Sweetpea's Chili

SweetPeaNC's Note:

This chili recipe took me two years to perfect. It's just a basic beef chili, but it's really good! Try substituting ground turkey--it works great too. Doubling or tripling this recipe is no problem. I always do so I can freeze some. It reheats amazingly well! Fair warning--this chili is pretty spicy! You can lower the spice by using milder peppers instead of the jalapenos. It's also easy to increase the heat--we add a another teaspoon of red pepper and a whole cascabel pepper (remove before serving) with the rest of the spices. Additional diced jalapenos or some habaneros also work great.

• Total Time: 1 hrs 30 mins
• Prep Time: 30 mins
• Cook Time: 1 hrs

Ingredients:

Servings: 6

• 1 1/2 lbs ground beef
• 3 green jalapeno peppers, chopped
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, pressed or minced
• 1/2 large green bell peppers or 1/2 large red bell pepper, chopped
• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 1 tablespoon dried chipotle powder
• 1 tablespoon cumin
• 1/2 tablespoon dried celery flakes
• 1 teaspoon ground red pepper
• 1/2 tablespoon salt
• 1 beef bouillon cube
• 3/4 cup beer
• 1 (29 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1 (27 ounce) can kidney beans, drained
• 1 (27 ounce) can pinto beans, drained
• 1 (14 ounce) can of petite diced tomatoes with juice
• 2 cups water
• black pepper
• shredded cheddar cheese (optional)
• sour cream (optional)

Directions:

1. In skillet, brown and drain ground beef.
2. In large pot, combine the beer, water, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, and the beans.
3. Add the peppers, garlic, and onion. Heat thoroughly.
4. Add the beef and all of the spices.
5. Cook for about an hour to allow the flavors to combine.
6. Garnish with the cheese and sour cream if desired.

Reviews

[Sydney Mike]

Great tasting chili, even if I did make a few changes (mostly cutting back on several ingredients) ~ I used just 1 1/2 jalapeno peppers (seeded), 2 teaspoons each of the chipotle powder & cumin, just 1 tablespoon of the chili powder, & left out the salt. Seems like a lot of changes, but I know it would have been way to hot for me & mine, as wold have been the sodium level, although I did use low-sodium beans & tomatoes! Thanks for a wonderful chili treat! [Tagged & made in Please Review My Recipe]

[weekend cooker]

great chili !!! Made chili as posted but cut back on the green peppers, and left out the salt,and using the sour cream and cheddar cheese. This had tons and tons of flavor. Great recipe, made for PRMR recipe.

[loof]

Loved this chili! I don't care for onion so left it out and used a bit more green pepper. I was a little short on the chipotle chili powder so made up the difference with some ancho chili powder; that along with the cayenne and 3 big jalapenos and this had plenty of heat! Cooked it uncovered for about 1 1/2 hours and ended up with a rich, thick, flavorful chili - thanks for posting the recipe!