Beans and sausages over an open fire – smoky cowboy beans in a pot

Smoky tomato sauce, chunks of sausage and bread to wipe the pot clean

4 servings
Time: 20 min at home + 30 min over the fire
Difficulty: Easy
17 ingredients
8 steps

Photo: Kgbo, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

It's minus four at the fire pit, and the last stretch of the trail was into a headwind. Out of the pulk comes a flat, rock-hard bag with something red inside. It goes into the pot with a splash of water, lid on, and twenty minutes later a smoky smell of tomato and sausage hangs over the whole rest stop. The children who were just complaining about cold fingers are suddenly standing there waiting with their cups out.

Beans and sausage, or cowboy beans, may be the most forgiving food you can cook over a fire in winter. Everything is already cooked, so the only thing that has to happen at the fire is that it gets hot. That makes the dish quick, but it also means the tricky part lies elsewhere: getting the sauce to thaw without burning onto the bottom, and getting it hot in the cup rather than lukewarm.

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At home or by the fire

At home you do everything that needs a knife and a chopping board. Soften the onion and garlic in the oil, stir in the rest of the sauce ingredients and let it simmer for ten minutes. Let the sauce cool, drain and rinse the beans and mix them in. Cut the sausage into slices or chunks and put it in a separate bag.

Put the bean and sauce mixture in a double freezer bag, press out the air and freeze it flat overnight. A flat slab thaws much faster than a lump, and it works as an ice pack for the sausage bag on the way out. If you're eating it the same day, a cold mixture in an airtight tub works fine too.

At the fire you only do three things: thaw, heat and add the sausage. Nobody has to peel onions with stiff fingers below freezing.

What the cold does to beans and sausage

Tins freeze. Beans in liquid are mostly water, and a tin in an outside pocket or at the back of the pulk can freeze within a few hours. Then you have a block of ice that takes a long time to heat up. Pack tins in the middle of your rucksack, or mix everything at home as above.
The sausage fat sets. In the cold, the fat sets on the plate almost before the children have finished eating. Eat from deep cups, ideally with lids, and serve a small portion at a time instead of a big one.
Thick sauce spatters. Tomato sauce that thaws unevenly bubbles in big blisters that burst and spit hot drops. A lid and stirring from the bottom take care of most of it.
The bread freezes. Bread in an outer pocket turns hard and dry. Keep the bread close to your body or toast it over the embers before you eat.
Water in the mountains. If you have no running water, the sauce can be thinned with melted snow – how to do that without burning the pot is explained in melting snow for water.

Tips for the food flask

Beans and sausage is one of the best dishes to have in a food flask on a ski day, because it doesn't get worse for standing. Thin the stew with an extra splash of water before pouring it in, because the beans soak up the sauce and otherwise turn into a compact lump at the bottom of the flask. Cut the sausage into small pieces so it can be scooped out with a spoon. How to preheat and fill the flask is explained in cooking outdoors in winter.

The stew should be piping hot when you eat it. Livsmedelsverket (the Swedish Food Agency) uses 60 degrees as the guideline for food kept hot, because some bacteria can start to grow at around 50–55 degrees. If the food has become lukewarm, eat it straight away or reheat it thoroughly in the pot. Don't save it for later. More about keeping children warm through the day in how cold is too cold on the slopes.

Dried beans

If you want to use dried beans instead of tinned, cook them at home. Dried beans contain lectins that can cause nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea if the beans aren't cooked properly. Red kidney beans contain a lot. Follow the packet instructions. If there's nothing on the packet: soak for at least 12 hours, discard the soaking water, rinse and boil the beans in fresh water for at least half an hour.

It's hard to keep a proper rolling boil going for half an hour in wind and sub-zero temperatures, and a pot that's just bubbling at the edge of the embers isn't enough. So cook the beans at home and bring them ready-cooked. 300 g dried beans give roughly as many cooked beans as three tins.

