Wisconsin Cowboy Beans

It's Wisconsin week on the blog this week!  

We had a great Spring Break in Wisconsin and have some new favorites to share you with - a delicious recipe, favorite restaurants and new Wisconsin favorites!

One of my very favorite things to do on vacation is finding new foods and recreating the recipes at home.  We ate at a new to us restaurant called Buffalo Phils and Kevin had a side dish that we both loved called Cowboy Beans.  I had never heard of them before so I looked up some recipes when we got home and came up with my own version of cowboy beans.

I'm really not a bean loving person, but these are AMAZING.  I made them for the boy's birthday party and everyone raved about them.  They are the perfect side dish for Summer.

Wisconsin Cowboy Beans

Ingredients:

1 lb ground beef

3/4 pkg thick cut bacon

1 15 oz can kidney beans with liquid

1 15 oz can pinto beans with liquid

1 28oz can pork and beans

1 small yellow onion diced tiny

1 T BBQ sauce

3/4 c ketchup

1 T mustard

1 T Worchestershire

2 T brown sugar

1 t chili powder

1 t Kinder seasoning (salt/pepper/garlic) or your favorite seasoning

Directions:

Cook the ground beef and drain.  Cook the bacon.  I love to bake bacon in the oven - put the strips on a pan with a rim around the edge, set the oven to 400 and bake your bacon for 25-30 minutes.  I like to drain off the fat about 20 minutes into cooking.  It's so easy and makes very little mess compared to frying bacon.  Then cut up the bacon into bite sized pieces.  

Dump everything into a crock pot, stir until well combined and let them cook until everything is heated.  You could cook it on the stove top, but I loved having the beans stay warm in a crockpot and not have to worry about them burning.  Serve them as the perfect side to any Summer BBQ or cookout.  They are somehow even better reheated.  10/10 recommend!  Even the kids enjoyed them!

Have you ever heard of cowboy beans?

You'll have to try them!