If you’re looking for an easy dish for a weekend party, try these cowboy beans! Sweet, tangy, and filling, this is the perfect dish to bring to a party or potluck.
Winter seems to be here to stay for a while! During these grey, chilly winter days, I find myself craving allergy friendly comfort food. Warm, delicious beans, bacon, and ground turkey in a flavorful sauce makes a wonderful meal that’s just right for a cold evening. This dish is perfect for a party or for an easy weekend dinner.
If you do decide to serve these for a party or potluck, try serving them alongside this classic potato salad and a simple red cabbage slaw.
Ingredient Notes
- Beans – Canned beans are needed for this recipe – dry beans will not work. I used canned pinto beans and Great Northern beans. You could use navy beans, lima beans, or black beans if you like.
- Bacon – I love the flavor bacon brings to this recipe. The bacon should be cooked ahead of time, and you can cook it any way that you prefer. You can fry it, bake it, or microwave it – use the method you like best.
- Ground Turkey – Be sure to use 93% lean ground turkey. If you go any leaner, it will be too dry and lack flavor. You could also use ground beef if you prefer.
- Tomato Sauce – I used store bought canned tomato sauce. You can use homemade tomato sauce if you like.
- Brown Sugar – Brown sugar adds a nice flavor to this recipe. You could also use regular sugar if that’s what you have on hand.
- Mustard – Mustard adds a tangy flavor to this sauce. If you can’t have mustard, feel free to leave it out and use a little more vinegar instead.
Step by Step Instructions
- Cook the ground turkey in a frying pan.
- Put the cooked ground turkey, cooked bacon, and onions in the slow cooker.
- Add the tomato sauce, beans, mustard, brown sugar, maple syrup, vinegar, and water to the slow cooker.
- Stir to combine.
- Cook on low heat for four hours. Enjoy!
Serving Suggestions
Serve these cowboy beans with:
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Recipe
Slow Cooker Cowboy Beans (Gluten Free, Dairy Free).
Ingredients
- 1 pound 93% lean ground turkey or ground beef
- 8 slices cooked bacon
- 1 sweet onion chopped
- 30 ounces pinto beans
- 15 ounces Great Northern beans
- 1 ¼ cup tomato sauce
- ¾ cup brown sugar
- 1 Tablespoon maple syrup
- 1 Tablespoon mustard
- 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
- ½ cup water
Instructions
- Cook the ground turkey in a frying pan over medium heat.
- Place the cooked ground turkey, cooked bacon, and chopped onion in a slow cooker.
- Drain and rinse the beans and add to the slow cooker. Add the tomato sauce. brown sugar, maple syrup, mustard, vinegar, and water to the slow cooker.
- Stir all the ingredients together.
- Cook on the low setting for 4 hours. Enjoy!
D
I love these! The sauce is delicious, and it goes so well with fresh bread.