A Swedish school lunch favourite
Despite the name, Cowboy Soup isn’t a dish brought to Sweden from the American Wild West. It’s a Swedish school-canteen favourite: a simple, hearty soup built around minced beef, potatoes, tomato and beans, with plenty of variations from one school kitchen to another.
Exactly when it acquired its Wild West name is difficult to pin down, but generations of Swedish schoolchildren have grown up eating it, and it remains a regular on school lunch menus today. Cheap, filling, mild enough for children and easy to cook for a crowd, it’s exactly the sort of dish that found a natural home in Sweden’s school kitchens.
And there’s one little detail that makes it even more Swedish: the name. In the school canteen, don’t expect an American pronunciation of cowboy. Generations of children have simply called it “kobboj-soppa”, giving the English word a thoroughly Swedish pronunciation of its own.
This is my version, with baked beans, sweetcorn and just enough paprika and apple cider vinegar to give the tomato base a little extra kick.
Cowboy Soup
Ingredients
- 400 g minced beef
- 6 potatoes cut into rustic chunks
- 1 tin tomato soup
- 1 tin baked beans
- 1 tin sweetcorn drained
- 200 ml water
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- ½ –1 tsp paprika
- 1 beef stock cube
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Brown the mince in a large saucepan over medium-high heat.
- Add the potatoes, tomato soup, baked beans, sweetcorn, water, apple cider vinegar, paprika and beef stock cube. Stir everything together and bring to the boil.
- Reduce the heat, cover and simmer gently until the potatoes are tender, stirring occasionally.
- Taste and season with salt and pepper before serving.