Cowboy Cuisine: Cooking on the Open Range

Howdy y’all, I’m Chip Schweiger, the Cowboy Accountant, and welcome to another edition of Way Out West with The Cowboy Accountant.  

The podcast that takes you on a journey through the stories of the American West, brings you the very best cowboy wisdom, and celebrates the cowboys and cowgirls who are feeding a nation. 

Picture this: the sun is setting low on the horizon, casting a golden glow across the open plains as a gentle breeze stirs the tall grass. The workday is done. Now, the cowboys gather around a flickering fire, its warmth cutting through the cool night air.

In the middle of it all stands the chuckwagon—an oasis of comfort in the rugged, unforgiving landscape. The ‘cookie’ stirs a pot of beans simmering over the flames, the aroma mixing with the scent of wood smoke, while sourdough biscuits bake in a Dutch oven buried beneath glowing coals. The clink of tin cups fills the air as strong coffee is poured, rich and dark, ready to fuel stories long into the night.

This was the life of the cowboy—tough as nails by day, but softened by the simple pleasure of a hot meal under a sky full of stars. 

So today on the show we’re diving into the world of cowboy cuisine, where beans, biscuits, and black coffee were more than just food—they were the lifeblood of the trail. 

You’ll take a trip back in time to talk about something near and dear to the heart of every working cowboy—their meals. 

We’re going to dive into the chuckwagon, the heart of cowboy meals, and talk about the food that fueled the cattle drives of the Old West. 

So grab your plate and pull up a seat by the fire, because we’ve got some cowboy cookin’ to talk about.

After the episode check out the show notes at our new website at podcast.CowboyAccountant.com. 

Hi there, and welcome back. 

Cowboys were known for a lot of things: their toughness, their grit, and of course, their ability to work from sunup to sundown, no matter the conditions. But what kept them going? Simple. Cowboy cuisine—cooking on the range.

Let’s start with a little history.

[Cue a softer background guitar melody]

Now, back in the mid-1800s, cattle drives were grueling work. Cowboys spent months on the trail, herding thousands of longhorn cattle from Texas to railheads in Kansas or farther north.  

It wasn’t an easy job, and with all that time spent out in the wilderness, far away from towns and fresh supplies, food had to be simple, portable, and most importantly, able to withstand the elements.

That’s where the chuckwagon came in. Charles Goodnight—yes, the same Goodnight behind the Goodnight-Loving Trail—gets credit for designing the first chuckwagon around 1866. 

He essentially took an old Army wagon and turned it into a mobile kitchen, stocking it with everything a cowboy crew needed to keep fed. It was a brilliant idea, and it became a staple of the cattle drive."

[Add a brief sound effect of sizzling food or crackling fire]

So what did cowboys actually eat? 

Well, let’s start with the basics. The mainstays of cowboy cuisine were foods that were non-perishable, easy to transport, and could be cooked up over an open fire. Beans, biscuits, coffee, and whatever meat they could get their hands on—that was the cowboy diet in a nutshell. Let’s break these down.

Beans. Every cowboy's favorite. They were cheap, easy to store, and packed with protein. Most often, you'd have pinto beans cooked in a pot with a little bit of salt pork or bacon to give them some flavor. The beans would simmer for hours over the fire, which made them soft and hearty after a long day of riding.

Biscuits were another key part of the diet, and I’m talking about something called ‘sourdough biscuits.’ Flour was easy to pack, and sourdough didn’t need yeast, so the cook would make a batch of dough each morning. The biscuits were baked in a Dutch oven over coals, and if you’ve ever had them, you know they’re dense but delicious—perfect for soaking up the gravy or bean juice left on your plate. 

And if you made them with corn meal, they were called corn dodger. They’re what John Wayne famously ate in the movie True Grit, so you know they’ve got to be good!

[Music shift to something a bit livelier]

And speaking of cooking gear, let’s talk about the Dutch oven. This cast-iron pot was the cowboy cook’s best friend.  

Whether they were making beans, biscuits, or stews, everything could be cooked right there in the Dutch oven over the fire. It was durable, could handle the heat, and could feed an entire crew with one pot.

Now, another staple was, of course, meat. Fresh meat wasn’t always available, but when it was, cowboys would feast. They might slaughter a cow from the herd if one was injured or lagging behind. Otherwise, they’d rely on wild game like rabbit or deer. 

And then there was jerky—dried strips of meat that could last for weeks. It wasn’t the most luxurious food, but it kept cowboys going, especially when fresh meat was scarce.

And, of course, there was coffee. Coffee wasn’t just a drink—it was lifeblood. It’s been said that the coffee pot on the chuckwagon was always on. Cowboys drank it morning, noon, and night, often so strong it could put hair on your chest. The beans were ground by hand, and the coffee was boiled over the fire in a big pot. No fancy equipment here, just a lot of patience and strong brew."

[Sound effect of coffee pouring into a tin cup]

Now, you might be thinking, all this sounds simple—and it was. But there’s something about food cooked over an open fire, after a hard day’s work, that makes it taste better than anything you’d get at a five-star restaurant. 

The cowboys relied on their cook—also known as the 'cookie'—to keep them fed and happy. Cookie wasn’t just the cook; he was the doctor, the barber, and sometimes the only entertainment out there on the trail.

One thing to remember about cowboy cooking is that it was all about practicality. 

Take pan de campo, also called ‘camp bread.’ It was a flatbread that could be cooked right in a skillet over a fire, using nothing but flour, salt, and water. Cowboys would slap that on the skillet and have fresh bread within minutes. 

You might not think much of it today, but back then, having fresh bread on the trail was a real treat.

[Pause, soft music fades in]

And what about dessert? Believe it or not, cowboys had a bit of a sweet tooth, too. When they had the supplies, cowboys might whip up a simple treat called spotted pup—a sort of rice pudding with raisins cooked in the Dutch oven. It wasn’t much, but after weeks of beans and biscuits, even a little bit of sweetness was a welcome change. 

Now, modern-day chuckwagon cooking has turned into a whole genre of its own. At rodeos, ranch cook-offs, and cowboy festivals, you’ll find folks who still use the same recipes and techniques that the old cowboys did. It’s a way of keeping that piece of history alive, and trust me, it’s good eatin'."

[Music shift to outro tune]

So next time you’re out camping or grilling, think about those old-time cowboys and how they made do with what they had. The simplicity of their meals didn’t just feed their bodies, it fed their spirit—because there’s something about a warm meal under a big sky that makes all the hard work worth it. 

Well, that about wraps up another edition of Way Out West with the Cowboy Accountant, but before we’ve go we’ve got one more thing.

[BULL SOUND]

Yep, that distinctive call from Buster the Bull means it’s time for the cowboy glossary term of the week. 

And this week’s term is JINGLE BOBS. Jingle Bobs are metal pieces dangling from the rowel of a spur that make a bell-like ringing when the spurs move, either while walking or riding.  It’s what helps give spurs that distinctive clang, gland and it’s said their jingling helps keep the horse calmer. 

So, there ya go. Now you know about the term jingle bobs.

[OUTRO MUSIC]

And with that y’all, that’s all for this week’s show. And I truly, truly appreciate you riding with me. 

If you’ve got any favorite recipes or stories about cooking on the trail, shoot me a message or leave a comment. 

And if you’ve enjoyed today’s discussion, please consider rating us on Spotify or reviewing us on apple. Both are easy to do and take just a minute but have a big impact in getting this show to more fans of the American west. 

Until next time, mi amigo, we’ll see ya down the road.