Show & Tell: Cowboy Stew

Let’s eat! For this installment of “Scouting Show and Tell,” we asked Scouters to share their favorite Dutch oven meals, whether they or their Scouts created them. Either way, they look amazing. Check out these recipes and visit go.scoutingmagazine.org/showandtell to send us yours.

You can also show us other ways you make Scouting shine through the online form, by emailing us at scoutingmag@gmail.com or via social media using #ScoutingShowandTell

Corey Taylor, a Second Class Scout with Troop 235 in Taymouth Township, Mich., made this hearty, yet simple, meal for his troop right after setting up camp at Camp Weidman. It was very well received and has been requested on future camping trips since, his mother says.

“After looking at some other options for dinner, Corey came upon the cowboy stew recipe and thought that it sounded good,” she says. “He assembled all the ingredients, made a pan of cornbread to take with them and for dessert made monkey bread in the Dutch oven. Corey liked that it went together easily.”

Ingredients

1 lb. ground chuck 

3 larger potatoes, scrubbed clean, but not peeled

1 onion cut up or diced

1 can green beans

1 can baked beans 

1 can kidney beans

1 can tomato soup

1 can corn

1 can chopped tomatoes

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp cayenne pepper

Salt and pepper to taste

Vegetable oil

Directions

Preheat the Dutch oven with all coals underneath. Cover the bottom lightly with vegetable oil. Brown ground chuck and cut up onions; add a little salt and pepper.  Keep the lid off and stir frequently.

Add uncooked potatoes cut into one-inch pieces. You can peel them if you want, but it’s not necessary. Add in all the canned contents, giving everything a good stir. Add in chili powder and cayenne pepper.  Stir well and taste, adjusting seasonings if necessary.

Cover and cook for 45 minutes or until potatoes are soft. Stir and rotate oven about every five minutes.