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Kent Rollins was born and raised along the banks of the Red River near Hollis, Oklahoma, where he spent his early years working cattle alongside his father on cow/calf operations. A true cowboy, Kent comes from a time when character and values were king and a handshake sealed a deal. His first brush with outdoor and Dutch oven-cooking came while feeding and guiding hunters deep in the Gila Wilderness of New Mexico, an experience that laid the groundwork for a lifelong journey preserving and sharing the legacy of Western heritage. A true voice of the West, today, Kent reaches a combined 6.7 million people across his digital channels.
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In 1993, Kent bought and restored an original 1876 Studebaker chuck wagon and hit the trail, cooking for ranches during spring and fall roundups, and eventually for corporate events, weddings and other large-scale caterings. His signature style is rooted in cast iron and live-fire cooking and an instinctive knack for flavor which enables him to recreate and improve upon the tastes and textures of the Old West, while making cowboy cuisine accessible to today’s home cooks. By 1996, his dedication to preserving the chuck wagon tradition earned him the title of “Official Chuck Wagon of Oklahoma,” conferred by the state’s governor.
Television and Media
Television has proved to be a great medium to showcase Kent’s authenticity, engaging charm and natural charisma. He has appeared on numerous Food Network favorites like “Throwdown! with Bobby Flay” (beating Flay by preparing his signature chicken fried steak), “Chopped Grill Masters,””Chopped Redemption” and “Cutthroat Kitchen,” where he was crowned champion. He also holds an undefeated record on NBC’s “Food Fighters,” and was the subject of a “CBS Sunday Morning” profile feature that highlighted his unique contributions to American culinary culture.
Known just as much for his storytelling as his cooking, Kent has been named “Best Cowboy Humorist and Storyteller of the Year” by the Academy of Western Artists. He regularly appears at Western heritage festivals across the country, where he weaves tales of cow camps, campfires, and cattle drives with the same authenticity he brings to his recipes.
In fall 2025, Kent stars in “Cast Iron Cowboy,” a new cooking and travel series premiering on Outdoor Channel. The eight-episode show follows Kent and his wife Shannon as they travel from ranch to ranch across the American West, cooking over live fire and telling the stories of real working cowboys. The series is a celebration of rugged tradition, flavorful food, and life on the open range, and positions Kent as a true phenomenon and last of a dying breed. Season 1 will air September 29, 2025, with season 2 already in production.
The Cowboy Kent Rollins Brand, Books & Digital
Kent’s wife and partner, Shannon, hails from the ranching community of Elko, Nevada. With a background in communications from the University of Portland and a spirit for adventure, Shannon eventually found her way to the chuck wagon – and to Kent. Though she had no previous experience with cowboy cooking, she quickly became an indispensable part of the operation, mastering Dutch oven cooking and raising it to an art, working side-by-side with Kent at ranch gatherings and events across the country. Today, Shannon is the engine behind the scenes and plays a central role in the success of the Cowboy Kent Rollins brand – filming, editing, and managing the YouTube channel, social media platforms, and website and product sales.
Together, the pair have grown the Cowboy Kent Rollins brand into one of the most influential platforms in Western cooking with a combined social media following of over 6.7 million, including over 3.31 million YouTube subscribers, 1.5 million Facebook followers, over 1 million on Instagram, and nearly 1 million followers on TikTok.
Kent and Shannon have co-authored three bestselling cookbooks including A Taste Of Cowboy: Ranch Recipes and Tales from the Trail, which soared to the #2 best-selling books on Amazon and was named one of the “Top 100 Cookbooks to Own in a Lifetime.” A second book, Faith, Family & The Feast: Recipes to Feed Your Crew from the Grill, Garden, and Iron Skillet, celebrates Southern comfort food and cowboy traditions with a side of spiritual values, and their most recent title, Comfort Food The Cowboy Way, shares true chuck wagon stories along with 125+ comfort food recipes for the family.
Whether he’s cooking for thousands or filming recipes for his wildly popular YouTube channel, Kent shows his authenticity, heart, and humor through food, continuing to bring generations together through meals, cowboy lore, storytelling and Western grit.
When not on the trail, Kent and Shannon reside in New Mexico with their three dogs, Sadie, Major and Duke.