Ground Beef
$1.80per plate
Prep
15 min
Ground Beef · Cowboy Soup
Cowboy Soup
Cowboy Soup is a hearty, one-pot dinner that takes the flavor of chili and turns it into a full bowl of soup: ground beef, two kinds of beans, corn, and potatoes simmered in a smoky, chili-spiced broth. It feeds six for about $2.12 a plate and comes together in under an hour, with a build-your-own topping bar of cheddar, sour cream, and crushed tortilla chips to finish it off. It sits right alongside our other ground beef recipes and our full lineup of soup recipes, every one priced per plate.
$2.12per plate
Estimated recipe total
$12.74 · serves 6
Cook
35 min
Total
50 min
Serves
6
Recipe from Budget Plates · https://www.budgetplates.com/cowboy-soup
Equipment
- Large Dutch oven or stockpot (5 to 6 quart)
- Wooden spoon
- Ladle
- Instant-read thermometer
- Cutting board and chef's knife
Recipe Notes
Browning the beef in two batches instead of one keeps the pot hot enough to sear rather than steam. It takes a couple of extra minutes and makes a real difference in flavor.
Variations
- Tex-Mex cowboy soup: swap the kidney beans for black beans, add a diced jalapeno with the onion, and finish with lime and chopped cilantro instead of green onion.
- Smoky bacon cowboy soup: cook 4 slices of chopped bacon first, brown the beef in the rendered bacon fat, and stir the crispy bacon back in at the end.
- Vegetarian cowboy soup: swap the ground beef for a 14 ounce package of plant-based crumbles or an extra can of beans, and use vegetable broth in place of beef broth.
1 How to make it
1
Season and brown the beef
Sprinkle the ground beef with 1/2 teaspoon salt and a few grinds of pepper and mix lightly. Brown it in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat in two batches so the pan stays hot enough to sear rather than steam, about 4 minutes per batch, breaking it into crumbles. Transfer the beef to a plate, leaving the fat and browned bits in the pot.
2
Cook the onion and bloom the spices
Reduce the heat to medium and cook the onion in the leftover fat for about 4 minutes, until soft. Add the garlic, chili powder, cumin, and smoked paprika and stir for 30 to 60 seconds, until fragrant. Cooking the spices briefly in the fat wakes up more of their flavor than adding them straight to broth.
3
Deglaze the pot
Stir in the tomato paste and cook for 1 minute to deepen its color. Pour in about 1/2 cup of the beef broth and scrape up the browned bits stuck to the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon. Those bits are concentrated flavor, and this step dissolves them back into the soup instead of leaving them to burn.
4
Simmer until the potatoes are tender
Return the beef and any juices to the pot. Add the remaining broth, diced tomatoes, pinto beans, kidney beans, potatoes, corn, Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a gentle simmer, partially covered, for 20 to 25 minutes, until the potatoes are fork-tender. Keep it at a simmer rather than a hard boil so the beef stays tender instead of toughening.
5
Thicken it naturally and check the beef
Mash about 1 cup of the potatoes and beans against the side of the pot with a spoon, then stir them back in. Their starch thickens the broth without any flour or cornstarch. If it is still thin after mashing, simmer it uncovered for a few more minutes to reduce and thicken further. The beef should read at least 160 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer, well past that after this much simmering, which is the food-safe minimum for ground beef.
6
Taste and serve
Taste and adjust with a pinch more salt or a splash more Worcestershire if it needs more depth, or a squeeze of lime if it tastes flat. Ladle into bowls and top with shredded cheddar, a dollop of sour cream, sliced green onion, and crushed tortilla chips, added last so they stay crunchy.
Every step, in pictures
2 Cheaper ingredient swaps
- Ground turkey or chicken for the beef. Brown it in a tablespoon of oil since it renders less fat, and season it a little more generously. Ground poultry should reach a safe minimum of 165 degrees F instead of the 160 degrees F for beef.
- Black beans for pinto or kidney beans. Any canned bean works here. Black beans lean the soup a little more Tex-Mex, especially with a diced jalapeno added alongside the onion.
- Canned diced potatoes. A 15 ounce can of diced potatoes, drained, skips the peeling and dicing. Add it in the last 10 minutes of simmering, since it only needs to warm through.
