A classic spicy chili recipe with ground beef and beans to warm your belly on a cold night. Unless you're from Texas in which case putting beans in your chili could end in criminal charges. At the very least neighbours will shun you.
There's something deliciously comforting about a cold night and a warm bowl of chili. The minute the trees begin to rustle I start aching for the kind of food that warms you from the inside out. To me, chili is at its best when it has layers and layers of heat and flavour. Different chiles, spices, beans and slow cooking are the key to getting the best bowl of chili you've ever had.
I know. You ALREADY make the best chili. Here's the thing. You probably don't.
K. Now that I've ruined our friendship, let's continue on.
Trust me, there are good times and tips ahead for us. For one thing you'll be gassy enough to make your pajama pants billow out, and that's almost always fun.
Always, always, always make a big batch of chili the night before Halloween so you don't have to worry about making dinner while answering the door and stealing candy.
karen bertelsen
Table of Contents
How to chop an onion
Onions are the base of everything delicious except sugary breakfast cereal. Chopping an onion is easy enough, but here's a reminder on the fastest and easiest way to do it.
As every hockey mom knows, chili is an easy thing to have for a rushed fall dinner because the prep work really only consists of chopping an onion and smashing some garlic. Then you throw everything into a pot or slow cooker and wait for the house to smell delicious.
Smashing garlic
Forget the garlic press, they're hard to clean and take up drawer space. Lay your peeled garlic on a cutting board and smash it with the side of your knife.
Just place a wide knife over the garlic clove, then with the heel of your hand (or fist) smash down on the knife. This will flatten your garlic. Then you can mince.
Drain or don't drain the fat?
Fat has flavour which means fat = better chili. However, if you're counting calories drain that beef fat!
1 lb of lean ground beef typically has around 3 Tablespoons of fat. That's 345 calories you got rid of. 86 calories per serving.
Once you've cooked your beef (and drained it) all you have to do is add all of the ingredients into your most prized pot and let 'er cook for a few hours.
LOADED CHILI
The other thing that makes this (or any!) chili irresistible is loading it with as many toppings as you can pile on.
Chili without toppings is like doing a crossword puzzle in pencil. It's for amateurs.
Wait. WHAT? You don't put toppings on your chili??? You need to change that this second.
Topping Ideas for Chili
- Sour Cream
- Cheese
- Cilantro
- Crumbled Tortilla Chips
- Diced Tomatoes
- Sliced Green Onions
- Avocado
- Hot Pepper Flakes
- Pickled Jalapeños
- Fritos!
- Squeeze of lime
- Croutons
Homemade croutons take all of 15 minutes to make, and 10 of those minutes are spent scrolling Instagram while you wait for them to cook.
After a couple of hours of simmering and bubbling, ladle it into a bowl, drop your toppings on, and enjoy. The earthy aroma will fill the house. And possibly make your pajama bottoms dance.
I can't even imagine a better night.
Chili Con Carne.
Ingredients
- 1 ½ lbs ground beef
- 1 large diced onion
- 1 28 oz. can of diced tomatoes drained
- 1 cup tomato sauce you can use canned spaghetti sauce if you have it in the cupboard
- 1 28 oz. kidney beans can drained
- 1 14 oz. can of baked beans in tomato sauce not drained - make sure the beans aren't in molasses. That's TOO sweet.
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 3 Tbsps. chili powder
- ½ tsp. ground cumin
- ½ tsp. oregano
- ¼ tsp. hot pepper flakes Or more to taste
- 4 shakes hot sauce I use Tabasco
- 2 marinated chipotle peppers mashed (the type from a can)
- 1 chili pepper of your choice I use yellow banana peppers or jalapeño
- ½ tsp. salt
- Big old grinding of fresh pepper
- 1 bay leaf
Instructions
- Cut your hot pepper in half. Remove the seeds and membrane. Finely dice one half of the hot pepper. Reserve the other half.
- Add ground beef, onions, garlic and diced hot pepper to pot and cook until onions are transluscent and beef is browned. Pull beef and onion garlic aside to make room at the bottom of the pot to toast the spices until you can smell them. 30 seconds or so.
- Add remaining ingredients (including the reserved half pepper)
- Bring to boil.
- Simmer for 2+ hours with the lid off.
Notes
- Sour Cream
- Cheese
- Cilantro
- Crumbled Tortilla Chips
- Diced Tomatoes
- Sliced Green Onions
- Avocado
- Hot Pepper Flakes
- Pickled Jalapeños
Nutrition
What to Serve With Chili
My mother would say french fries because french fries go with everything. However I would say ... Serve your chili with a side of salad and a plate of buttered toast.
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AmyKate
Great minds think alike...we had chili last night. Not as fancy with onions and seasoning...mine came out of a spice bag. I'm lazy. But it was Good! ...and lots of cheese and some sour cream in there..yum.
Beth
Thanks for your recipe! Ground turkey works well, too -- and we serve our over small pasta shapes (like elbows) AND with toppings. I've never canned it, but we usually freeze at least a few portions. Seems to work well and the beans are just about the same (I used to think the beans would get mushy, but they don't) - wonderful with scrambled eggs, too. Rats. Now I'm hungry!
ally
I agree, far better with turkey. To me, ground beef tastes like dirty dish water. bleh. Love me some ground turkey. It takes on the flavours of the spices and sauce. Yummers.
Cindy K.
Tell us the size and why you love your Staub pan, please!
