Ingredients
- 12 oz. chopped onion
- 12 oz. chopped green bell pepper
- 5 celery stalks, chopped
- 1 T. salt*
- 1 T. ground black pepper
- 3 T. chili powder*
- 1 can (29 oz.) tomato puree
- 1 can (6 oz.) tomato paste
- 2 lb ground beef
- 2 cans (15 oz. each) dark kidney beans
- 1 can (40 oz.) hot chili beans
- 1/2 box ready cut spaghetti, cooked (optional)
- 2 c. water (approximately)
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Mom's Chili
Time: 2 hours cook
Servings: 10
Directions
- In a large Dutch oven or stock pot (5 or 6 qt. size), add the water to about 1/4 full (you may need a little more than 2 cups). Add the salt, pepper and chili powder. Add the onion, green bell pepper and celery. Start cooking over MEDIUM heat and bring to a boil.
- Once it comes to a boil, add the tomato paste & tomato puree; continue to cook at MEDIUM-LOW heat until it starts to boil again (approx. 45 min - 1 hour). Turn the heat down to LOW. *At this time, taste to make sure you have enough salt & chili powder. Add more if needed.
- In a separate skillet, cook the ground beef; drain. Add the chopped ground beef to the tomato mixture and continue to cook over LOW heat for 1/2 hour.
- Drain & rinse the kidney beans; add to the pot. Add the chili beans; stir, and cook for an additional 15 minutes. If needed, you can add additional water at this time. Also, if adding the cut spaghetti, put it in now; stir.
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Summary
This is a nod to my mom. She has been making this chili since I was a little girl. It's a pretty simple, fairly quick & tasty recipe.
My favorite variation is to add cooked, cut spaghetti at the end (spaghetti noodles that come already pre-cut to the size of macaroni).
For a tasty variation, I like adding chopped zucchini and yellow squash.