- No fresh onion or garlic. One tablespoon onion powder and one teaspoon garlic powder can stand in. Add them with the other spices instead of sauteing them first.
3 Budget tips
- A single pound of ground beef stretches across six bowls once the beans, corn, and potatoes bulk it out, which keeps this under $2.50 a plate even with a full topping bar.
- Two cans of beans do a lot of the filling work for a lot less money than a second pound of beef.
- Mashing some of the potato and beans thickens the broth for free, so there is no need for a roux or heavy cream.
- Skip any one topping, the cheese, sour cream, or chips, to trim the cost a little more without losing the dish.
- Skip the topping bar entirely (cheddar, sour cream, green onion, and tortilla chips) and this is a no-toppings soup for about $10.84 total, or $1.81 a plate. See more recipes priced per serving in the Budget Plates Index.
4 Storage, freezing & reheating
Fridge
Refrigerate leftovers in an airtight container for up to 4 days. The soup thickens as it sits, so loosen it with a splash of broth or water when reheating.
Freezer
Potatoes can turn a little grainy after freezing and thawing, since ice crystals rupture their starch. The flavor is not affected, and the chunky, mash-thickened broth hides most of the texture change, so it still freezes well for up to 3 months in an airtight container. For the best texture, freeze the soup before adding the potatoes, then add freshly diced potatoes and simmer 15 to 20 minutes when reheating.
Reheating
Warm gently on the stovetop over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally and adding a splash of broth or water since it thickens as it sits. The microwave works too, in 1-minute bursts, stirred between each.
5 Nutrition (per serving)
Calories
520
Protein
27g
Fat
24g
Carbs
45g
Estimates per serving, calculated from standard ingredient data across 6 servings. Not a substitute for medical advice.
6 Frequently asked questions
What is cowboy soup?
Cowboy soup is a hearty, chili-spiced ground beef soup loaded with beans, corn, and potatoes, simmered in a smoky tomato broth. It takes the flavors of a pot of chili and stretches them into a full, brothy soup, usually topped with cheddar, sour cream, and crushed tortilla chips. It is a Western-inspired, one-pot dinner built for feeding a crowd cheaply.
What's the difference between cowboy soup and chili?
Chili is thick and meat-forward with little to no broth. Cowboy soup uses the same chili spices but adds more broth, plus potatoes and corn, so it eats like a brothy, chunky soup rather than a scoopable stew. Both start with ground beef and beans, but this one is thinner and more filling per bowl.
Can I make cowboy soup in a slow cooker?
Yes. Brown the beef and cook the onion and spices on the stovetop first for the best flavor, then add everything except the toppings to a slow cooker and cook on low for 6 to 7 hours or high for 3 to 4, until the potatoes are tender. Add the toppings right before serving.
How do I thicken cowboy soup without flour or cornstarch?
Mash about a cup of the cooked potatoes and beans against the side of the pot, then stir them back in. Their starch thickens the broth naturally, the same way a bean soup thickens itself, so there is no need for a roux or a slurry.
How is $2.12 a plate figured?
The whole pot costs about $12.74 for six servings, so roughly $2.12 each. The ground beef is the biggest line, and the two cans of beans plus the topping bar make up most of the rest. Skip a topping or two to bring it down further.
Helpful Tools for This Recipe
As an Amazon Associate, Budget Plates may earn from qualifying purchases.
- 12-inch nonstick skillet. A wide nonstick skillet browns ground meat, fries rice, and builds a one-pan sauce with less oil and easier cleanup. Best for everyday stovetop dinners like skillet meals, fried rice, pasta sauces, and patties.
- Cast iron skillet. Cast iron holds heat for a deep sear and moves from stovetop to oven, and it lasts for decades with basic care. Best for searing chops and chicken, and recipes that start on the stove and finish in the oven.
- Chef's knife. One sharp chef's knife handles almost all the chopping, from onions to chicken, and replaces a drawer of gadgets. Best for all-purpose prep in essentially every recipe on the site.
- Cutting board. A large, stable cutting board makes prep faster and safer, which matters when you cook most nights. Best for everyday chopping of onion, garlic, and vegetables across nearly every recipe.
Feeding a crowd tonight? This one is also part of our Easy Family Dinner Recipes collection.
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