My husband grew up with a phenomenal cook of a dad, chili being one of his specialties. This recipe was born from a combination of a desire to elicit a reaction from my husband that was more than “(shrug) It’s good,” a minor, almost, diester of adding the wrong chili, #sospice, and then trying to find a fix to make it not melt our faces off. The end result is a complex spice palate (customizable to your tolerance) with a hint of sweet cinnamon to balance the tingle. My husband’s reaction: “This is really good.”
Prep Time: 10 min
Cook Time: 30 min – 3 hrs
Total Time: 40 min – 3 hrs 10 min
Serves 3-4
- 1 pound ground chuck*
- 1/2 yellow onion, small diced
- 1 cup beef broth
- 2 cups diced tomatoes
- 1 cup tomato sauce (8 oz can)
- 2 cups kidney beans ( one 15 oz can)
- 2 cloves garlic, minced or grated
- 1 sport pepper, minced (or fresh pepper of choice)
- 2 tablespoons chili powder
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
- 2 teaspoons cumin
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- Salt and pepper to taste
*You can use an alternative ground meat, but ground chuck has the best flavor for this recipe. You can also make a veggie chili by upping the kidney bean content and adding some extra veg like carrots, corn, and bell peppers.
- Toss your diced onions in a 6 qt stock pot over medium heat; add your ground chuck and brown.
- Drain meat to remove excess fat, set meat aside for a moment.
- Reduce heat to medium-low and throw the minced/ grated garlic into your pot. Cook until fragrant, a minute or two.
- Add the meat and onions back to the pot, as well as everything else on the ingredient list, just dump it all in there.
- Give it all a good stir, and raise heat to medium-high. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer for a minimum of 30 minutes and up to several hours – this is a fairly thick chili to begin with, so if you go the low, slow, and long simmer, you may need to add more beef broth.
- Remove the bay leaves (or don’t, and as my husband likes to do, make the Dad joke that “someone must have left a window open while cooking,” que eye roll) and serve with your favorite cornbread or tortilla chips!
- To reduce the heat of this recipe and maintain the complex spice flavor, omit the crushed red pepper and the sport pepper (or use a milder pepper such as a banana pepper). You can also substitute the paprika for smoked paprika if you like a bit of char flavor.
Provisioned Kitchen 