Anyone got any good, simple, healthy recipes? I’m looking for something between 1-2 lbs of ground beef (I’ve never had the cubed kind, and I don’t want to waste food on something that I don’t like), lots of vegetables (tomatoes, beans, peppers, celery), and easy and quick to make with standard utensils.
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Brown the meat. I recommend barbecuing it, then chopping it up fine, but you can brown it in a skillet if you like. Make sure to drain the grease, then shred the cooked meat into small pieces. You can even boil it, although I don’t recommend this method.
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Obtain a crock pot. Pour twelve ounces of your favored beer in it, and set it for low heat. Add the meat. If you haven’t cooked the meat yet, or you insist on boiling it, THIS is how you boil chili meat. If you like ales, they’ll work too, although I personally recommend lager-style beer. Drink the remainder of the beer, before it goes flat.
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Peel, chop, and dice two or three largish onions. Toss 'em in.
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Add enough beer to cover everything; you may need to open one or two more beers for this. Stew it for a while. On low heat, you want to let it stew for six hours or so; high heat, no more than 45 minutes to an hour or so. The important thing is to boil off some of the liquid, while cooking the beer flavor into the meat and onions. Drink the remainder of the beer, before it goes flat.
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When the liquid level exposes a fair amount of meat and onion, open a couple of 6-oz. cans of tomato sauce and add them. Stir, then add a can of diced tomatoes; many brands offer special kinds of diced tomatoes, like “Roasted Garlic Flavor”. Feel free to try anything that seems appealing, but if you intend to serve this stuff to Texans, make sure you don’t use the kind with mushrooms; Texans take their chili extremely seriously, and while they can be quite forbearing when it comes to variant or experimental chili recipes, mushrooms is just one of those things most of 'em find unacceptable. At this point, you may wish to obtain more beer; the chili will not likely need any at this point, but the cook might.
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Stir.
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Break out your chili powder. There are any number of chili powders or mixes on the market; my advice would be to go with a standard red chili powder, until you have more of a clue what you’re doing. Do NOT use actual peppers or chiles, unless you DO know what you’re doing; some of these are too sweet for chili, and some of them can take the paint off a battleship; the same goes for pepper sauces, including tabasco sauce. Stick with the chili powder.
Having chosen your brand of gunpowder, add at least a tablespoonful. Mix carefully, and taste your sauce. If it’s too much like spaghetti sauce, it needs more chili powder. Keep adding spoonfuls, mixing, and tasting until the taste seems about right. You’ll likely want more beer at this point, to cool off your tongue and cleanse the palate between tastings.
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Stew it for another hour or so (or six to eight hours on the low setting).
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At this point, we can no longer ignore the bean issue. Some people like beans in their chili, and some do not, and in parts of west Texas, the ferocity of the arguments between the bean eaters and the no-beaners approaches the intensity of religious debate.
At any rate, if you want beans, by all means, add beans. I do not recommend baked beans or barbecue beans; these invariably are served in barbecue sauce, which is much too sweet to go well with chili. “Chili beans” work fine. So do ordinary kidney beans, pinto beans, and Ranch Style Beans, in the can with the black label; these include their own mild chili sauce, and work fine in any chili that must include beans.
9.5. If you do not have canned beans, but want beans from scratch, you’re going to want to get about a pound of dried pinto beans from the store. Soak them in water overnight, enough water to cover them by a good inch or so. The next day, add them to your chili and stew for no less than four hours; when the beans are tender, the chili is ready. Me, if I want beans, I’ll just use Ranch Style; at least, they’re there and ready when I want them.
9.8. You may wish to add other things at this point. Finely minced garlic is good. So’s black pepper, within reason. Knew a guy who swore by macaroni in his chili. You may wish to add cheese, but don’t; it’s better if you shred the cheese, then add it on top of each bowl as you serve it; it tends to get tarry if you let it stew in the chili. Add diced jalapenos if you like, but make sure that the specific peppers you are using are not sweet, nor too strong! I also like to dice a carrot into extremely small fragments, then toss it in at this point; people go crazy trying to figure out what the little orange flecks are. If anyone asks, just say “gecko,” and smile. You are certainly going to want a beer after you finish this part, so go right ahead.
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When the sauce is right, and your beans are ready, your chili is ready. If you want, you can cheat a bit by thickening it with cornstarch; make sure to mix it cold, using the directions on the box, then add it to the chili in liquid form, otherwise you’ll have lumps of cornstarch in your chili. Another popular way of thickening involves pulverized cornbread, if you have any handy; carefully pulverized Doritos will also work, but you’ll want to simmer for a good half hour after you add corn chips of any kind. Interestingly enough, by this point, you will not be able to taste the beer that forms your chili stock; that is to say, it will not taste like beer, but adds a fine strong undertaste that drives Yankees nuts trying to figure out what it is.
