Today has been a gorgeous day in central MN! The temperature and humidity has dropped, my hubby is home for the week and the kids have NO activities! Yes Triple bonus! With that being said I have been wanting to make Chili for a few weeks but it has been so darn hot that I just could not deal with cooking something low and slow all day (my preferred method for chili). Also my garden had this to offer today...
Chili is one of those recipes I never make the same way twice. It is a very forgiving dish so feel free to experiment a bit. The hardest part of this recipe is cooking the ground beef. After that you add it all to your Crockpot and let it simmer for 4-6 hours on low.
get the printable version here... chili
Ingredients:
3 pounds ground beef browned and crumbled
2 small onions diced
1 can chili beans (I used mild)
1 can black beans
3 garlic cloves (run thru a press is best)
1 can diced tomatoes or 2 cups fresh diced. (feel free to add more or less to taste)
1 Tablespoon of chili powder (more if you like it spicy)
1 1/2 Teaspoons of paprika
1 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 Tablespoon cumin
salt and pepper to taste (I used about 1/2 teaspoon of each)
Instructions:
Brown the ground beef in a large skillet and chop into fine crumbles as it cooks. Add Ground beef to a large Crockpot (5 quart MINIMUM!). Add the rest of the ingredients and let simmer on low for 6-8 hours.
Please taste at least 1/2 hour before serving. You can adjust any of the seasonings to suit your own tastes.
Also here are some things you could add to make it your own...
Diced Jalapenos
Diced bell peppers or any kind of pepper
Corn (I recommend frozen)
Diced zucchini
Diced summer squash
Optional toppings:
Shredded cheddar
Sour cream
I served this with cornbread. You can find my favorite recipe here... golden sweet cornbread
I have to say this was one of the best batches I have made in a long time and everyone agreed!
* Disclaimer!!! Every Crockpot is different! I used my large 8 quart Crockpot and it cooks super hot. I put it on high for an hour them backed it down to low for a few them left it on keep warm. If I was going to be gone for 6-8 hours I definitely would put it on low and maybe add a bit of water.
The best part about this dinner is we only ate half of it and even had half the cornbread left so I packaged it up and put it in the freezer for dinner another night when I don't feel like cooking! Yes, woohoo!
Putz factor... 3... yes there are a lot of ingredients but it does not take long to get them all put together. After it was all in the pot I really did not think much about it the rest of the day :)
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