Joy, my bonus mom, makes the best darn chili. About twenty years ago, she gave the recipe to me and now among my friends, it is my chili. It is so super easy, I wondered if I should even post it here. But after a very scientific facebook poll, I thought otherwise.
So, here we go.
1-1.5 pounds of ground meat. (I used turkey today, but you could use beef. I have made it with out meat and it is still pretty good.)
5 garlic cloves
1 large yellow onion (I usually use any onion I have in the fridge.)
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (more or less depending how spicy you like it.)
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
2 15.5 oz cans of diced tomatoes
2 15.5 oz cans chili beans
1 15.5 oz can black beans
1 15.5 oz can pinto beans
1 15.5 oz can garbanzo beans
1 15.5 oz can kidney beans
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| Most of the players. I left out the meat. I just couldn’t find his good side. |
Chop the onion and crush the garlic. Put the garlic, onion, meat and seasonings in the pot. Put the lid on the pot. Let it cook on a medium heat. You will need to stir every so often to get the meat properly cooked. Just remember to put the lid back on. All that onion, garlic, and seasonings will really blend together nicely.
Meat, onions, garlic and seasonings.
While you are cooking up the meat and onions, you can now begin the most difficult part of this recipe… opening all the cans. Open all the cans and do NOT drain the juices. Every thing, even the juices are going to go into the pot. When your meat is all cooked, go ahead and add all the cans. Give everything a big stir. Now let simmer.
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| Everything added and simmering. |
Ok… that is it. This chili tastes best if you let it simmer for a few hours. However, there have been times when I only let it simmer for an hour. Read- I forgot to make dinner and I had all the cans of beans and an onion.
I have learned that as long as you have four types of beans, you are good. So if you don’t like garbanzo beans, don’t use them. If you like something else, use that instead. Also, this makes a huge amount of chili. With this batch I am going to feed my family of five and two guests. It does freeze really well. You can make a batch and freeze half of it.
