Description
Prepare hearty, smoky, and slightly sweet cowboy beans in your slow cooker for a simple, hands-off side dish perfect for potlucks or game days.
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 pound ground beef
- 4 slices bacon, chopped
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 2 (15 ounce) cans kidney beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 (15 ounce) can pinto beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 (15 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 cup beef broth
- 1/2 cup ketchup
- 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/4 cup molasses
- 2 tablespoons yellow mustard
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Brown the ground beef in a skillet over medium heat. Drain off any excess grease.
- In the same skillet, cook the chopped bacon until crisp. Remove bacon with a slotted spoon and set aside, leaving about 1 tablespoon of bacon grease in the skillet.
- Add the chopped onion to the skillet and cook in the bacon grease until softened, about 5 minutes.
- Combine the cooked ground beef, cooked bacon, softened onion, all rinsed beans, beef broth, ketchup, brown sugar, molasses, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, chili powder, smoked paprika, and black pepper in the basin of your slow cooker.
- Stir all ingredients together until well mixed.
- Cover the slow cooker and cook on LOW for 6 to 8 hours or on HIGH for 3 to 4 hours.
- Stir the beans before serving. If the mixture seems too thin, remove the lid for the last 30 minutes of cooking time to allow some liquid to evaporate.
Notes
- For a thicker consistency, you can mash about 1/4 cup of the beans against the side of the slow cooker before the final hour of cooking.
- If you prefer a smoky flavor without using bacon, substitute 1 teaspoon of liquid smoke for the bacon.
- This recipe tastes better if prepared a day ahead and reheated, as the flavors meld overnight.
- Prep Time: 15 min
- Cook Time: 6 hr
- Category: Side Dish
- Method: Slow Cooking
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 450
- Sugar: 28g
- Sodium: 650mg
- Fat: 14g
- Saturated Fat: 5g
- Unsaturated Fat: 9g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 65g
- Fiber: 15g
- Protein: 20g
- Cholesterol: 45mg