Easy Chili Recipe

Hey, I’m John Canel and today we’re making a hearty, delicious chili, so let’s get started.

Prep the Vegetables

First off, we have just a little bit of prep to do. We’re going to dice one large onion. If I could give you one hint to make your life easier in the kitchen, it is: get a nice knife and sharpen it regularly. A dull knife is your worst enemy; it is a recipe for disaster, cuts, and frustration.

This chili is so delicious, by the way. I make variations of this for my family on the regular because it’s good with everything. You can top it up with your favorite toppings, you can serve it with some rice or pasta, and it’s super hearty and easy. It’s also great for meal prep because it lasts so long in the fridge.

That was a powerful onion. We’re going to set this aside in a bowl and prep our pepper. Grab a bell pepper, slice it in half, grab the seeds, set them aside into our compost, and remove the pith as well. This smells so sweet and delicious. Flatten it out, cut it into strips, and then give it a dice.

One of the reasons chili is so nice is that you can personalize it really, really easily. You could swap the meat out, you could add more meat. If you’re a Texas chili aficionado, you can skip the beans. My recipe has beans; I love adding them in, but I understand it’s a tiny bit controversial. You can let me know what you feel, and then you can definitely make this spicier if you want. If you don’t want to use bell peppers, you could use serrano; it’s totally up to you.

Set that aside, and now we just have to mince our garlic. For this recipe, you’ll want four or so cloves of garlic. It totally is up to your taste and also the size of the cloves. Some of these are totally massive, so five is actually a good number for me today. This is definitely one of those “measure with your heart” recipes. Give them a smash and, honestly, today I’m just going to pass these through a garlic press. If you don’t have a garlic press or if you love chopping things, go ahead and mince them up.

Start Cooking

My veggies are all prepped. It’s time to grab a Dutch oven or a large pot and get to work. Pop your pot onto medium-high heat. We’re going to add about 2 tablespoons of olive oil, get that nice and lubricated, and then, once your olive oil is shimmering in the pot, we’ll add in our onions and bell peppers.

My oil is nice and hot. We’re going to add in our onions and bell pepper right now. We’re going to cook this for 5 minutes until it’s slightly softened, stirring occasionally.

About the Beans

In the meantime, I want to talk to you for a second about the beans. Today I’m using two 15½-oz cans: black beans and pinto beans. Use whichever beans you have on hand and enjoy; they’re all going to be fine. If you’re using canned beans like I am today for convenience, make sure you drain the water (or aquafaba), give them a rinse.

My veggies are slightly softened; the onions are getting closer to being translucent. So grab your garlic press or your already-minced garlic and just press it out. We’re going to cook this for an additional minute until it is nice and fragrant. Mix that in for about a minute, stirring constantly, and you’ll have a lovely aroma of garlic. When it’s done, you just don’t want to burn the garlic; it’ll get bitter.

Brown the Meat

Today this recipe is using one pound of ground beef, and I like to use a 90/10 version for this, which is less fatty. Normally I love a fattier ground meat, but using a leaner cut will give you a less-greasy chili. In you go. We’re going to break that up into small pieces and get it nice and cooked.

You can definitely sub other meats in if desired. If you’re using turkey or chicken, I would use the fattier cuts because the lean cuts will get harder; it’s just like an unpleasant texture to them. Venison would work well in this. Tons of options, really; use what you have on hand and make this your own.

I’ve broken up all my meat successfully; it’s not pink anymore, so I’m going to reduce the heat to medium and add in about a tablespoon of tomato paste. A little bit goes a long way with this, so don’t feel like you have to go crazy. Stir that in; this really gives you a lovely base.

Add the Spices

It’s time to add our spices; this is not going to be bland. Start off with 3 tablespoons of chili powder. I will say: know your chili powder, because sometimes they’re extra hot and sometimes they’re super mild, so just use a brand that you enjoy. If you’re making this for little kids and you want them to eat it, I might use less of the chili and use a mild variety.

• 1 tablespoon of cumin
• ¼ teaspoon of cayenne pepper (you can definitely add more for a spicier chili)
• 1½ teaspoons of oregano

I really do make chili a lot at home, and when that happens I want it to be super fast. Like, I often don’t have a lot of time in the afternoon; the kids are doing their homework, I’m helping them, and everyone is just ready to eat. What you could do is make a chili-spice mix and have that ready like in a little mason jar, and then just add in like four tablespoons of that—kind of a time-saver. And you can also pre-chop all your veggies that morning or the night before and just have them in the fridge ready to go. If you do that, making dinner is so much easier.

We also need some salt and pepper: one teaspoon of salt to start (we’ll add more later if needed) and about ¼ teaspoon or so of cracked black pepper. Let’s mix that all in.

Extra Flavor Boosters

This is totally optional, but I really like adding a tablespoon of cocoa powder. It almost doesn’t make sense, but it gives you a really lovely depth of flavor. It’s not making it sweet; it is giving you kind of like that mole just slight undertone. We’re going to have a lot of acid and spice in here, and because of that I also want to add in a tablespoon of brown sugar. If you look at the ingredients on a lot of hot sauces or store-bought salsas, you will see that sugar is added; it just gives you a nice balance.

Tomatoes, Beans & Broth

We’re adding about a 15-oz can of diced tomatoes right now, as well as an 8-oz can of tomato sauce, my drained and rinsed beans (and again, I’m using pinto beans and black beans today—that’s pinto and red kidney, not black beans; I often like black beans, though). We’re also going to add two cups of beef broth. You could use a little bit less if you want like that stickier, heartier chili, or a little bit more if you like it super soupy.

Use your wooden spoon and really scrape the bottom of your pan; you want to get all those brown bits of caramelized flavor that are in there, and we’re going to bring this to a simmer. This is pretty tasty right now, but it gets so much better once all those flavors work together. It just needs to kind of heat up and then reduce, where we remove a lot of the water that’s in this—pure flavor.

I love this chili so much, in part because I will eat it almost all week long. It lasts 4 days in your fridge sealed in an airtight container; just make sure it’s cooled completely before you put it into the fridge. You could also freeze this for up to 3 months. I like to freeze individual portions; they can thaw out overnight in the fridge and then they’re good to go the next day.

Simmer and Finish

Once your chili comes to a simmer, we’re going to reduce heat to low and let it simmer uncovered for about 25 minutes. You’re really letting a lot of the moisture just evaporate away, and you’re left with nothing but pure flavor.

Chili, by the way, originates from the Texas–Mexican border towns in the 1880s. San Antonio was famous for chili queens; they would peddle chili on the street as vendors. But this recipe made it into the Chicago World’s Exposition (I think it’s 1893 or something), and it became really popular, and the popularity just grew and spread from there. Now this is a beloved recipe all around the world.

I let my chili simmer for about half an hour uncovered; it’s thickened up beautifully. But now we have to give it a taste—just want to see if it has the right saltiness and maybe needs some more heat. That is just right for me, so this is ready to go.

Serve

I’m going to ladle this up and we’re going to give it some good toppings. Top your chili with some shredded cheese (I’m using cheddar today), some chopped green onions, and a big dollop of sour cream. And just like that, your chili is ready to enjoy: warm, hearty, flavorful, and just plain delicious. I hope you had a chance to make this recipe.