Savory Chili Ready in Just 3 Easy to Make Steps!

Savory Chili Ready in Just 3 Easy to Make Steps!

Hey friends! It’s officially fall now and I find myself drawn to those warm bowls of soups, stews and the occasional casseroles. When you live in a part of the country where the air can hurt to breathe at times because it gets so frigid, you learn A LOT of cold weather comfort foods! This Savory Chili recipe is truly one of our favorites. We make it frequently from September to March.

One of the things I love best about this version is that it is extremely versatile. It can be made with any meats, veggies and beans you wish, in any number of awesome combinations! Savory Chili can be spiced up or down depending on your families preferences as well.

Chili can be more then just a hearty meal in a bowl too. You can use this to top nachos, baked potatoes, hot dogs and even spaghetti for a little Cincinnati chili. If you want to use this recipe for one of those uses, simply halve the ingredients for a lesser amount.

A few good tips:

• Because the basis for this recipe is tomatoes, buy a good brand or use your own if you have a garden and can your own. I briefly covered this in the Ultimate Lasagna post, say no to stem tops!

• This recipe can also be prepared in a crock pot. Brown the ground beef, onions, garlic in a pan and drain off fat before dumping remaining ingredients in. Add the beans about an hour before done cooking. I would say cook time on low setting would be about 3-3 1/2 hours.

• Make a day ahead of time, it reheats with no problem. I’ve never frozen it so I’m not sure if it would change the taste or texture there.

• My favorite from scratch beans are Camellia beans. I just find them to be better and have fewer bad beans in the bags.

Recommended toppings:

• Shredded cheese
• Sour cream
• Green onions
• Raw white onion
• Oyster crackers
• Corn chips (Fritos & Tostitos)
• Cornbread

Savory Chili

A savory chili ready to wear your favorite fixins' and make your bowl of chili the best yet!

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 5 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr 30 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 35 minutes mins

Course Main Course, Soup

Cuisine American

Servings 6 servings

Calories 435 kcal

Equipment

• Large Dutch oven

Ingredients

  

• 2 1/2 lbs. lean ground beef
• 4 14.5oz. cans of diced tomatoes undrained
• 1 15oz. can of light red kidney beans undrained
• 1 15oz. can tomato sauce
• 6 oz. tomato paste
• 2 medium onions chopped
• 4 cloves garlic minced
• 2 1/2 tbsp. chili powder
• 2 tsp. kosher salt
• 2 tsp. oregano
• 1 tsp. black pepper freshly ground
• 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper

Instructions

 

• Add meat, onion and garlic to large Dutch oven or stock pot and cook until browned through. Drain fat.
  
• Stir in seasonings, tomatoes, sauce and paste. Heat to boiling, then reduce to a simmer and cover. Cook for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.
  
• After the one hour mark, stir in beans and their liquid. Simmer for about 30 minutes.
  
• Top with your favorite toppings like shredded cheese, sour cream, green onions, crackers, raw onions, cornbread, corn chips or tortilla chips
  

Notes

This is a great base for chili with total adaptability to whatever meat you want to use, whatever veggies you wish to add or even how spicy you want to make it! Play around with it and find your perfect bowl of chili!

You can easily halve the recipe for smaller portions too!

Keyword beans, chili