Cowboy Stew – Rachel Cooks®

Hearty Cowboy Stew

Cowboy stew is sort of like a mashup of cowboy beans, calico beans, and chili. Which is to say: it has LOTS of stuff in it, it has huge daring taste, and it’ll fill you up. Cowboy stew is a wealthy, flavorful one-pot meal, excellent for making over the campfire and feeding hungry cowboys on the path—or hungry children on a college night time.

There are lots of methods to make cowboy stew, and the method is much like making chili, the place you brown the meat first, soften the greens, then add the seasonings and different elements, letting them simmer low and gradual till all of the flavors come collectively.

Causes To Love Cowboy Stew

Supremely satisfying. This stew is totally filled with protein from the meats and beans, plus the beans and greens are wealthy in fiber, making it extremely filling and satisfying. This can be a stick-to-your-ribs sort of meal! It’s going to refill even the hungriest cowboy in your loved ones.

Straightforward to make. Whereas there are just a few greens to cut, cowboy stew largely depends on canned elements—as a result of, you already know, that’s what cowboys would do! More often than not to make this recipe is hands-off simmering time. Cowboy stew isn’t fussy about time both. In case your cowboys aren’t house from the vary but, cowboy stew is content material to simmer on the again burner till everybody is able to eat.

Versatile. This recipe could be tailored with various kinds of meat, greens, and beans, relying on what you may have readily available or your loved ones’s preferences. Just about something goes.

Ingredient Notes

• Floor beef: The bottom of cowboy stew is often made with floor beef however you may swap in floor turkey in the event you desire it. I normally select a lean floor beef resembling 90/10 (floor sirloin) however use what you want. When you use floor meat with a better fats content material, you might wish to drain off the surplus fats after you brown it.
• Smoked sausage: Make certain you purchase smoked sausage which is already cooked. It may be labeled merely smoked sausage however there are different varieties like kielbasa, Polish sausage, andouille, and so forth. Select your favourite.
• Bacon: For this recipe, meatier thick-cut bacon works finest. Skinny sliced bacon tends to vanish on this hearty stew.
• Yellow onion, inexperienced pepper, and garlic: These three savories type the spine of taste for cowboy stew. A yellow cooking onion is ok.
• All-purpose flour: Flour is used to barely thicken the stew.
• Seasonings: Cowboy stew is seasoned very like chili with chili powder, cumin, smoked paprika, kosher salt, and floor black pepper.
• Beef broth: I like to recommend low-sodium broth, which provides you extra management over the salt degree.
• Russet potatoes: Hearty chunks of potato assist this stew reside as much as its title. You’ll be able to’t have stew with out potatoes! I like russet potatoes however you would use purple potatoes, too. You’ll want 3 medium-sized potatoes, peeled and reduce into chunks.
• Canned tomatoes: There are two sorts of canned tomatoes on this stew: common diced tomatoes and diced tomatoes with inexperienced chilies.
• Canned beans: Pinto beans and kidney beans are conventional selections however black beans and black-eyed peas would additionally work.
• Corn: Canned corn is handy, however in the event you occur to have frozen corn readily available, you may swap that in.
• Elective garnishes: Inexperienced onions or chopped white onions, sliced jalapeños (or pickled jalapeños), shredded cheese, or bitter cream.

Methods to Make Cowboy Stew

Prepare dinner the bacon. Add the chopped bacon to a big pot set over medium warmth. Prepare dinner the bacon till it’s crisp; then switch it to a plate with a slotted spoon. (If you need, you may line the plate with paper towels to soak up additional grease.) Drain the bacon grease out of the pan however go away a few tablespoon within the pot.

Brown the meat. Add the bottom beef to the pot and cook dinner it with the bacon fats, rising the warmth to medium-high and breaking it up with a wood spoon whereas it cooks. 

Add the sausage. Stir the sausage into the pot with the meat, cooking for 3 to 4 minutes. Drain off the surplus fats in the event you’d like. 

Prepare dinner the aromatics. Stir within the chopped onion and inexperienced pepper. Prepare dinner for a couple of minutes to melt, then add the garlic, flour, and seasonings. Prepare dinner for one more 2 to three minutes, till the spices are toasted and aromatic.

Deglaze the pan. Pour within the broth, let it sit for just a few seconds, then scrape up any brown bits from the underside of the pot.

Simmer. Stir within the potatoes, tomatoes, beans, and corn and improve the warmth to medium-high. As soon as the liquid involves a simmer, cut back the warmth to low, cowl, and proceed to simmer for 45 to 50 minutes, stirring often, till the potatoes are cooked by means of.

End. Simply earlier than serving, stir within the bacon. Style the stew and add extra salt and pepper in the event you like. Ladle the stew into bowls, and high together with your favourite garnishes. Serve instantly.

Straightforward Recipe Variations

• Make it spicy. For a spicier cowboy stew, you may have just a few choices. You’ll be able to add diced jalapeños while you’re sautéing the onions and inexperienced peppers, add cayenne with the seasonings, or add sizzling sauce on the finish of the cooking time. 
• Cheese it up. Stir in a shredded cheese like cheddar, Monterey Jack, or pepper jack in the course of the last minutes of cooking, or use cheese as a topping and let everybody add their very own.
• Swap out the potatoes. You should utilize candy potatoes and even cubed butternut squash as an alternative. This can be a good possibility in the event you plan on freezing your cowboy stew, since common potatoes are likely to get mealy when frozen and thawed.

