Sweet and Smoky Cowboy Beans

The first time I had these beans, my husband’s cousin made them at a braai (cook-out). One taste and I was hooked. When a recipe starts by frying onions, garlic and bacon until everything is golden brown and smelling incredible, you know it’s going to be good. I thought I’d just eat the beans on a thick slice of ciabatta toast but then I pictured a soft fried egg on top with its creamy yolk running into the sauce and I was sold. One bite and it was love at first sight. These beans work as a side dish alongside grilled steak or chicken, but served on toast with a runny egg on top they become one of the best breakfasts you’ll ever have.

What Are Cowboy Beans?

Cowboy beans (sometimes called chuckwagon beans) are a hearty, slow-simmered bean dish with roots in American Western and ranch-style cooking. Traditionally, they were a campfire staple made with whatever beans and cured meat were on hand, cooked low and slow in a cast iron pot over an open fire. The flavor profile is smoky, sweet and savory with a thick, saucy consistency that’s somewhere between baked beans and a bean stew.

This version keeps the spirit of the original but simplifies it for a home kitchen. Bacon provides the smokiness and the fat base for the sauce. Smoked paprika deepens the smoky flavor. Balsamic vinegar, Worcestershire sauce and brown sugar build that signature sweet-savory balance. And the cannellini beans simmer in the sauce until they’ve absorbed all that flavor and the liquid has thickened into something rich, glossy and impossible to stop eating.

Ingredients and Substitutions

• Bacon. Smoked bacon gives you the most flavor. Turkey bacon or reduced-fat bacon work as lighter alternatives.
• Onion. Finely chopped and cooked until softened with the bacon. It adds a natural sweetness that deepens as it cooks down into the sauce.
• Garlic. A few cloves, minced. Garlic adds a savory punch that rounds out the sweetness of the sugar and ketchup. Don’t skip it and use freshly minced.
• Cannellini beans. Small, creamy white beans that hold their shape well during the long simmer. I use canned for convenience. Any small white bean works: navy beans, great northern beans or butter beans. If using dried beans, soak overnight and cook until tender before adding to the recipe.
• Tomato ketchup. This is what gives cowboy beans their distinctive sweet, tangy flavor that separates them from regular baked beans. It adds body, sweetness and a hint of vinegar all in one ingredient.
• Tomato passata. Smooth, uncooked tomato puree that forms the base of the sauce. It gives the beans their saucy consistency without the chunkiness of diced tomatoes. Tomato puree (not paste) is a fine substitute.
• Beef stock. Adds savory depth and loosens the sauce to the right consistency during simmering. Chicken stock works as a substitute. Vegetable stock makes it vegetarian (along with skipping the bacon or swapping for a smoked alternative).
• Balsamic vinegar. A small splash adds a subtle sweetness and acidity that brightens the sauce and prevents it from tasting flat.
• Worcestershire sauce. Adds umami depth and a complex, fermented tang that makes the sauce taste like it simmered for hours even when it hasn’t. A few dashes goes a long way.
• Brown sugar. The sweetness in cowboy beans is a defining characteristic. Brown sugar adds a molasses-rich sweetness that pairs with the smokiness of the bacon and paprika. Start with the amount in the recipe and adjust to taste. The beans should taste sweet and smoky but not like dessert.
• Smoked paprika. This is what takes the beans from good to addictive. The smokiness it adds is essential and it deepens the color of the sauce into a gorgeous reddish brown. Don’t substitute with regular paprika as you’ll lose the smoky element that defines the dish.
• Salt and black pepper. Season at the end after the sauce has reduced. The bacon, ketchup and Worcestershire sauce all add salt so taste before adding more. The beans should be well-seasoned: sweet, smoky and savory in equal measure.