Best Chili Ever!

Submitted by Rachaels Kitchen Go

"Rachael's Recipe Notes: Yes, you are reading the ingredients correctly - fennel seed, ground cinnamon and unsweetened baking cocoa are what make this delicious! I make this in a 4 quart stainless steel pan on the stove top, but after sweating the onions and peppers and browning the meat, if you want to put this in a crockpot and cook on LOW for 4 to 5 hours, it's just as good! If you like, you can add a can of diced tomatoes, undrained (15 to 16 ounces), at the same time you add the tomato paste. Sometimes my family likes the diced tomatoes, sometimes they don't. I serve this with homemade jalepeno cornbread and/or crispy tortilla strips."

 

• Ready In: 3hrs 30mins
• Ingredients: 15
• Yields: 3 quarts
• Serves: 6-8

ingredients

• 4.92 ml oil (I prefer olive)
• 680.38 g lean ground beef (90% really tastes the best in this)
• 354.88 ml onions, coarsely chopped (I use vidalia or spanish)
• 1 small yellow bell pepper, coarsely chopped
• 1 small red bell pepper, coarsely chopped
• 29.58-44.37 ml chili powder (more to taste if you like a good KICK!)
• 2 (340.19 g) can tomato paste
• 4.92 ml ground cumin
• 0.61 ml unsweetened baking cocoa
• 0.61 ml ground cinnamon
• 9.85 ml fennel seeds
• 9.85 ml red pepper flakes (more to taste if you like it very hot!)
• 907.18 g beans (I use dark red kidney and pink beans or light red kidney beans, 15 to 16 ounces each can, drained an)
• 226.79 g green chilies, canned, chopped & undrained (4 ounces each)
• 709.77 ml water

directions

1. In a very large, deep pre-heated skillet, add olive oil, then add chopped onions and peppers. I also add a little bit of water to the pan (maybe tablespoon or two); cover and cook on medium-low heat, just until onions and peppers begin to sweat. Uncover and add ground beef, using spatula to break up chunks of meat. Cover and cook on low heat until meat is cooked through, about 20 minutes or so (I add a little water during the cooking process). While the meat is cooking, I add the chili powder. I start with 1 Tbsp., and add as I go.
2. Once the meat is browned, add the tomato paste, stirring to incorporate completely (I also add more water at this point, enough to make it start looking like chili, a nice, thick chili). Cover and cook on lower heat (slow simmer) for 30 minutes.
3. Add the 5 ingredients, stir to incorporate, cover and cook on low (at a slow simmer) for another 60 minutes.
4. Add beans and green chiles (including the "juice"), stirring to incorporate. At this point, add more water if you need to do so. Cover and cook on low (slow simmer) for another 40 minutes.
5. Total cooking time is about 2-1/2 to 3 hours on stovetop. I know this sounds like a long time, but it really needs that much time to simmer and let the flavors blend.
6. Serve with chopped red onion, sour cream, hot sauce, and shredded cheddar, colby and/or Jack cheese(s).

Reviews

[55tbird]

This is really, really tasty chili. Will make this chili from now on. I made a few changes, but what really makes this chili delicious is the fennel seed. Thank you for the recipe.

 

[flower7]

This was very nice. I made a few adjustments to amounts... after halving the recipe, I used 1 whole yellow pepper (no red), a bit more chili powder, cinnamon & cocoa, and half the pepper flakes. Also reduced the water to just 1 cup as I like my chili very thick. After cooking, I thought it could use some salt so added 1/2 tsp. This made a good weekend supper in the colder weather we are having. Thanks for the recipe!

 

[John T.]

Going to try it tonight!! Looks wonderful!!

 

[Cheffenade]

Pretty good recipe. Used it for chili dogs and will be having left overs of chili with corn bread and chili cheese baked potatoes. I made it in my electric pressure cooker. I had the beans soaking when I left for work. Came home and put everything in the pressure cooker for 40 minutes. Upon tasting, I think the amount of red pepper was too much so will knock it down by a 1/4 tsp. next time. I also halved the recipe since there is only three of us. I substituted anise seed for the fennel because I didn't have fennel. I googled and learned that anise reads sweeter than fennel and will experiment with taking that down a notch too. Chili was still good. Hubby had three chili dogs!

 

[scarletsunn]

This is just the type of full bodied flavorful chili that I love! I didn't have a red pepper so I used a whole yellow pepper and will probably cut down on the pepper flakes next time because even though I love it spicy, my husband does not. I also didn't have tomato paste so I used a can of tomato sauce and then hardly any water. It was really really good!