This cowboy stew is a hearty medley of smoky bacon and kielbasa sausage with lean ground beef, beans, and veggies, all simmered together in a rich tomato broth with Southwestern spices.
Texas cowboy stew is half chili, half beef stew, and 100% delicious! For another stick-to-your-ribs dinner idea, check out this Southwestern-style Brunswick stew, too.
In this era of Beyoncé country albums and Yellowstone, it seems only fitting that I share my favorite recipe for Texas cowboy stew. Also called campfire stew, it gets its name because it uses a medley of ingredients that cowboys had on hand while driving cattle out on the range. My cowboy stew recipe combines three types of meat, hearty baked beans, and tender veggies that simmer in a smoky, tomato-based broth until it’s thick, similar to chili. It’s made in one pot and there’s enough to feed a crowd, plus leftovers!
Why I Love This Cowboy Stew Recipe
- One pot. Everything gets browned, sautéed, and simmered in the same pot. Since cowboy stew comes choc full of meat, beans, and veggies like onion, tomatoes, potatoes, and sweet corn, it’s truly a one-pot meal. Just add a side of bread for dunking.
- Bold, cozy flavors. Spices like cumin, chili powder, and garlic fill this stew with plenty of smoky, Southwestern flavor that warms from the inside out. Close your eyes, and it feels like you’re huddled around a campfire.
- Great for leftovers. Like most soups, stews, and chili recipes, cowboy stew tastes even better after it’s had a night or two in the fridge. I’ll often cook a big pot on the weekend and reheat leftovers for lunch throughout the week.
Ingredients You’ll Need
Below are some notes on the ingredients you’ll need to pack this cowboy stew with flavor. Scroll down to the recipe card after the post for a printable ingredients list and full recipe details.
- Bacon – You can cook a batch of bacon in the air fryer, or simply brown it in the same pot you’ll use to make your stew.
- Kielbasa – Kielbasa is a type of Polish sausage (you’ll find it in my potato soup with smoked sausage, easy sausage and peppers skillet, and chicken cassoulet recipes). I usually pick it up from the deli section at the grocery store. Other good options are Italian sausage, Spanish chorizo, or Andouille sausage as you’ll find in gumbo and jambalaya.
- Ground Beef – I recommend lean ground beef so that the stew doesn’t turn out too oily. You could also replace the ground beef with another meat, like ground chicken or turkey.
- Onion – Yellow onion or another mild onion, diced.
- Seasonings – Garlic powder, chili powder, and cumin powder, plus salt and black pepper.
- Diced Tomatoes and Chilies – I use a can of Rotel, juices and all. Rotel tomatoes come with chili peppers inside. If you find them too spicy, use plain chopped tomatoes and add the desired amount of chili.
- Baked Beans – Classic cowboy fare! If you’d prefer to use another type of bean, such as kidney beans, black beans, or pinto beans, that works, too. Pretty much any bean you’d add to chili, you can add to a cowboy stew. Of course, you could always take inspiration from no beans chili and skip the beans if you’d like.
- Sweet Corn – Canned sweet corn, drained and rinsed. You can also shave the kernels from leftover cooked corn on the cob.
- Potato – Good potatoes for stews include Yukon Gold potatoes, russets, or even waxy varieties, like red potatoes. You could also use sweet potatoes. Peel and chop the potatoes into ½” cubes.
How to Make Texas Cowboy Stew
Take out a big soup pot, round up your ingredients, and let’s make this hearty cowboy soup!
- Cook the bacon. Start by sautéeing chopped bacon over medium-high heat. Once that’s nice and crisped up, scoop it out and set it aside.
- Cook the sausage. Next, add sliced kielbasa to the pot. Let that cook until it’s browned on all sides. Afterward, set the sausage aside with the bacon.
- Brown the ground beef. Sauté the beef in the same pot with a little salt and pepper, breaking it up while it browns. Add the onions and cook until they soften.
- Bring it all together. Season the ground beef with garlic powder, chili powder, and cumin powder, then stir in your Rotel tomatoes, beans, corn, and potatoes with a bit of water. Return the bacon and kielbasa to the pot.
- Simmer. Now, bring the whole pot to a boil, lower the heat to a simmer, and let the stew, well… stew! I usually let it go for about an hour. If you notice the stew is getting too thick while it simmers, add a splash of water.
- Serve. Adjust the seasonings to taste, then ladle the cowboy stew into bowls and sprinkle over some fresh parsley for serving.
Make Cowboy Stew in the Crock Pot!
On busy days, nothing beats comfort food that cooks itself (am I right?). To make a slow cooker or crock pot cowboy stew, I still recommend browning the bacon, sausage, and ground beef in a skillet first. Then, combine them with the rest of the ingredients in the slow cooker, and set it to cook on Low for 6-8 hours or on High for 4 hours.
Tips and Variations
- Use any sausage you’d like. I used smoked kielbasa, which gives the stew a unique flavor. You can also use plain kielbasa or another sausage. The key is to brown the sausage in the saucepot before adding it to the stew for maximum flavor.
- More flavor. Use ground mild sausage instead of beef. Mild sausage is usually spiced with paprika, herbs, and other seasonings, and it’s a great way to add even more flavor to the stew.
- This stew is thick as it is, but if you’d prefer an even thicker cowboy stew, you can increase the amount of beans or potatoes. Both of these ingredients contain starches that help to thicken the stew naturally.
Storing and Reheating Leftover Stew
- Refrigerate. Store any leftover cowboy stew in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. Like most soups and stews, I find it tastes even better after some time in the fridge!
- Reheat. The easiest way to reheat stew is to return it to a saucepan on the stovetop. You can use the microwave, too. Let the stew heat through and add a splash of water if it’s thickened up too much in the fridge.
- Freeze. This cowboy stew freezes great for up to 3 months. Thaw the stew in the fridge overnight before reheating and serving.
More Soups and Stew Recipes
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Cook the bacon. Chop the bacon and cook it in a Dutch oven or a large pot over medium-high heat until browned and crispy. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon and set it aside.
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Cook the kielbasa. Cut the kielbasa into ½-inch thick slices. Cook the kielbasa in the same pot where you cooked the bacon until the kielbasa is browned on all sides. Remove the kielbasa from the pot and set aside.
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Brown the beef and onions. Add the ground beef to the same cooking pot. Season the beef with salt and pepper and cook, crumbling it with a wooden spoon until the beef is browned. Stir in the onions and cook for 3 more minutes.
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Put it all together. Once your beef is nicely browned, add garlic powder, chili powder, cumin powder, Rotel tomatoes, baked beans, corn, water, and potato. Place back in the bacon and kielbasa and give it all a good stir.
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Simmer. Bring the stew to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer the stew for 50-55 minutes. If needed, add a bit more water during the cooking process.
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Garnish and serve. Taste and adjust the seasoning of your stew. Serve it while still warm, garnished with chopped parsley.
Serving: 1.5cups | Calories: 549kcal | Carbohydrates: 46g | Protein: 23g | Fat: 32g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 14g | Trans Fat: 0.01g | Cholesterol: 75mg | Sodium: 1402mg | Potassium: 1023mg | Fiber: 9g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 223IU | Vitamin C: 21mg | Calcium: 107mg | Iron: 5mg
Nutritional info is an estimate and provided as courtesy. Values may vary according to the ingredients and tools used. Please use your preferred nutritional calculator for more detailed info.
