🌾 Chuckwagon Recipe #27: Smoky Sausage, Bean & Rice Trail Stew

🌾 Chuckwagon Recipe #27: Smoky Sausage, Bean & Rice Trail Stew

Serves: 6–8Prep Time: 10 minutesCook Time: 40 minutes

This stew is bold, filling, and deeply flavorful — the kind of one-pot meal the camp cook would make to feed a hungry group of trailhands after a long cold day on the range.

🐄 Ingredients

• 1 lb smoked sausage, sliced

• 1 tbsp bacon grease or butter

• 1 small onion, chopped

• 1 green bell pepper, diced

• 2 cloves garlic, minced

• 1 can (15 oz) red beans or kidney beans, drained

• 1 cup long-grain rice (uncooked)

• 1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes

• 4 cups chicken broth

• 1 tsp smoked paprika

• 1 tsp chili powder

• ½ tsp garlic powder

• ½ tsp black pepper

• ½ tsp salt (adjust to taste)

• Optional: dash of hot sauce for cowboy heat

🍳 Instructions

1. Brown the Sausage

Heat bacon grease in a Dutch oven. Add sausage slices and cook until lightly browned. Remove and set aside.

2. Sauté the Vegetables

Add onion, bell pepper, and garlic to the pot. Cook until softened and fragrant.

3. Build the Stew

Stir in beans, rice, tomatoes, broth, and seasonings. Return sausage to the pot.

4. Simmer

Bring to a boil, then reduce heat. Cover and simmer 25–30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until rice is tender and stew thickens.

5. Serve

Enjoy piping hot with cornbread, biscuits, or skillet fry bread.

🤠 Chuckwagon Tip

Add a spoonful of BBQ sauce or a splash of liquid smoke at the end for that deep, campfire-kissed flavor cowboys loved.