Cowboy Beans Recipe

Name: Cowboy Beans
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 180 min
Total time: 675 min
Yield: 10
Ingredients: 2 cups dried pinto beans (about 12 ounces); 1 tablespoon bacon fat; 1 tablespoon vegetable oil; 1 medium yellow onion, chopped; 5 minced garlic cloves; 1 smoked ham hock or ham shank; 2 cups water; Kosher salt to taste; 2 cups brewed coffee; 1 1/2 cups tomato-based barbecue sauce; 1/4 cup chopped pickled jalapeños for garnish (optional); Grated cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese for garnish (optional); 1/4 cup chopped red onion for garnish (optional)

In This Recipe

Ingredients
The Secret Ingredient
Using Smoked Meat
Types of Beans
Tips
Using a Slow Cooker

Let's be frank. If you are of a certain age in this country, and you don't live on a ranch where there are, say, actual cowboys, if I mention the words "cowboy beans" to you, what comes to mind?

Uh huh. You too? Yep, can't escape it. The cowboy bean scene in Blazing Saddles.

I only watched that movie once and even I remember that scene. (Of course at the time I would never admit to my scatologically obsessed brothers that I found it remotely funny, lest it encouraged them to be even more obnoxious.)

Humorous cultural references aside, cowboy beans are actually good, and an excellent accompaniment to summer barbecues.

Cowboy Beans Ingredients

There are probably as many versions of cowboy beans as there are barbecue cooks. There are usually one or more varieties of beans, some smoked meat like bacon or ham, sometimes with ground beef, always with a sweet tangy barbecue sauce.

What defines this scratch-cooking version, besides the beans, is a sweet barbecue sauce, smoked meat, and coffee.

Yes, coffee.

The Secret Ingredient in Cowboy Beans

Coffee is the secret ingredient in many a chili recipe. Legend has it that back in the day, cowboys added leftover coffee to their pot of beans because fresh water was not so easy to come by—a cowboy version of waste not, want not.

Coffee adds a depth of flavor and a slight bitterness that keeps the sweet-spicy of the barbecue sauce in line.

Overhead view of a pot of cowboy baked beans. — Eliezer Martinez

What Smoked Meat To Use for Cowboy Beans

For the smoked meat, bacon works, in this version we use a smoked ham hock. Traditionally, you'd use the odd, slightly burnt ends of Texas barbecue brisket or tri-tip.

The key is to add a smoky flavor from meat that can handle being cooked for a long time.

Don't have smoked meat available? You can use ground beef (cooked) and add some liquid smoke.

What Beans To Use for Cowboy Beans

As for the beans? You can use any of these beans for cowboy beans or a combination:

Pinto beans
Red kidney beans
Black beans
White navy beans

For this recipe, we are cooking our beans from scratch, starting with dry pinto beans. If you want, you can use canned beans instead. You'll need four 15-ounce cans, drained.

Want to make your beans from scratch? Here's how to make them on the stovetop or in a pressure cooker.

Cowboy beans topped with cheese. — Eliezer Martinez

Tips for Cooking Dry Beans

The one problem that people can encounter when cooking beans from scratch in a recipe like this is that the beans don't soften up, even with long cooking. Many things can cause this. Beans like to be stored in a cool, dry environment. If you store beans in a humid, warm environment, they'll get harder. Calcium can firm up beans, so if you are cooking with hard water, that can cause beans to be too hard as well. Finally, old beans take longer to cook. So, what to do?

Soak the dry beans overnight in plenty of water. This will help "open up" the beans before cooking them.
Add a teaspoon of salt and/or a quarter teaspoon of baking soda to each quart of soaking water. Either will replace some of the minerals that cause the beans to be hard.
Add BBQ sauce only after the beans are soft enough to eat. BBQ sauce has sugar and calcium in it that will keep the beans from softening.

Making Cowboy Beans in a Slow Cooker or Crock Pot

Follow Steps 1 and 2 in the instructions as directed. Transfer the soaked beans and the onion/garlic mixture to a 6-quart slow cooker. Add the ham, water, a little salt, and the coffee. Stir, and cook in the slow cooker on high for 4 hours or low for 8 hours, checking from time to time to make sure the beans aren't breaking down. Once the beans are soft, add the BBQ sauce and cook for 30 minutes. When the beans are done cooking, taste for seasoning and add more salt as needed, and add the pickled jalapeños, if using.

Amazing BBQ Recipes To Complement Cowboy Beans

Cowboy Beans

Prep Time 15 mins

Cook Time 3 hrs

Bean Soaking Time 8 hrs

Total Time 11 hrs 15 mins

Servings 8 to 10 servings

If you have hard water or have difficulty getting beans to soften, try adding 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda to the soaking water.

If you want to use canned beans, use 4 (15-ounce cans), drained. Combine Steps 3 and 4 and add the beans with the ham hock and BBQ sauce. Simmer on low until the meat on the ham hock separates from the bone.

If you are not using the bacon fat, use 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil.

Cook Mode (Keep screen awake)

2 cups dried pinto beans (about 12 ounces)
1 tablespoon bacon fat
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 smoked ham hock or ham shank
2 cups water
Kosher salt, to taste
2 cups brewed coffee
1 1/2 cups tomato-based barbecue sauce
1/4 cup chopped pickled jalapenos for garnish, optional
Grated cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese for garnish, optional
1/4 cup chopped red onion for garnish, optional

Soak the beans:

Place the beans in a large pot and cover with a couple inches of water. Soak the beans overnight and then drain.

Alternatively, bring a pot with the beans covered with 2 inches of water to a boil, remove from heat and let soak for an hour, then drain.

Eliezer Martinez
Cook the onion and garlic:

Heat the bacon fat and the vegetable oil in a Dutch oven or other heavy-bottomed lidded pot over medium-high heat.

Add the onion and sauté for 3 minutes, stirring often, until translucent and just beginning to brown.

Add the garlic and sauté for another 1 to 2 minutes.

Eliezer Martinez
Add the beans, ham hock, water, salt, and coffee, then simmer:

Add the drained beans into the pot with the onions. Add the ham hock, the water, a little salt, and the coffee.

Stir and bring to a simmer. Cook for 1 to 2 hours. (Some beans may take longer to cook, especially if they are older.) The beans should be soft enough to chew but not mushy soft.
Add the BBQ sauce and continue cooking:

Add the barbecue sauce and stir to combine. Cover and simmer on low heat until the meat from the ham hock begins to separate from the bone, up to 2 hours.

After an hour, check on the beans every 15 minutes. If the beans begin to break down, remove from heat.

Eliezer Martinez
Strip the ham hock and season the beans:

When the beans are done cooking, pull the ham hock and strip the meat from the bone. Add the meat to the beans and discard the bone.

Add salt to taste. Add pickled jalapeños to taste for some heat, if desired.

Serve with a little grated cheese and chopped red onion on top.

Did you love the recipe? Leave a comment and give us some stars below!

Eliezer Martinez

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
249	Calories
4g	Fat
43g	Carbs
10g	Protein

Nutrition Facts
Servings: 8 to 10
Amount per serving
Calories	249
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 4g	5%
Saturated Fat 1g	5%
Cholesterol 6mg	2%
Sodium 481mg	21%
Total Carbohydrate 43g	16%
Dietary Fiber 7g	23%
Total Sugars 15g
Protein 10g
Vitamin C 4mg	18%
Calcium 66mg	5%
Iron 2mg	13%
Potassium 698mg	15%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.

Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate. In cases where multiple ingredient alternatives are given, the first listed is calculated for nutrition. Garnishes and optional ingredients are not included.