This Mexican-Inspired Dish Became A Cowboy Classic

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When you're riding through scrub brush on a long haul on horseback, you're going to need some solid food to keep you going, something that will last. That's what it was like for the cowboys of the 1800s. What cowboys ate on the trail may not be surprising — a lot of dried meat and dried fruits that wouldn't spoil. When it came to a cooked meal, beans were regularly on the menu because they could be stored dry for months or years and cooked up with water and spices to make a full meal. A popular cowboy meal that goes back centuries and remains a Tex-Mex and Mexican favorite is frijoles charros. "Frijoles" means "beans" in Spanish, and "charros" are the famed Mexican horsemen who ate them, as did American cowboys. If you're unfamiliar with charros, their legacy dates back to the Spanish conquest, when horses were likely first brought to the Americas.

Simply put, frijoles charros are stewed beans cooked with spices, maybe a little bacon, and other proteins. They've become a cornerstone of Tex-Mex cooking, either as a side dish or a main. When we think of Tex-Mex food, the "Tex" for Texas comes first, but perhaps it should be Mex-Tex, because Texas was actually part of Mexico until 1836. A lot of Tex-Mex, New Mexican, and Northern Mexican food comes from indigenous cooking, which inspired many of the dishes cowboys ate in the Old West. Beans often played a central role in these meals because their high protein content could fuel a long day of work.

Canned beans may not have been available in the old cowboy and charro days, but you can use them  to make a slow cooker cowboy beans recipe with ground beef, onions, molasses, and brown sugar. Pinto beans were probably the choice variety among cowboys on the trail because they were high in protein, easy to pack, and had already been cultivated in the Americas for at least 5,000 years. For 21st-century frijoles charros, feel free to use pintos, black beans, Great Northern beans, or kidney beans. Adding pickled jalapeños and cooked bacon will boost the flavor profile for super smoky, slightly spicy beans that can constitute a full meal.

To keep more in line with Mexican charro tradition, start with dried beans. Rinse and cook them with your chosen aromatics for about two hours, or until they're tender. From there, you could add thinly sliced bacon. The extra fat will cook down into wonderfully tiny, chewy flavor pills. If you want to go vegan, seasoned textured vegetable protein (TVP) will impart a similar smokiness. Add TVP, salt, pepper, and cumin to a bath of simmering water and bean broth, and you're ready to roll. 

For frijoles charros, the broth is as much a part of the joy as the beans themselves. Cooking the beans down until they are super soft and almost falling apart will help develop depth of flavor in your broth. Frijoles charros can be enjoyed as a side with beef or pork tacos, or eaten like a soup, topped with fresh onion and cilantro and a squeeze of lime.