Let’er eat: Cowboy bean soup

Although this past week has been exceptionally warm for the end of January, the dark and rainy days will most certainly be back soon. It will inevitably be dreary outside, but this warm and hearty soup will come in handy. Not only is it super easy and cheap to make, it will feed you for a few days or feed all of your roommates in a night. My mom would make this soup at least every other week in the winter while I was growing up; I was never disappointed to come home to the smell of Cowboy Bean Soup.

Ingredients:

—A chub (yes, that’s what it’s called) of Jimmy Dean Hot Sausage (it’s really not that spicy but you can also get the Jimmy Dean Sage Sausage).
—One can of red kidney beans
—One can of great white northern beans
—Two cans of black beans
—One can of whole kernel corn
—Salt and pepper
—Johnny’s Seasoning Salt
—Maple syrup
—Brown sugar
—Hot sauce of your choosing (I prefer Sriracha)
—Optional: sour cream and/or shredded sharp cheddar cheese
—Crockpot (preferred but not required)

Instructions:

1. Make bite size pieces of Jimmy Dean sausage from the entire chub and place them in the bottom of the Crockpot. If you are making the soup in a pan, cook the pieces of sausage on medium heat with a little bit of olive oil until they are completely cooked/brown. Add in salt, Johnny’s Seasoning Salt and pepper to taste along the way.
2. Drain ¾ of the liquid from each can of beans and then pour each into the Crockpot or into a large pot.
3. Drain the can of corn completely and pour into the Crockpot or into a large pot with the beans, cooking on the stove on low to medium heat for about 15 minutes.
4. If making it in the Crockpot, add about one cup of water, more or less depending on how “soupy” you would like it to turn out. If making it in a pot, pour the sausage and all the liquid into the pot with the beans and corn, adding about the same amount of water.
5. Sprinkle in salt, pepper, Johnny’s Seasoning Salt and hot sauce to taste.
6. Add in one tablespoon of maple syrup and one tablespoon of brown sugar.
7. Stir all the ingredients together.
8. If you are cooking the soup in a Crockpot, leave it on low for about seven hours or until the sausage is completely cooked. Or you can cook it on high for four to five hours. Stirring throughout cook time is not necessary. If you are cooking the soup in a pot on the stove, continue to cook the ingredients on low heat for another five to 10 minutes, stirring through-out.
9. Optional: Add a dollop of sour cream or some shredded sharp cheddar cheese on top.
10. Enjoy!

You will be full after a bowl or two of this scrumptious soup. Plus one of the best things about making this soup in a Crockpot early in the morning is that after a long day at work and/or school you come home to the smell of your delicious dinner, just waiting for you to devour.