Chili is one of the regular meals in our menu rotation. I’ve been making this particular recipe since my now 10-year-old was a baby and have found no reason to change it up. She still requests it much more often than I’m prepared to make it!
Perfectly Cozy Beef Chili
Nothing says comfort like a bowl of hot chili on a cold winter day.
Ingredients
- 1 lb lean ground beef
- 1 yellow onion
- 1 green pepper (or any color bell pepper)
- 30 oz. diced tomato (2 15 oz. cans)
- 30 oz. red kidney beans (2 15 oz. cans)
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 2 Tbsp chili/taco seasoning mix (see notes for spice alternative)
Instructions
- Chop the onion and green or yellow pepper.
- Warm 1 Tbsp olive oil in a large saucepan or stock pot and add the onions. Cook for 2-3 minutes until just starting to soften.
- Add ground beef and stir to break up large chunks. Cook on medium-high heat until fully browned.
- Add the chopped green peppers and cook for 2-3 minutes until they soften.
- Add the canned tomatoes and 2 Tbsp of spice mixture. Stir to combine, then cover the pot and simmer on medium-low heat for 20-30 minutes.
- Rinse the canned kidney beans, then add to the pot along with the three cloves of minced garlic.
- Stir to combine, and turn the heat back up to medium-high for 2-3 minutes, just long enough to fully heat the beans.
- Ladle into bowls and serve with shredded cheese, plain Greek yogurt, or guacamole. It also pairs well with corn tortilla chips or fresh baguette.
Notes
Spices to approximate the homemade taco seasoning mix:
1 Tbsp chili powder
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. oregano
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. onion powder
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
It’s also a quick process to chop a few veggies, throw everything in a pot, and let it simmer away for a while so I can finish a few other tasks before dinner time.
The relatively low level of heat (read: spiciness) means that more of the family (especially the youngest) are willing to eat it. For spicy chili lovers, it’s simple enough to add a bit more heat!
It’s perfect on a cold winter’s day, served with plenty of shredded cheddar cheese, a scoop of plain yogurt, and some tortilla chips or fresh bread.
The whole family also enjoys homemade pickles along with chili. I wouldn’t have considered that a standard pairing, but it works!
Ingredients
Simple pantry staples make this chili an easy meal to throw together without a lot of advance planning.
- Lean ground beef is best here to avoid an overly greasy meal. I stick to between 88%-90% lean ground beef. Leaner than that and you’re going to lose some flavor.
- Onion cut into small pieces will cook down well if, like me, you prefer not to notice the onion in your food.
- Green pepper should be cut into smallish pieces as well. Other colors of bell pepper work great and add more color to your chili. Frozen green pepper also works well – I usually have chopped green pepper from the garden in the freezer, especially for use in chili.
- Canned diced tomato is the best form of tomato for this recipe. I use home-canned tomatoes, but store-bought works just fine, although you might need to add a 1/2 cup of water or broth if the chili is too dry. If tomatoes are ripe in the garden, I’ve also been known to use fresh tomatoes – at least 6-7 large tomatoes should do it.
- Red kidney beans are essential. It wouldn’t be chili without the beans. Light red or dark red are fine, or a combination of both.
- Garlic should be minced or pressed and added after the kidney beans. It could lose some potency if you add it near the beginning of the cooking with the onion.
- Spices. My big timesaver here is using a few scoops of my Homemade Taco Seasoning Mix. It’s not just for tacos; it’s for everything Tex-Mex! See the notes for alternative spice measurements.
Instructions
Step 1 – Prep your veggies
Chop up the onion and bell peppers, and mince the garlic. Set the pepper and garlic to the side.
Step 2 – Cook onions, meat, and peppers
Warm 1 Tbsp olive oil in a large pan or stock pot. Add the onions and soften for several minutes. Add the ground beef, stir to break up the chunks, and cook until fully browned. Add the peppers to soften for a few minutes.
Step 3 – Add spices and tomatoes
Add in your chili seasonings and the canned tomatoes. Simmer on medium-low heat for 20-30 minutes to allow the flavors to meld together and the veggies to soften.
Step 4 – Add beans and garlic
You don’t really need to cook the beans if you’re using canned beans. Overcooking them can make them mushy. They’re added last so that you’re simply warming them up. The garlic is also added at the end to keep that punchy fresh garlic flavor. After adding the beans, heat till warmed through, about another 5 minutes on medium-high heat.
Step 5 – Serve
To serve the chili, ladle into bowls and top with shredded cheddar and plain yogurt. We love eating this cozy chili with corn tortilla chips, fresh whole wheat bread, or even a crusty baguette.
Leftovers
Chili is even better as leftovers! My oldest child has even been known to eat it for breakfast!
Allow leftovers to cool before storing them in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week. To reheat, rewarm the chili in a saucepan on the stovetop, or in individual serving bowls in the microwave.
If warming in the microwave, cover the bowl with a paper towel or other lid so it doesn’t splatter.
Substitutions
Other types of ground meat work well with chili. The main flavor is the spices, so you don’t notice other meat flavors as much. Ground turkey, ground pork, or even ground venison (if you have any hunter friends) are great in this chili.
If you like your chili with a little more heat, try adding in 1/4 tsp of cayenne pepper or red pepper flakes. You can also add jalapenos at the same time with the green peppers for a little bit more spice.