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Chili is a meal in itself, but traditional side dishes include cornbread, saltines, Mexican corn, Spanish rice, tortillas, and beans (if there aren’t any in the chili); the chili can also be served over tortilla chips or Fritos (i.e., the “Frito Pie.”) I like to serve chili with shredded sharp cheddar sprinkled on top, and cornbread on the side.
It also goes well with most beers.
43.02. If you’re feeling fancy while the chili stews, try this:
(a) Get a box of commercial cornbread mix, and prepare according to the directions, but instead of milk or water, substitute creamed corn.
(b) Pour half the mix into the baking pan. No beer is required at this point, but if you want one, it’s optional.
© Caaarefully float thin slices of Velveeta on top of the cornbread batter, covering most of the batter (but make sure the Velveeta does NOT touch the edges of the pan!)
(d) Now add the rest of the batter, carefully covering the Velveeta, and bake according to the directions. Let cool before cutting or removing from pan.
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…jeez, now I’m hungry…
I’ve never been let down by the America’s Test Kitchen chili recipe.
It’s not authentic (that’s here), but it is relatively quick and easy, plus it uses ground beef plus beans*.
*The use of beans in Chili was made illegal in Texas in 1903 
No celery. That is all.
Not even in Chili Bolognaise?
We usually leave recipes to the tasteful folks in Cafe Society. Lower heat, cover, simmer…
TVeblen
My recipe:
Package of hamburger (generally around a lb)
medium green pepper chopped
medium onion chopped
couple cloves of garlic minced
small can of tomato soup
can of kidney beans
big can of diced tomatoes
half a package of Club House chili mix (yes, this is cheating but I cannot seem to get the spices right when I do them myself. Generally it just turns out bland as all heck)
Brown hamburger, drain, add green pepper, onion and garlic cook until onions are clear. Add in the rest (more of the mix if you like spicier, I don’t mind a little spicier but the rest of the family can’t handle it) stir well cover and simmer over low for a few hours.
Serve with grated cheese on top and buns/bread and butter on the side. Salad goes well also for a nice meal. It freezes well and it’s even better the next day.
1 lb ground beef
1 medium to large onion, chopped
2 medium green peppers, chopped
1 large can diced tomatoes
1 small bottle ketchup
3 cans of chili beans (I like Brooks Chili Hot Beans in Chili Sauce best)
1 package Williams chili seasoning (I do NOT consider this cheating! )
Start browning the ground beef. When it’s about half cooked, toss in the onions and green pepper, continue until ground beef is cooked all the way through, maybe a little longer. Drain. Add everything else, bring to a low boil, then crank back the heat and let it simmer about an hour and a half.
This is just my “basic” recipe. I’m always messing with it and trying something different. Sometimes I’ll use cubed leftover roast beef or pork roast. Sometimes I’ll throw in a red or yellow bell pepper, or garlic. Sometimes I’ll add a little extra red pepper, black pepper, cumin, chili powder, cinnamon, or whatever spices I can find in the cabinet.
lol mine was meant more as a disclaimer that I knew people consider it cheating… just as I know people consider that it’s not chili if you add beans or use hamburger rather than cubed meat
(That’s stew people! cubed meat and no beans is STEW no matter how spicy it is)
I figure if it turns out good, tastes good and not bland I don’t care what others say. 
My recipe is what my husband calls “Lutheran Chili” - i.e. something you might find at a church pot-luck. But it’s yummy, even if it bears no real resemblance to AUTHENTIC chili. Whenever I serve it to friends, they look at me funny and say, “This is chili?” but they always come back for more.
Boil a big pot of water and cook some ditali (a/k/a chili mac noodles) according to package directions. Drain and set aside. Meanwhile, chop an onion and a couple cloves of garlic, throw them into a skillet with a pound of ground beef, brown the beef and drain the grease off. Throw the meat mixture into a large pot with the noodles, and add a large can of Brook’s Chili-Hot beans (with sauce), a can of Green Giant Niblets corn, a small can of chopped green chiles and a quart bottle of Campbell’s Tomato Juice. Add chili powder and crushed red pepper to taste, and two whole cloves. Simmer it all for a bit, then fish out the cloves.
At the browning the beef part, feel free to throw in any chopped bell peppers or (if you must) celery.
I’ve posted it before and I’ll post it again - my no-frills, easy, good chili:
1 - 2 lbs ground beef
2 onions, chopped
minced garlic
chili powder
salt and pepper
2 cans stewed tomatoes
2 cans kidney beans - I usually get one can dark, one can light
1 sm. can tomato paste
salsa
hot sauce
1 can corn niblets
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Brown the beef in a big pot, using medium or so heat. While it’s browning, toss in the onions, garlic, and salt and pepper. Cover liberally with chili powder (this way the chili powder cooks into the meat and makes it good). I use a lot of chili powder - you might not want to.
