This chili recipe is one that has evolved over the years. I am not sure that I had ever made chili twice the same way until I finally wrote this recipe down. Even so, I accidentally made it with too much chipotle today and didn’t know I had done it until I was eating it at the end of work tonight. It was a little too warm even for me. I don’t know what John thought of it, but I’m suspecting that his first bite was a bit of a surprise. Oops. (Don’t worry – the amount of chipotle chili powder in the recipe is just fine.)
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One thing that I can tell you for sure, though, use the chipotle chili powder. It gives such a wonderful smoky flavor to the chili. As I have said before in other recipes, you can find chipotle chili powder in the spice section of your grocery store and it is made by McCormick. I have really become a fan of this product.
And one more thing. Yes, this chili recipe has beans. I like beans, so I use them. Some chili purists use beef chunks only and certainly that style of chili has its place. However, I like chili made with beans because I get tired of chomping on all beef. That’s just the way it is with me…a little beef, some beans, a bit of tomato…and corn bread as a nice complement.
Easy Chili
Hearty chili flavor with very little work - the perfect busy day meal. Brown the ground beef and cook the onion, pour everything into your slow-cooker and walk away. Dinner is ready when you are.
Servings: 6 or up to 8 servings
Calories: 402.94kcal
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper, or to taste
- 1 large onion, medium diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 cans (15 ounces) diced tomatoes
- 2 cans (15 ounces) small red beans
- 1 can (8 ounces) tomato sauce
- 1 can (6 ounces) tomato paste
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 - 2 tablespoons chili powder
- 1-2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon beef soup base or 3 beef flavored bouillon cubes
- 1 teaspoon chipotle chili powder (see notes)
- 1 teaspoon onion powder or granulated onion
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder or granulated garlic
Instructions
- Put ground beef, onions, and garlic into a frying pan. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook over medium heat, breaking up the ground beef as it cooks. Continue to cook until meat is lightly brown and onion is translucent. You might need to add a little water to keep things from sticking to bottom of pan.
- Put the beef mixture and all of the remaining ingredients into the crock of a slow-cooker. Set slow-cooker on low and cook chili for 5-8 hours.
- When you are ready, serve the chili topped with a little grated cheese and cornbread on the side.
Notes
- Chipotle chili powder provides both heat and a wonderful smoky flavor to the chili. Instead of using chipotle chili powder, you could substitute a package of chipotle seasoned taco mix and use less chili powder, about 1 tablespoon.
- The onion powder and garlic powder add more intense flavor. They are not completely necessary, but they are preferred.
- This chili can be cooked up to 8 hours on low in a slow-cooker. I can also be cooked on slow-cooker high for about 4 hours.
- Stove-top cooking. The chili can be cooked on the stove-top. Prepare ground beef, onions and garlic as directed. Add all ingredients to a large stock-pot, bring to a low boil over medium heat. Cover pot and lower heat to low. Cook at a low simmer for 2 hours, stirring periodically as needed.
Nutrition
Serving: 1.5cups | Calories: 402.94kcal | Carbohydrates: 43.02g | Protein: 24.23g | Fat: 16.52g | Saturated Fat: 6.07g | Cholesterol: 53.71mg | Sodium: 1678.88mg | Potassium: 1352.74mg | Fiber: 12.22g | Sugar: 16.38g | Vitamin A: 1651.35IU | Vitamin C: 25.49mg | Calcium: 134.36mg | Iron: 6.42mg
We made this tonight and LOVED it. I couldn’t find the chipotle chili powder ANYWHERE in my grocery store. And I forgot to get the seasoned taco mix – so we omitted these altogether.
It was still delicious, and so easy and simple to make!
Thank you!
I just had to come back and write this. Not only was the chilli fantastic the first day…it was EVEN better the next day!!!!!
Will become a regular in our house.
Wahoo! Isn’t it great to find something new that works well?
Ok so I don’t know why we decided to change this chilli up because we loved it as it is…anyway were glad we did because now we have a vegetarian version that we also love!
We omitted the meat and replaced it with 1 red pepper, 1 yellow pepper, 1 orange pepper and 1 16 oz can of dark red kidney beans.
It was delicious.
That’s the beauty of chili, it is ever changing. Good for you that you’ve made up your own version! When I first started making chili I used to use dark red kidney beans and they were great. I’m not sure why I stopped…Maybe because I watched too many chili cook-offs on TV and they never used kidney beans and I felt like I wasn’t making “real chili”. Silly me. Chili is whatever you say it is, right? And speaking of chili, I ought to post my friend’s white chicken chili.