Beans and sausage with children

This is a dish where the children can do almost everything at home. They can stir the sauce together, rinse the beans in a colander and press the air out of the freezer bag. At the fire they can break the frozen slab into pieces through the bag, add sausage pieces to the pot with a long ladle and toast bread on a stick. How children can help safely at the fire is covered in cooking with children over a fire.

The smoked paprika isn't hot, but use a little less if the children are small. Let them choose their own sausage, and wait a few minutes after taking the pot off before serving – beans hold their heat for a long time and easily burn your tongue.

Safety at the pot

Hot sauce spatters. Lift the lid away from you and have the children stand on the other side of the fire while you stir.
Cups tip over. A full cup of piping-hot stew in a snowdrift tips over easily. Have the children sit down when they eat and give them half-full cups.
If someone burns themselves: cool with cool water for about 15 minutes. Never use snow or ice. In winter the person being cooled can easily get hypothermic, so keep the rest of the body warm and don't cool for longer than that. Seek medical care for large or deep burns, and always if a child aged 12 months or younger has been burnt. More about staying warm in hypothermia and frostbite.
Raw sausage. Fresh sausage such as salsiccia must be fried through before it goes into the beans. Falukorv, grilling sausages and cocktail sausages are already cooked and only need heating.
Leftovers. Leftovers cool quickly outdoors when it's a few degrees above freezing or colder. Stand the pot with the lid on in the snow, or transfer it into smaller tubs. Then put them in the fridge at home and heat them until piping hot next time. Anything that has sat lukewarm for several hours should not be saved.

The current rules on fires and fire bans are in lighting fires outdoors.

Allergens

The dish contains mustard and soy sauce, and soy sauce often contains wheat. Sausages can contain milk, mustard, celery and wheat, and the bread contains gluten. The breakfast version contains egg, and the halloumi in the vegetarian version contains milk. Swap the soy sauce for gluten-free tamari and read the sausage packet if anyone has an allergy.

Common mistakes

Putting the frozen slab in a dry pot – the bottom burns before the rest has thawed. Always start with a little water.
Putting the pot in the middle of the flames – tomato sauce burns on fast. Embers and a lid are better than high flames.
Adding the sausage too early – it turns mealy and falls apart. It only needs to heat through.
Not rinsing the beans – the liquid makes the sauce cloudy and salty.
Portions too big in the cold – the food goes cold before it's eaten.

Bean variations

With bacon: fry 100 g diced bacon until crispy at home and mix it into the sauce before freezing. Never put frozen sauce into hot fat – it spatters.
Vegetarian: swap the sausage for veggie sausages or fried halloumi, and the soy sauce for tamari.
Hotter for adults: stir chipotle or chilli flakes into the adults' portion.
Breakfast version: crack eggs on top of the hot beans, put the lid on and leave until the whites have set, 5–8 minutes.
With chilli: if you want a heartier stew with minced beef, see chilli con carne.

Frequently asked questions

Can you use ready-made beans in tomato sauce?

Yes. Two to three tins of baked beans and the sausage are enough for four. Stir in a little smoked paprika and a splash of vinegar to take the edge off the sweetness. The tins freeze easily in the cold, so pack them in the middle of your rucksack.

How long does it take to thaw the sauce over the fire?

A flat frozen slab of just over a kilo thaws in 15–20 minutes in a pot with a lid and a little water. If it has softened a little in the pulk, it's quicker. A round lump from a tub takes considerably longer. Allow about half an hour from frozen to ready.

Which sausage works best?

Falukorv holds its shape best and can sit in the sauce. Grilling sausages and cocktail sausages are the children's favourites. Smoked sausage gives the most flavour. More about choosing sausage on the page about the best falukorv sausage.

Can you make beans and sausage in a frying pan?

Yes, but a pot is better in winter. The lid keeps the heat in, and the sauce spatters less. In a frying pan it's quicker but also cools faster.

How long do beans and sausage keep in the fridge?

Let the leftovers cool quickly, put them in an airtight tub and refrigerate. Eat them as long as they smell, taste and look fine. Heat them until piping hot before you eat.

End the winter day with apples baked in the embers while the fire dies down, or read more about camping with children in the cold in winter camping with kids.