Recipe for Basic Chili

I know, I know, y'all wish I would go ahead and post the Cashew Chicken recipe next and I promise the next time I make it, I'll take the pictures and show you how I do it, even though it's not my recipe and I'll probably be violating some international copyright law or something.  But I'll do it, for you.

For this week, however, I wanted something that was easy and made very little mess in my kitchen.  I wanted something that would give me copious leftovers to reheat.  Something that has absolutely NOTHING to do with turkey: chili.

I'm almost embarrassed to post this recipe because it's ridiculously simple and plain.  It's not spicy or special or gourmet in ANY way.  It's just... chili.  I imagine that there are millions of more interesting ways to make this, but this is just how I do it.

You'll need:

2.25 pounds of lean ground beef (I'm sure 2 pounds would be fine, but this is how Wal-Mart packages it, so that's what I use) (they have the best ground beef in town)

2 onions

6 cloves of garlic (not pictured)

6 cans of chili beans (the kind that are already seasoned)

2 cans of diced tomatoes

2 cans of tomato sauce

Chili powder

Salt

Ketchup (Let me repeat myself: NOT GOURMET)

I start off by browning the meat in my big stock pan.

While that cooks, I start chopping up my onions.  This time I used a large walla-walla sweet onion and a medium sized regular yellow onion.  I think regular onions work best in this recipe, but I used my last two onions.

I cook the meat until it's no longer pink, but not longer than that since it will have plenty of time to cook in the pot while the chili simmers later on.

I ALWAYS drain my ground beef, even though I also always buy lean meat.  It just seems a lot healthier that way.

By now, I've finished chopping up the onions.

Without cleaning the pot, I throw a couple glugs of olive oil into the pot.

And then add the onions, cooking them on med-high heat until they're nice and tender.

Then I peel my garlic and get it ready to mince into the onions.  

I add it to the pot only after the onions are completely done cooking.  I don't want the garlic to get over-cooked or bitter.  I let it cook for less than a minute before adding the next ingredient.

Now it gets extra easy.  First, I dump in the meat.

And stir it into the onion mix.

Then I open all those cans with that ridiculously cheap can opened, thusly giving myself carpal tunnel syndrome.

And I dump in the six cans of beans,

the two cans of tomatoes,

and the two cans of tomato sauce.

I stir that up until it's well combined and then take out the chili powder.

And dump half the bottle into the pot.  You'd think that would be too much, but it's really not.  My guess is that it's about 1/3 of a cup of chili powder, maybe more.  Until you get the hang of how much spice you like, I'd start with a quarter cup and continuing adding it to taste.

After the chili powder is combined, get out your ketchup.  I KNOW!  (again: NOT GOURMET), but nothing adds tang to a recipe like a shot of good ol' Heinz tomato ketchup.  I add about a third of a cup.

After stirring for a couple minutes to make sure everything is well combined, I cover the pot and leave it on the stove on low heat for about an hour.  

I check it about every ten minutes to make sure it's not burning or sticking to the bottom of the pan.

It gets a little darker and a little thicker.  I eat mine like this:

Dave prefers his this way, in what we like to call a Chili Dog Burrito:

Mandajuice's Extremely Basic Chili

2.25 pounds of lean ground beef (I'm sure 2 pounds would be fine, but this is how Wal-Mart packages it, so that's what I use) (they have the best ground beef in town)

2 onions

6 cloves of garlic (not pictured)

6 cans of chili beans (the kind that are already seasoned)

2 cans of diced tomatoes

2 cans of tomato sauce

Chili powder

Salt

Ketchup (Let me repeat myself: NOT GOURMET)

In a large stock pot, brown meat, drain excess fat and set aside.  Chop onions and add to empty pot with 2 tablespoons of olive oil.  Cook until tender then add minced garlic.  Cook one minute then add meat, chili beans, tomatoes, tomato sauce.  Combine well then add 1/4 cup of chili powder and salt to taste.  Add more chili powder (or some cayenne pepper) if you like it more spicy.  Finally, add a big squirt of ketchup to the pot (approximately 1/3 of a cup).  Simmer on low heat, covered, for approximately one hour.  Serve hot with a big dollop of sour cream.

Comments

[Laura]

Kayley's been bugging me all week to make chili - maybe I'll try your recipe tonight. It looks delicious! I think sometimes the simple recipes are the best.

[Scissorbill]

I just signed up for a fee 14 day trial of Cook's Country online to get the Cashew chicken recipe, it looks so good! And I had to put a note on my calendar to cancel before I get charged!

[Melting Mama]

This does not make you die a little? Isn't there a ton of sugar in the chili beans, ketchup and tomato sauce? I'm just thinking of the hypoglycemic coma post chili.

[Amy]

You can sub. Heinz'a Chili Sauce for the ketcup. It's great :)

[Tracy]

My chili recipe is very similar. Sometimes I will substitute ground buffalo for the hamburger though - supposedly it's leaner? Tastes great.

[Heather]

Well no wonder you've been eating so much of it--that looks yummy! I have a great recipe for a 'ratatouille chili' that uses ground turkey and eggplant and I haven't made it in ages. I really should put it on the meal plan for next week. Glad you all had a great T-day!

[PT-LawMom]

Looks good, but I agree with MM. Actually it's the beef that would make me sick. The sugar not as much. I use ground turkey for everything and use a mix of beans (black, kidney) and lots of diced tomatoes for my chili. Looks yummy!