Dude Ranch Beans

Dude Ranch Beans are a recipe made easy in the slow cooker with pinto beans, a ham hock, tomato sauce and plenty of spices.

July 3rd is National Eat Your Beans Day! The best way to celebrate is to make these Dude Ranch Beans! You can also try making a three bean salad, refried beans or bean soup. Share your bean bounty on social media today using the hashtags #NationalEatYourBeansDay, #EatYourBeansDay and #RecipesForHolidays.

Be sure to follow my July Food Holidays page so you never miss a food holiday in the month of July!

“You should never hesitate to trade your cow for a handful of magic beans.”

-Tom Robbins

The History of Beans:

Beans were found in the tombs of the kings of ancient Egypt, where they were left as food for the departed and their souls in the afterlife.

The oldest known domesticated beans in the Americas were found in Guitarrero Cave, an archaeological site in Peru dated to around the 2nd millennium BCE.

Beans are one of the longest cultivated plants. Food growers cultivated beans over thousands of years. Farmers selected the bean plants they liked best and saved the seeds to re-plant. Now there are thousands of varieties.

Beans were an important source of protein throughout Old and New World history and still are today.

This recipe comes from Save it Forward Suppers by Cyndi Kane. This is a cookbook full of great dinner ideas. The idea is that the “save it forward” method extracts components from every meal to use for meals later in the week. It’s a great idea!

This recipe for Dude Ranch Beans is made from the base recipe in the book of baked ham. And then there is another recipe for cornbread in the book to serve with the beans. It’s all good!

Ingredients needed:

• dried pinto beans
• ham hock
• tomato sauce
• yellow onion
• dried guajillo chile
• garlic cloves
• chili powder
• salt and freshly ground black pepper

How to make Dude Ranch Beans:

The full, printable recipe is at the end of this post.

1. Soak the beans overnight. Place the beans in the insert of a slow cooker and cover with water by about 3-inches. Let sit at room temperature overnight. Don’t turn on the slow cooker. Drain the water in the morning and add fresh water to cover the beans by 2-inches.
2. Add the ham bone, tomato sauce, onion, chile, garlic, chili powder, salt and pepper and cook on low all day, 6 to 8 hours, until the beans are tender.
3. Toward the end of the cooking time, you can remove the meat from the ham bone and add it to the beans, but the beans will be delightfully flavorful without it too.

Taste the beans to see if they need more salt and pepper.

These beans are so delicious to have on the menu for a BBQ or backyard cookout. They’re the kind of beans you might be served when visiting a dude ranch! Enjoy!

Fun Facts About Beans:

• North Dakota produces 1/3 of the beans in the United States.
• Beans are cooked by boiling, frying and baking. They’re used in all kinds of recipes!
• Beans have high amounts of fiber and soluble fiber (which can lower cholesterol).
• Many edible beans cause flatulence (gas).
• The healthiest beans to eat are chickpeas, which are a great source of protein and fiber.
• Lentils are a great source of vegetarian protein.
• The world’s tallest bean plant was over 45 feet tall.
• Since the early 1900’s, bean soup has been on the U.S. Senate restaurant menu every single day.