Steak-N-Shake Chili

Nancy's Pantry's Note:

I grew up eating at this fast-food restaurant and then it suddenly disappeared. Now they are back and their hamburgers and shakes are just as good as they ever were. Their chili cheese fries are delish! Of course, now I only eat at this restaurant on special occasions!!!

• Total Time: 6 hrs 15 mins
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 6 hrs

Ingredients:

Servings: 6

• 2 tablespoons oil
• 1 1/2 lbs ground beef
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 (10 ounce) can French onion soup
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 2 teaspoons cumin, ground
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 teaspoons cocoa powder
• 2 (14 ounce) cans kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
• 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1 cup cola (Coca Cola or Pepsi)

Directions:

1. Brown ground beef along with salt in oil. Drain meat and return to crockpot. Put soup in blender and blend for 1 minute. Add all other ingredients, including soup, to crockpot. Let simmer on low for 6 hours or on high for 2 hours.

Reviews

[choco chip]

It has been so long since I ate at Steak-N-Shake, I can't say how close this is to the original, but it was good. I simmered it for about 2 hours before I added the beans, and it was getting pretty thick, so I had to add about 1/2 C. of water to thin it out a little. I used ground venison instead of beef. My wife loved it.

[sneakers75]

This is good chili. But don't be mistaken, this is no-where close to Steak n Shake Chili. I was utterly disappointed just by the fact I was hoping it was close. SnS has nothing to fear.

The closest chili you can find to SnS that IS NOT SnS is Ray's Brand Chili. But - you don't need close when SnS and Rays side side by side on the grocery store shelf.

If you do some minor searching online - you will find out the the Original owner (I believe) of SnS sold the recipe to Rays years and year ago. Hence the similarity.

I've looked at the ingredients and soy plays some role but I don't know what.

The taste, though, of SnS (and Ray's) in unmistakable. I'm sorry this recipe isn't it.

[Sydney Mike]

Although I pretty much followed the recipe, I did use low-sodium kidney beans & tomato products & have found another chili recipe that tastes great & does well in the freezer, too! There is a chicken chili that we like very much, but this one is a nice change of pace from that, especially, I thought, with the bit of cocoa & the Pepsi (which is what I used) in it! A keeper of a recipe, for sure! Thanks for sharing it! [Made & reviewed in 1-2-3 Hits recipe tag]