Can you just throw chili together with a seasoning packet and everything turn out great? Sure. Is it worth it to make it homemade, using whole ingredients to give the chili real flavor instead of flavor made of additives and sodium?? Yes.
Not only does homemade chili taste better, but it’s better FOR you. Shoot, make it with ground turkey or ground chicken and chili could be considered borderline healthy! Gasp.
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Does it really taste better? Also yes. How do I know? I know a meal is special when it hits with someone who is a picky eater. In this case, a 12 year old boy who raved about my chili. I don’t care who you are or how old you are, if you’re picky and I make a meal you love, I’m bragging about it. And honestly, kids are the toughest to please and to slide something like this by them? *Shrugs shoulders confidently*
So, what makes this chili above average you ask? I give my chili the Bolognese treatment. Meaning, I caramelize a carrot, an onion, and a bell pepper together, add the tomatoes and pulverize it down into a soupy chili sauce. You can also add a poblano pepper, jalapeno pepper, chipotle peppers in adobo (a couple tablespoons of the sauce), serranos, or any kind of pepper’s you’d like. I love hatch green chiles.
You of course don’t have to blend your sauce but, this is the most kid friendly way to make chili, ever.
Healthy, check. Hidden veggies, check. Topped with cheese, check.
That’s really the only trick and that’s what makes this chili a step above taking the easy way out. Let your veggies cook down for as long as you can stand it, add the tomatoes, add the seasonings, bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, cook, liquify your sauce, add the meat back in, enjoy! Or, just let it cook away all day at this point. Add your beans in 30 minutes before you’re ready to eat.
Making chili the homemade way honestly isn’t hard, it just requires a little extra effort. And if you don’t have an immersion blender, just dump the chunky sauce into your blender or food processor then add it back to your pot before adding the ground beef. Real foods like vegetables have so much more flavor than a seasoning packet can provide, and you will learn that by making chili the long way!
You’ll find yourself making Bolognese next.
I always prefer to use two pounds of meat in my chili whether it’s 1 pound beef and 1 pound sausage, or two beef. I just think it’s better that way.
This chili freezes excellently or we prefer chili leftovers as Chili Cheese Dogs on night #2.
So, that’s really all I have to say. Everything else about chili pretty much goes without saying. I do want to know though, is chili a Midwest thing or a nationwide thing? Let me know where you are and how you make your chili!
Bailie's Above Average Chili
Ingredients:
1 lb. ground beef
1 lb. ground sausage
3 T. unsalted butter
1 large carrot, chopped
1 onion, any color, chopped
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 poblano chile, diced
1 jalapeno, seeded & diced
4 garlic cloves, 2 minced and 2 peeled but left whole
3 T. balsamic vinegar
1 small can green chiles
1/4 c. sun dried tomatoes, chopped (optional)
1 T. cumin
2 T. oregano
2 T. coriander
1 tsp. light brown sugar
2 tsp. salt
Cracked black pepper
2 T. tomato paste
1 28 oz. can San Marzano tomatoes
1 C. beef broth
2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed
Frito’s
Toppings:
Sour cream
Avocado
Cilantro
Olives
Shredded Cheddar cheese
Jalapenos
Directions:
1. Brown your beef. In a large pot, brown your beef over medium-high heat thoroughly and drain.
2. Add butter to pot. (You can use bacon fat if you have it on hand)
3. Add chopped onions, carrots, peppers, minced garlic and stir. Cook for 5-10 -minutes until onions are translucent and it’s very fragrant.
4. Add tomato paste. Add red pepper flakes if using. Stir, scraping bits off the bottom and making sure the tomato paste isn’t getting stuck.
5. Add balsamic vinegar to deglaze pan. Stir for 1 minute.
6. Add tomatoes, green chiles, sun dried tomatoes, beef broth, cumin, oregano, coriander, brown sugar, whole garlic cloves, salt, pepper, stir, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a low simmer.
7. Cover, let cook for at least 30 minutes before using an immersion blender to completely pulverize the sauce. Use a spoon to pour into a blender if you don’t have an immersion blender.
8. After you’ve blended your sauce, add the cooked ground beef back in. You can add water by the tablespoon if you think your sauce is too thick. Reduce heat to low and let the chili cook for as long as you want at this point.
9. Add beans 30 minutes prior to serving.
10. Serve on top of fritos with toppings of choice.
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