southwestern United States. The dish consists of pinto beans^[1] and ground beef in a sweet and tangy sauce. Other types of meat can be used.^[2] A related dish using multiple different types of beans is called calico beans, due to the multiple colors of beans resembling the coat of a calico cat.^[3] The flavor is similar to baked beans but with a southwestern twist. Although cowboy appears in the name, the use of canned beans, ketchup, and barbecue sauce means the dish is unlike anything ranch hands would have eaten in the 19th century.^[4] Cowboy beans are served stewed or baked,^[5] depending on the recipe.

Cowboy Beans

Course	Main course
Place of origin	United States
Region or state	American Southwest
Serving temperature	Hot
Main ingredients	Beans (usually pinto, black-eyed), onion powder, ketchup, barbecue sauce, brown sugar, black pepper, milk, flour

Lamb chops with guajillo chili sauce and charro beans. Frijoles charros, or "cowboy beans", is a traditional Mexican dish. The dish is characterized by pinto beans stewed with onion, garlic, and bacon.

It is unclear how cowboy beans got their name or where they originated. They are easy to prepare and variations on the recipe are available on the Internet and in cookbooks and cooking magazines. Cowboy beans use many of the same ingredients as chili con carne with a very different taste.

Cowboy beans is a staple food in Texas.^[2]

Ingredients

Cowboy beans (bottom-left) accompanying a steak dinner

A typical recipe might include:

• Pork and beans^[6]
• Ground beef^[2]
• Onion powder
• Black pepper
• Ketchup
• Barbecue sauce
• Brown sugar
• Milk
• Flour

See also

• Borracho beans
• Frijoles charros, a Mexican dish, sometimes translated as cowboy beans.
  • Texas caviar, sometimes called "cowboy caviar"
• List of legume dishes