It’s getting cold out again, which means it’s the perfect time of year for things like soup and chili! There are so many ways to prepare those comforting, cold weather meals (which we actually eat all times of the year). Over the years, I’ve made various adjustments to my recipe. I wanted an easy to follow, basic recipe for my children so they could learn how to make their own. I wanted to simplify the process of making some delicious, quick, easy, basic chili, and minimize clean up. I also matched up the instruction steps with the ingredient list by number to make it even easier.
ingredients
- rice or barley, or mashed potatoes
- ground beef, chicken, or other ground meat (leave out or replace with vegetable crumbles for vegetarian chili)
- onion, garlic, bell pepper(s), hot pepper (optional)
- tomatoes – frozen, fresh cut up, or canned crushed ; canned kidney beans
- oregano, cumin, basil, black pepper, hot pepper powder (optional)
instructions
- Start the rice or barley, or peel and boil the potatoes
- Start cooking the ground meat in a frying pan if using meat
- Cut up the onion, garlic, and peppers, and sauté them with a little oil in a large cooking pot
- When the vegetables are just about done cooking, add the tomatoes and kidney beans. When the ground beef is done cooking, drain off the fat and add to the pot, OR add the vegetable crumbles. Mash the potatoes if making them.
- Season chili with the spices and let simmer for a little while to let the flavors mix.
Once everything is ready, serve and enjoy! This is one of those dishes that is even better the next day. I’ve also made extra and frozen it for later days.
Chili is my 12 year old’s specialty! She uses this recipe as a guide. She’s made it more times than I can remember. Of course, you can make your own changes to the recipe as you prefer.
Bon appétit!
Chili sounds amazing, I may have to try it soon. I use my slow cooker this time of year, so I get excited! When I get home from my night shift, I throw in all the ingredients, cover it, put it to the desired temperature and then go to sleep while all the magic happens. Then I awaken to a house that smells amazing! The baby back ribs have been delectable lately. Now I am going to have to give that chili a whirl. 🙂
I hope you like it! The thing I like is the flexibility of the recipe – you can put more or less of each ingredient in, depending on what you like. I agree – slow cookers are wonderful!