Modest Meals: Homemade Chili

Here we go again. This post is becoming one of my favorite times of the week..I really love food 😉

When some people hear the words homemade Chili, they think of slow cooking beans in multiple pots over a few days, then putting all the ingredients together with even more slow cooking to create some fabulous, spicy, elaborate dish. Well, this recipe is all of the above without all the time and effort.

I can’t take the credit for this recipe either as I stole it from my mother in law, but lets get on with the show.

Mo-In-Laws Easy Chili:

• 1  Can Black Beans – 15oz ($0.50)
• 1 Can Red Kidney Beans – 15oz ($0.78)
• 1 Can Red Beans – 15oz ($0.78)
• 1 Can Chili Beans – 15oz ($0.50)
• 1 Can Pinto Beans – 15oz ($0.78)
• 1 Can Diced Tomatoes – 25oz ($1)
• 1 Can Tomato Sauce – 25oz ($1)
• 1 Box Carroll Shelby’s Texas Chili Mix – comes as 4oz box ($2 though you only use half. Linked for example, we don’t buy it online)
• Meat of your choice* (we usually leave this out and don’t miss it)

1. Open all the cans and empty them into a big pot (add the cooked meat – optional)
2. Add approximately half all the Carroll Shelby’s Chili Mix
3. Heat on medium for about 20 minutes with lid in place
4. Stir enough to keeps beans from sticking to the bottom, about every 2-4 minutes.

This makes about enough to generously feed about eight people. We usually each have one bowl when its fresh and then I take it for lunch every day for the rest of the week plus eat any leftover on the weekend. I just can’t get enough 😉

Total cost: about $8 for the cans of beans and Chili mix and about 30 minutes cooking time

Total cost of things I had to buy to make the Chili: Technically all of it, but we stock about 3 or 4 mixes worth of everything ahead of time, so no trip to the store for this meal

This recipe is really easy and very versatile. We make it about three to four times a month because its so easy to make and keeps extremely well in the fridge, I would say up to about two weeks without any noticeable negative change in taste or consistency. I say negative change because with some things they actually taste better a day later and that’s the case with this Chili. The extra time gives all the flavors a chance to infuse together and the Chili time to thicken up a bit more.

The versatility comes with all the things you can easy and successfully add to this Chili. My mother in law has put ground beef, chicken, bacon, and my favorite, roast, into the Chili and they all tasted fantastic. We usually just skip the meat as we aren’t huge meat eaters and like to keep things simple but if we hear that my mother in law is making Chili, we dont miss the chance to invite ourselves over for dinner 😉

As far as other optional ingredients, I have added cut green or white onion, fresh tomatoes, garlic, fresh pineapple, and extra seasoning (Chili or cayenne pepper) but you can add just about anything to this Chili. We usually eat it prepared with the directions above, add some cheese on top and a dollop of sour cream on top of that.  Though it also goes great with fresh bread, or corn bread.

The box of Chili seasoning includes (individually packaged) the Chili mix, some cayenne pepper, salt, and Masa which I think is a type of flour. It really thickens up the Chili but all the ingredients are option, aside from the actual Chili mix which gives the Chili it’s great flavor.

There it is, one of our family favorites and one of the easiest meals we have in our cooking arsenal.

I tried a little harder to make this look as good in the pictures as it tastes because someone (you know who you are) told me my Sloppy Joe pictures looked…well, sloppy 😉 and yes I said fabulous and fantastic in the same post, it is still ok for a straight man to say fabulous!

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Tags: 30 minutes, black beans, cans, carroll shelby, chili beans, chili mix, dish, easy chili, few days, fridge, homemade chili, mother in law, pinto beans, pots, red beans, red kidney beans, rest of the week, slow cooking, texas chili, tomato sauce