Weeknight Chili
It's cozy season, grab a big pot and let's get cooking! Plus, my favorite skillet cornbread recipe and my free Thanksgiving cooking class.
Even when the temperature is still in the 80s in Texas, I make a big pot of chili and pretend to live somewhere with sweater weather and crunchy orange leaves. It makes my house feel like fall, and that’s the vibe we desperately need. Even though the title of this recipe is “weeknight” chili, it’s a weekend favorite, too. It just happens to be hands-off enough to make on a Tuesday. Yes, making this in the morning and letting it simmer all day is your best bet. But you can cheat by using an immersion blender (just in 2-3 quick bursts) to rush it along if you’re in a hurry. Details on that are below.
Serve with grated sharp cheddar, sliced green onions, thin slices of radish and sour cream. To make this a ground meat chili con carne, omit the beans and double the meat. Notes on variations and substitutions and a printable PDF version for you to print and save are below.
2 slices thick-cut bacon, cut into thin slices
1 onion, chopped fine (yellow, white or red)
1 green bell pepper, chopped fine
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1½ pounds ground beef, ground bison or dark meat ground turkey (see notes about
fat level of beef below)
1 large 28-ounce can whole tomatoes, broken up with your hands or cut up
before adding to the pot
1 15-ounce can of tomato sauce or jar of puréed tomatoes
1 or 2 large cans of pinto beans, chili beans or red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
½–1 teaspoon crushed red pepper, to taste
A few dashes of Tabasco or Crystal brand hot sauce
Preheat a large (the above Staub pot is a 9-quart), heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven. Add the bacon to the pot (no need to add oil or cooking spray) and cook until the fat separates and renders, about 2 minutes. This will be your cooking fat for the chili. Add the onion and bell pepper to the bacon and cook until softened, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook one more minute.
Add the meat to the pot and break it up with a wooden spoon. Add a generous sprinkling of salt, about 1½ teaspoons, and cook until the meat loses its pink color.
3. Add the remaining ingredients. At this point, you can transfer the mixture to a slow cooker and continue cooking on low for 6–8 hours or high for 4–5 hours, or cook on the stovetop, covered, on medium-low heat for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.
4. Add a few dashes of hot sauce and taste for salt. I like using an immersion blender to blend the chili in about 3-4 spots. I turn the immersion blender on and off in quick bursts to thicken the base of the chili and bring the flavors together—this is a great tip if your soup or chili ever seems “watery” or if the flavors aren’t coming together. If you don’t have an immersion blender, you can remove one cup or two of the chili and add it to a blender. Turn it on in quick on/off bursts until broken down but not completely puréed, then stir it back into the chili.
5. For the best flavor, let the chili simmer for as long as possible before serving. Just stir it occasionally and keep it covered on low heat.
Instant Pot Directions:
Follow the steps in the first paragraph, but sauté the bacon and vegetables directly in the base of the Instant Pot. Add the remaining ingredients, stir, seal and set to the chili, bean or manual/high setting for 20 minutes. When you open the lid, you’ll need to break up the meat well with a wooden spoon, the meat will clump together. You can also use an immersion blender to break up the meat in a few spots, just don’t fully puree the chili.
Notes:
+ I typically make this with 90%- 96% lean ground beef. I’ve also made it with ground turkey and venison from one of my son’s hunting trips. If you buy your ground meat pre-packaged at your grocery store and they don’t have 1 1/2 pounds exactly, you can add up to 2 pounds of ground meat.
+ If you don’t eat bacon, start the recipe by warming a tablespoon of olive oil or avocado oil. Then, add your onions and continue with the recipe directions.
+ Try to avoid using hickory-smoked or strongly-flavored bacon; look for good-quality bacon without added nitrates and flavorings. The finished chili will taste better.
+ My favorite canned tomatoes for this are San Marzano-style whole peeled tomatoes, which break up while the chili simmers on the stove and have great flavor. But you can also use canned chopped tomatoes or fire-roasted tomatoes.
+ If you only have an 8-ounce can of tomato sauce instead of a 15-ounce can, go ahead and use it. The chili will turn out great and only slightly thicker and chunkier.
+ Don’t add chili powder to this. Trust me.
+ The hot sauce doesn’t make the chili spicy. It just punches up the flavor. Add a dash of Tabasco or hot sauce to almost any soup that tastes flat and needs more flavor. It’s a cooking school hack I use to amplify the flavor in my soup recipes. This flavor hack works in butternut squash soup, vegetable soup, minestrone, tomato soup, etc.
+ The red pepper flakes add the spice. Use less of them if you want less spice in your chili bowl.
+ The longer you let the soup simmer, the better it will taste. It’s also delicious the next day because the flavors have a chance to meld and come together.
Here’s a bonus recipe because it’s SO GOOD with the chili. If you don’t have a cast iron skillet, you can bake this in an 8x8 or 9x9 baking pan.
Thanksgiving Cooking Class!
I will have occasional cooking classes for paid subscribers (both monthly and yearly peops). First up, Smarty Pants Thanksgiving Cooking Class (gobble gobble!) on Zoom. This class is for paid subscribers only. Get my favorite Thanksgiving recipes, my family’s menu, organization tips, and time with yours truly. All paid subscribers will be invited and receive the recipes and Zoom link. Mark your calendars for Thursday, November 14, at 4 p.m. CST. Are you a member of my online cooking school? Hold tight because you’ll be invited as a bonus class for November!
Order my award-winning cookbook, Dinner is Done! It includes over 100 weeknight and family-friendly recipes, including chapters on meatless mains, fish and sauces, appetizers and snacks, cocktails, desserts and more.
