Because of significant regional variations, it is hard to define exactly what chili is. But for starters I’d describe chili as basically a spicy, tomato-based stew or soup.
Some chilis have cubed meat, some have ground meat, some have no meat. Some have kidney beans, some have black beans, some have no beans. But surrounding whatever meat or beans there may be, you will typically find a spicy tomato base – and probably some onion and garlic. I’d say that just about everything else is negotiable.
Making chili can be as complicated or expensive as you want to make it. Purists and competition junkies may insist on using dried whole chilis – but I think you can make really amazing chili using powdered spices. A ton of chili recipes suggest that using beer in the chili improves the flavor – for me, beer waters everything down (better to save the beer to drink with the chili?). I, personally, love chili made with ground buffalo or bison meat but that can be prohibitively expensive – and using standard-issue ground chuck is almost the same (and though I’m not a fan of turkey chili, it certainly has its share of enthusiastic fans too). You’ll find recipes that add a little cocoa powder for color enhancement. Lately I’ve seen a lot of recipes that use carrots. And should you ever encounter a recipe for gourmet chili, ask yourself exactly what on earth that would even mean. Recipes can be all over the place.
Ultimately, YOUR perfect chili should be what YOU like to eat. Never forget that you are always the arbiter of what tastes best! Well….you and your family or guests, OK. And in the interest of helping you make your own perfect chili, perhaps it might help you to see how I think though my own not-totally-from-scratch homemade chili.
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Note 1 – If you have ever used a box chili mix, you’ll see some of the same components below – but making it yourself will give you complete control over every aspect of how your finished chili will taste. Chili mixes typically contain some chili powder, cumin, salt, oregano, and possibly some corn flour for thickening. Personally, I have never understood the rationale behind making a watery chili and then trying to re-thicken it.
Note 2 – I prefer to use a slow cooker (crock pot) to heat my chili because it prevents scorching. You can heat chili in a large pot as well as long as you start things over low heat and stir frequently. By the time all the ingredients go into the pot, it’s really just a matter of bringing everything up to temperature, NOT of cooking – I’m not slow cooking my chili, I am warming it slowly and carefully. Using a slow cooker also allows me to focus on other things without needing to hover over the chili with a watchful eye.
Note 3 – When buying chili powder, make sure that it lists “Chili Pepper” explicitly on the label and that it doesn’t already contain cumin in the mix (the first label below is suspicious) – cumin in chili powder tends to make the chili powder look dull and brown – given a choice, I recommend going with the reddest chili powder.
Note 4 – I like my own chili with meat and beans. If you prefer your chili without meat or without beans, then you can adjust accordingly. I don’t think that any of my quantities below would be considered critical or controversial. The real chili isn’t the meat or the beans – it’s the tomato and the spices and onion and garlic and stuff.
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Not-Totally-From-Scratch Homemade Chili
Makes 12 – 16 servings – guidelines here can be halved.
Ingredients:
Olive Oil or Bacon Grease – as needed
Onion – 2 medium – diced
Garlic – 6 large – finely chopped, not minced
Green Bell Pepper (or Yellow or Orange or Red) – 2 large – diced
Ground Beef (or Bison or Buffalo or Turkey) – 4 lbs.
Crushed Tomatoes – 2 x 28 oz. cans
Tomato Paste – 1 x 4 oz. can
Kidney (or Other) Beans – 4 x 15 oz. cans
Worcestershire Sauce – 6 Tbsp.
Chipotle Chilis in Adobo Sauce – 2 Tbsp. finely chopped
Red Wine Vinegar (or Sherry/Balsamic/Rice Vinegar) – 3 Tbsp.
Dry Spices:
Chili Powder – 4 Tbsp.
Chipotle Chile Pepper Powder – 1 tsp.
Ancho Chile Pepper Powder – 1 tsp.
Ground Cumin – 2 Tbsp.
Dried Oregano – 1 Tbsp.
Kosher Salt – 1 Tbsp.
Black Pepper – 1 tsp.
