The Hearty Bean Dinner Cowboys Ate In The Old West

The life of a cowboy in the 19th century was anything but romantic. They worked from dawn to dusk, repairing fences and herding cattle on horseback no matter the weather, among other grueling tasks. Meal time, whether on the trail or at the ranch, meant a break in the routine and often a hot plate of food. Among the various foods cowboys ate on the trail was frijoles charros, also known as cowboy beans. This hearty dish is typically made of pinto beans cooked with chiles and bacon, and a few other ingredients. It's flavorful, filling, and has lots of protein, exactly what a cowboy would need for the hard work they put in day to day.

Like many foods associated with American cowboys, such as the breakfast dish huevos rancheros, the roots of cowboy beans lie in Northern Mexico. The dish's Spanish name directly ties it to its origins. Charros were prominent 19th-century horsemen who owned large cattle ranches in Northern Mexico. Beans have been a staple food in Mexico for some 7,000 years, chiles were and are prevalent in the region, and pork was a go-to protein. When combined, they made one delicious and easy-to-produce dish that eventually made its way north to the U.S. Southwest and into cowboys' bellies.

Besides being called frijoles charros, or cowboy beans in the United States, there are a variety of other names for this dish, including frijoles a la charra and frijoles rancheros. Like its many appellations, this dish has a wide range of variations on both sides of the border. That's likely because it's fairly simple and easily melds with lots of different ingredients. Some recipes include chorizo, pork cracklins, and ham, while others include pork ribs with the bacon. Tomatoes are often used in the dish, as are herbs such as cilantro. Some even call for black beans rather than pintos.

Sometimes beer is added, transforming it into another Mexican bean dish, frijoles borrachos (drunken beans). When it comes to the frijoles charros that cowboys ate out on the range, it was likely a much simpler version and would have included what was available at hand to the crew cook (sometimes called the "cookie"). Whether referred to as frijoles charros or cowboy beans, this dish with a Mexican heritage helped fuel the cowboys of the Old West.