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Toss in everything in the cans, but don’t drain anything.
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Add the tomato paste, as much salsa as you’d like. I also add some hot sauce (Tapatio? I think that’s the name of the sauce I use - I don’t like the vinegary-ness of Tabasco. Haven’t tried Crystal or some of the other hot sauces you’ll see mentioned around here, largely because they also use vinegar as a base. But maybe I will yet.) to hot it up a bit - use your own taste here. Basically, add anything red that tickles your fancy - I’ve been known to throw in some ketchup.
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Add the corn niblets, then adjust anything for taste. Kick it up with some peppers iffen you’d like. The chili’s done at this point, but simmering it over low heat for a while won’t hurt anything.
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As always, serve with grated cheddar.
Master Wang-Ka, can I come round for dinner? Please? I’ll bring a few beers…
MWK: Isn’t that a lot of beer? (In the chili, not the cook - in fact, I think there’s room for a beer for the cook at step #6). I agree with nearly everything in your recipe, but that just seems to be a lot of liquid to burn off.
Hey, thanks for the recipes! Some questions:
Is using chili powder or using a packet, is that cheating?
Why does real chili not have beans, but does have cubed beef (the only chili I’ve ever had was ground beef)? Cubed beef sounds like a pain to prepare. It seems more like stew. Is the beef still cubed when served, or is it like pulled pork?
No, that’s not cheating. Some places make really good mixes (I use a mix prepared by the Planter’s at the KC farmers’ market). The only cheating element is denying yourself the opportunity to make it your own by experimenting. If you want to do that, I recommend cumin powder, ancho chili powder, black pepper and small (SMALL!) portions of cayenne pepper.
I’m not sure why “real” chili doesn’t use beans, but I suggest you try two batches in the next month - one with ground beef, one with cubed beef. The difference is absolutely outstanding, and I’m never going back to just ground beef again (I use a 2:1 ratio of cubed:ground). It’s simple to prepare - most butchers/grocers have beef pre-cubed. Also, if you’re using a slightly better meat, you’re cubing it no smaller than 3/4" cubes, so it’s really not that time-consuming. The meat tenderizes and pulls apart a bit, but nothing like pulled pork.
Plus, you’ll have all that beer to keep you company!
Here’s a recent thread with some good chili ideas.
Don’t misunderstand me, I’m not saying they all taste the same. It’s just that, in my years of experience and research into the perfect pot of red, all the best chili recipes follow the same basic procedure. Here now is the results of my many years of research.
- Brown your meat. Simple enough, I know, but this is a whole set of choices in itself.
What kind of meat? Beef, usually, preferably chuck or one of the other cheaper cuts. You wanna grind it, be my guest. You wanna cube it, go ahead, just make sure the cubes are nice and small (between about 1/2" and 3/4"). Pork butt or shoulder can also be used. Some have gone so far as to try it with poultry, but I don’t think the taste is suited to red chili, but more to chili verde (more on that later).
What do I brown it in? Lard or vegetable oil, generally (avoid butter and shortening), though it’s often a good accent to cook up some bacon and use the drippings for browning.
Incidentally, this stage is also the best time to put in the onion and garlic, if you use it.
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Add your chili. However you choose your chili powder, this is the best time to add it to the pot, so that it can be distributed through all of the meat. My personal blend generally contains ancho, New Mexico, a bit of chipotle, and a very minute amount of cayenne. (You want flavor more than heat for the best pot.) When I make chili verde, I generally use a couple cans of green chiles, maybe a jalapeno, and sometimes I use a poblano for a more interesting flavor.
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Add “everything else”. Tomatoes, tomatillos, other spices, but no, no, NO BEANS! If I want beans, I cook 'em up separately.
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Cover the whole thing with water and simmer. At least 2 hours. This gives the chance for all the flavors to meld and make the house smell great, I promise.
You wanted beans for your chili? Put some cooked pintos in a bowl, then pour your chili over them.
Choose your own ingredients for everything, but this is, IMHO, the best tried-and true way of putting it all together. This is the procedure that consistently wins chili cookoffs.
We did a thread about chili a while back – different from the first reference above – that included my recipe for Harp Lager and Red Bean Chili. It’s a Cincinnati-style chili, sweeter than Texas, and includes BEANS even though that makes me a heretic (or am I an apostate? Infidel?). There’s also a footnote about my variant version, Guinness and Black Bean Chili. The flavor will probably be similar to the beer chili listed above, but mine’s almost guaranteed to be hotter than you like your chili.
Just saw this response…very funny.