Karen
I love it based entirely on looks Cindy K. That's it. Looks alone. I haven't noticed it cooks better than any other $50 pot I own but it has a beautiful finish and I imagine it's going to last my entire life as opposed to the $30 one I have that after a few years seems to be on its way out. I have no idea what size it is actually! Casserole sized, lol? Oh! Also, it makes me feel good to cook in it. ~ karen!
Cindy K.
I saw some larger ones at Marshall's that were a lot more than $50 ($169?) but a large navy blue one really caught my eye! I've recently started using a couple LeCreusets and really liked those. I'm cooking a lot more in a get healthy attempt so I must deserve them. Was wondering about the interior of the Staub vs the enamel LeCreuset.
Karen
I think this particular pot was around $400. The interior has always been easy to clean and maintain and as far as I can tell won't stain. But perhaps you just can't tell because the interior is black. :) ~ karen
Barbie
Lovely chili! ......but what happened to Oct 13th Kitchen reveal? I'm in Hawaii and made sure to look and see if you did it yet and I don't see it anywhere.... :(
Karen
I'm so sorry Barbie! There was some confusion over whether I had the right to use the Canadian Living photos on my website! I'm trying to get it straightened out now. :( ~ karen
Ev Wilcox
It was 80F here in northeast Ohio yesterday, but the trees are beautiful so I guess it really is Fall! Your recipe sounds great and I copied it into my extensive recipe file at 4 am--can't sleep. Change of season thing with me.
Anyway, thanks for the recipe! Beano, anyone?
Madhu Ramakrishnan
yummy, looks like an indian dish.....
Karen
Ooooo I wish I had those little brass Indian bowls with the handles on the side to serve it in. LOVE those! ~ karen
Madhu Ramakrishnan
yup, those are called Kadhai / Kadai
see below link
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Penley
I have STAUB envy. The whole things looks fabulous!
Louise
Thanks for the printer friendly format! Can't wait to try the recipe. Crumbled Ritz crackers are another good topping.
TucsonPatty
Our chili cook off for the neighborhood had 17 different kinds of chili. I only could taste the three vegetarian ones, and I pronounced mine the best (It didn't win) and it is almost exactly like yours, minus the meat. I always add a small cam of tomato paste, along with every kind of bean I can find - including black beans, which fool a couple of people into thinking it has meat! I eat it with cornbread made with green chilies, corn kernels, pepper jack cheese and a little chopped jalapeño pepper. YUM!
Nicole
Seems to be more chili than chili con carne.
Toppings are lovely. A really nice corn chip is nice. Maybe that could be the con carne part.
Grammy
A pound and a half of ground beef seems like plenty of carne to me. "Carne' is the Spanish word for "meat".
Dennis
Sirva con la cerveza por favor!
Anne
One of my all time favourite foods. And it's delicious the next morning with poached eggs.
Rebecca
That's genius! I'm definitely going to eat chili and eggs for breakfast.
Jennifer
Yummmmo! I passed gas while just reading your post and recipe! (I seriously did. Though I can't entirely credit the post, I had lentils for dinner) Im making this tomorrow night, it's going to be some gooood chili! Thanks for sharin Karen!!
Sherry
Karen,
Try warm tortillas with your chili and toppings instead of toast. Yummmmmmmmmmmy And you can scoop chili with them too.
Karen
I'll give it a shot! ~ karen!
julie
Sherry ...that was going to be my comment! They are lots better than bread or rolls!
Karen
The one problem I see with it, is I like the added "crunch" of toast. Chili is so mushy that I like to have the texture and crunch of something toasted. ~ karen!
julie
Oh my goodness...I've misunderstood...I thought Sherry meant tortilla CHIPS....aka nacho chips....how is that for a crunch? Perfect for a chip lover!
Cindy
I bet my chili would put yours to shame! lol
Raymonde
I pressure can my chili so I can have some at the drop of a hat!
Instead of parsley, I love to top it with chopped coriander leaves and to eat it with either white rice or corn chips. Yum!
Karen
I've canned my chili a couple of times and dubbed it "Chewy Chili", lol. The meat gets well … chewy. I may have done it wrong, but not so wrong that it killed me. ~ karen!
Teresa J
Yep, that is pretty much how I make my chili right down to the bay leaf and pork and beans. The pork and beans must be a Canadian thing; that's the way my Mom made it too! I discovered toppings awhile ago. Mom made it without toppings, probably an old days Canadian thing. LOL.
Terri
No chili beans?????
I also like Fritos as a topper. Yum!
Karen
Kidney beans are chili beans. :) (I think chili beans have some chili powder in with them or something. I've never actually seen them for sale here. ~ karen!
janpartist
Well, in Kansas City, canned chili beans are chili beans and kidney beans are kidney beans. I usually use a can of both. I believe the bean in a can of chili beans is a red bean as in red beans and rice, ans is smaller and rounder than a kidney bean and not as red.
Cathy
I love the chipotle chile powder from Penzeys. Great smokey flavor; I even love to take a whiff just before I add it! Mmmmm, smells like fall.
ps. I don't really hate you for the IKEA thing---just jealous.
Karen
LOL! I figured. Look … if it makes you feel any better it's a VERY dangerous thing to have an Ikea so close by. VERY dangerous. ~ karen!
Ella
Beautiful photos! And YUM, I never thought of using pork and beans before!
Karen
Thanks Ella! See? My "time off" is being well spent. :) And yes pork and beans work really well in chili as long as you don't use the sweet kind. Really you can throw in any beans. Garbanzo, white kidney beans … anything. And I can't state enough to ADD THE TOPPINGS!!! ~ karen