Here at 12 Tomatoes, we’ve made Cowboy Chicken, Cowboy Salad, Cowboy Beans, and Cowboy Spaghetti, but I have to say that of alllll the “cowboy” themed dishes, this hearty soup is my very favorite. Packed with beans, potatoes, sweet corn, plenty of aromatics and three kinds of meat, it sticks to your ribs like chili, but has even more layers of flavor. It’s good eatin’ to a T.
As I already mentioned, you’ve got three kinds of meat going on here. First, there’s bacon, which you crisp up in your pot before using the drippings to brown sliced kielbasa sausage. Then, there’s ground beef, which gets cooked up with onion and garlic. You work in batches to brown all that meat, but once that’s done it’s time to throw everything into the pot together.
There’s chili powder, crushed tomatoes, sweet corn, green chiles, and potatoes, but what I really like about this is that it uses baked beans instead of regular ol’ canned beans. It’s a lot of flavor in one pot.
You’ll want to simmer this for about an hour to really get the ideal depth of flavor. It’s a rich, salty, meaty, smoky stew, but all of that heartiness is balanced by the sweetness of corn and tomatoes and tender potatoes. It’s hearty fare – super filling and super delicious.
Cowboy Stew
Ingredients
- 4 slices bacon, chopped
- 2 (12 oz) packages kielbasa sausage, sliced 1/2 inch thick
- 1 lb 80/20 ground beef
- 1 white onion, diced
- 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
- 1 (14.5 oz) can crushed tomatoes, undrained
- 2 (16 oz each) cans baked beans
- 1 (7 oz) can chopped green chiles, undrained
- 1 (15 oz) can sweet corn, undrained
- 2 large russet potatoes, peeled and chopped into 1/2-inch cubes
- 1 cup water
- Fresh parsley, finely chopped, for garnish
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Preparation
- In a large pot, cook bacon until crisp. Transfer to a paper towel lined plate to drain.
- Add sausage to bacon drippings and brown on both sides, reducing heat if needed. Remove to plate with bacon.
- Add beef and onion to pot and cook until beef is no longer pink. Add garlic and cook 1 minute more.
- Season with salt and pepper, and sprinkle flour and chili powder over beef. Stir and cook 1 minute.
- Add tomatoes, baked beans, green chiles, corn, potatoes, bacon, sausage, and water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, covered for about an hour, stirring occasionally.
- Adjust seasoning as needed, add more water if stew is too thick, and serve with fresh parsley. Enjoy!
Recipe adapted from Gonna Want Seconds.