Easy Chili Recipe Template

Football equals fall. My favorite time of year is when both baseball and football are on TV. It means it is still warm out, you can enjoy the outdoors, but you can slowly introduce some fall flavors into the mix. For me, that means making chili. I just love the combo of meat and beans, the perfect balance of spice, and all of the toppings. 

As a meal prep recipe, it doesn’t get better than chili. It reheats and freezes beautifully, so you don’t need to worry about having to eat that big batch day after day. It also comes together with a lot of pantry items that you probably already have on hand. Lastly, it is substitution friendly so you can use up what you have in the fridge or switch up the ingredients based on your preference or dietary needs and still have a delicious one pot meal.

This is the kind of recipe I consider a template: as long as you have the basic structure, you can make choices along the way and still have a great result. Some people like a lot of chunky meat in their chili; others use it to hide extra vegetables into a hearty meal. If you like it spicy, you can adjust the number of hot peppers and spices you use, even after cooking to accommodate the various palates sitting at the table. You can also adjust the quantities of each ingredient: more or less meat, beans or peppers, and it still comes out beautifully. Below you will find the recipe for the basic template, and a lot of notes on how you can switch it up. Be sure to let me know your favorite variations! 

• Meat: ground beef, pork, turkey, chicken or a combo (I love beef and pork combo)
• Beans: kidney beans are traditional. Mix and match kidney, black beans, pinto beans, or any other bean you love. 
• Peppers: anything goes. For a mild chili, use green and red bell peppers. For spicy, add jalapenos, poblano, habanero, or anything hotter if you dare. You can add dried, flaked, or ground peppers as well.
• Other vegetables to add: corn, carrots, zucchini, 
• Toppings: shredded cheddar cheese, sour cream, sliced or diced jalapenos, green onions, avocado, tortilla chips, diced red onion, cilantro, lime, what else?!
• Broth: use broth to match your meat (or no meat): beef, turkey, chicken, vegetable broth, or just use water. 

If you really want to go crazy, you should go right to the source of fantastic southwestern cuisine, Bobby Flay, and try out some of the various peppers and toppings he uses, but on a regular Sunday getting ready for the game, or prepping your meals for the week, who has time for that?

My fall football version includes ½ pound ground chuck, ½ pound ground pork; 1 large poblano and ½ large green pepper, chopped; 2 cans kidney beans, 1 can black beans, 1 can pinto beans; plenty of chili powder, chipotle chili powder, and ground cayenne pepper, seasoned to taste at each step; topped with shredded cheddar cheese, sour cream, and sliced fresh jalapeno from my garden. 

Easy Chili Recipe Template

Course: Main dishes, Recipe Templates

Servings

6-8

servings

Prep time

20

minutes

Cooking time

20

minutes

Total time

40

minutes

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp olive oil

• 1 cup chopped white onion

• 2 cloves chopped garlic

• 1 pound ground meat

• 1 32 oz can diced tomatoes with the juices

• 2 cans beans, drained (traditional = kidney beans)

• 2 cups chopped fresh peppers

• 2 cups broth or water

• Salt and pepper to taste

• Chili spices: chili powder, paprika, cumin etc (based on preference)

Directions

• Heat olive oil in a deep pot on medium high.
• Saute onions and garlic until translucent, stirring often
• Add ground meat to the pot, stirring to break up the meat until it is all browned. Season the meat with salt, pepper, and your chili powder.
• Add diced tomatoes and stir to incorporate with the meat.
• Add diced fresh peppers (and any other vegetables) and stir. Simmer for 2-3 minutes.
• Add the beans. Stir everything together and season again.
• Add broth or water, using more or less depending on how soupy you like your chili
• Simmer the chili for another 15-20 minutes, until all the ingredients are soft and you reach the desired consistency (see notes)

Notes

• Let’s talk about consistency. How soupy you like your chili is up to you. You can add more or less liquid during the cooking process. When the chili is done you can either allow it to simmer a few more minutes or add a little extra liquid if it is too watery or too thick. Keep in mind that it will absorb some water as it sits in the fridge, so I personally like to err on the side of a little more soupy, but that is my preference.
• Chili freezes great! It’s kind of hard not to make a huge batch, so be sure the second half of your pot doesn’t go to waste by storing it in the freezer to enjoy another day. Simply take it out of the freezer and let it thaw 1-2 days in the fridge. If you don’t have time for that, leave it out on the counter for a few hours, empty it into a pot with a little bit of water on the bottom, and turn the stove on low-medium until the chili is thawed and warmed through.