Serving Strategies

Fridge: Leftover cowboy stew could be saved in an hermetic or lined container within the fridge for 3 to 4 days. 

Freezer: This stew freezes properly, with a slight caveat: potatoes are by no means fairly the identical when frozen and thawed. When you don’t thoughts the chance that they are going to be mealy, retailer the cowboy stew in an hermetic container or freezer bag for as much as 3 months. Thaw within the fridge earlier than reheating.

To reheat: Warmth the stew in a pot on the stovetop over medium warmth or within the microwave. Chances are you’ll want so as to add a splash of broth or water to skinny it out a bit.

• ▢ ½ pound thick reduce bacon, chopped into 1 inch items
• ▢ 1 pound lean floor beef
• ▢ ½ pound smoked sausage, reduce into ¼ inch slices (kielbasa or your favourite selection)
• ▢ 1 medium yellow onion, diced (about 1 cup)
• ▢ 1 giant inexperienced pepper, diced
• ▢ 3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
• ▢ ¼ cup all-purpose flour
• ▢ 1 teaspoon chili powder
• ▢ 1 teaspoon floor cumin
• ▢ ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
• ▢ ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon coarse floor black pepper
• ▢ 4 cups beef broth
• ▢ 3 medium russet potatoes, peeled and reduce into ½ -inch cubes
• ▢ 1 can (14.5 oz.) diced tomatoes, undrained
• ▢ 1 can (10 oz.) diced tomatoes with inexperienced chilies, undrained (like Rotel)
• ▢ 1 can (15 oz.) pinto beans, rinsed and drained
• ▢ 1 can (15 oz.) kidney beans, rinsed and drained
• ▢ 1 can (15 oz.) corn kernels, drained
• ▢ elective garnishes: inexperienced onions or chopped white onions

• In a big pot or Dutch oven, cook dinner the chopped bacon over medium warmth till crispy. Take away the bacon with a slotted spoon and put aside. Drain off all however about 1 tablespoon (you don’t must measure!) of bacon fats.

  ½ pound thick reduce bacon, chopped into 1 inch items

• Add the bottom beef to the pot with the bacon fats and cook dinner over medium-high warmth till it’s now not pink, breaking it aside because it cooks.

  1 pound lean floor beef

• Add the sliced sausage and cook dinner for a further 3 to 4 minutes. Drain extra fats if desired.

  ½ pound smoked sausage, reduce into ¼ inch slices

• Add the onion and inexperienced pepper to the pot and cook dinner till softened, about 3 minutes. Stir in garlic, flour, chili powder, cumin, smoked paprika, salt, and pepper and cook dinner for two to three minutes, stirring.

  1 medium yellow onion, diced, 1 giant inexperienced pepper, diced, 3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed, ¼ cup all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon chili powder, 1 teaspoon floor cumin, ½ teaspoon smoked paprika, ½ teaspoon kosher salt, ¼ teaspoon coarse floor black pepper

• Add the meat broth and scrape any brown bits off the underside of the pan.

  4 cups beef broth

• Add the potatoes, each forms of tomatoes, pinto beans, kidney beans, and corn. Stir properly to mix all of the elements.

  3 medium russet potatoes, peeled and reduce into ½ -inch cubes, 1 can (14.5 oz.) diced tomatoes, undrained, 1 can (10 oz.) diced tomatoes with inexperienced chilies, undrained, 1 can (15 oz.) pinto beans, rinsed and drained, 1 can (15 oz.) kidney beans, rinsed and drained, 1 can (15 oz.) corn kernels, drained

• Enhance warmth to medium-high and convey the combination to a simmer. Scale back the warmth to low, cowl, and let the stew cook dinner for 45 to 50 minutes, or till the potatoes are tender, stirring often.

• Stir within the cooked bacon simply earlier than serving. Style and regulate seasoning with extra salt, pepper, or chili powder as desired.

• Ladle into bowls and garnish with toppings resembling sliced jalapeños, shredded cheese, or bitter cream.

• Storage & reheating: Refrigerate leftover cowboy stew for as much as 4 days. Freeze cowboy stew for as much as 3 months (notice: the potatoes will turn out to be barely mealy). Thaw within the fridge earlier than reheating. Reheat the stew in a pot on the stovetop over medium warmth or particular person bowls within the microwave. Add additional broth or water to skinny it out a bit if crucial. 
• Potato alternate options: When you plan on freezing cowboy stew, think about using candy potatoes or butternut squash as an alternative of potatoes. Alternatively, you would merely omit the potatoes. The stew could possibly be served on mashed potatoes or rice as an alternative.
• Make it spicy: Add diced jalapeños while you’re sautéing the onions and inexperienced peppers OR add cayenne with the seasonings OR add sizzling sauce on the finish of the cooking time OR all three in the event you prefer it actually spicy!

Serving: 1.75cup, Energy: 529kcal, Carbohydrates: 45g, Protein: 30g, Fats: 26g, Saturated Fats: 9g, Polyunsaturated Fats: 3g, Monounsaturated Fats: 11g, Trans Fats: 0.4g, Ldl cholesterol: 76mg, Sodium: 1184mg, Potassium: 1449mg, Fiber: 8g, Sugar: 5g, Vitamin A: 326IU, Vitamin C: 29mg, Calcium: 105mg, Iron: 5mg

Diet info is routinely calculated, so ought to solely be used as an approximation.

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