Optional: Fish Sauce – 1 Tbsp., Honey – 2 Tbsp.
Garnish: Chopped cilantro, scallions, chopped onion, shredded sharp cheddar cheese, sour cream.
Directions:
(1) Combine all of the dry spices and stir with a spoon to combine.
(2) Prepare your vegetables first. Dice the onions and bell peppers. Finely chop the garlic.
(3) In a large pan, brown your meat (making sure to break it up into small pieces). For 4 lbs. of meat, brown the meat in two batches. If any fat or liquid accumulates, drain what you can. Transfer cooked meat to a (large) slow cooker or a stock pot.
(4) In the same pan cook the onions in a little olive oil or bacon grease until translucent and fragrant. Add the chopped garlic and continue to cook for another minute. Transfer onions and garlic to the slow cooker or stock pot.
(5) Cook the peppers in a little olive oil or bacon grease until soft. Transfer to the slow cooker or stock pot.
(6) Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, and canned beans to the slow cooker or stock pot. Then add the liquid flavor supplements: Worcestershire sauce, chipotle chilis, vinegar. Add fish sauce and honey if using. If using a slow cooker, set cooker to the high slow cook setting – if using a stock pot, place the pot over low heat and stir frequently to raise the temperature of the ingredients slowly.
(7) Once the ingredients are hot enough to bubble (about 1 hour if using a slow cooker), add the spices and stir to distribute uniformly.
(8) After the spices have been added, continue to heat the chili for another hour or so.
(9) Garnish, if you like, with chopped cilantro, scallions, chopped onion, shredded sharp cheddar cheese, or sour cream. Chili also tastes awesome over fettuccine or linguine.
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Notes and Illustrations:
The underlying flavors of chili come from the tomato, the spices, and the savory vegetables.
Mix-up the dried spices.
Prepare your vegetables first. Dice the onions and bell peppers. Finely chop the garlic.
In a large pan, brown your meat (making sure to break it up into small pieces). For 4 lbs. of meat, brown the meat in two batches. If any fat or liquid accumulates, drain what you can. Transfer cooked meat to a (large) slow cooker or a stock pot.
In the same pan cook the onions in a little olive oil or bacon grease until translucent and fragrant. Add the chopped garlic and continue to cook for another minute. Transfer onions and garlic to the slow cooker or stock pot.
Cook the peppers in a little olive oil or bacon grease until soft. Transfer to the slow cooker or stock pot.
Note – I typically use green bell peppers in my chili but none were available at the grocery store. I used, instead, one large yellow and one large orange bell pepper.
So I start by cooking the meat and vegetables first. They all go into my large slow cooker (turned OFF).
Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, and canned beans to the slow cooker or stock pot.
Note – Use whatever beans you like in your chili (or no beans at all). In the picture above, I have one 40 oz. can of kidney beans (that’s the standard issue chili bean!), and one 28 oz. can of black beans, and one 15 oz. can of white navy beans. Also visible in the picture are my two 28 oz. cans of crushed tomatoes and my one 4 oz. can of tomato paste.
And there wasn’t enough room in my slow cooker for all those beans. If this ever happens you can either mix them in at the end in a larger vessel or you can add them after the first couple of servings have been removed from the slow cooker. Remember that the chili isn’t the beans (in this case), it’s the spicy sauce around the beans.
Then add the liquid flavor supplements: Worcestershire sauce, chipotle chilis, vinegar. Add fish sauce and honey if using. Each of these items adds complexity to your chili flavor – you shouldn’t be adding so much that any single flavor is ever detectable.
If using a slow cooker, set cooker to the high slow cook setting – if using a stock pot, place the pot over low heat and stir frequently to raise the temperature of the ingredients slowly. Heat for about an hour – until the ingredients begin to bubble.
Once the ingredients are hot enough to bubble, add the spices mix and stir to distribute uniformly. Let the chili continue to slow cook for another hour (or two).
My chili here is garnished with chopped cilantro and scallions.
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