Listen, I have craved chili approximately 0 times in my life. And that’s being generous. But the weekend after Thanksgiving I wanted two things, cold weather and chili.
I could not do much about the cold weather because it is Southern California. But we did put our tree up after basically rearranging our tiny space for said tree. And I opened my cabinets to see that I actually had everything for what would be my kind of perfect chili.
Cold Weather Chili Recipe, Quick & Easy
(without Losing the Flavor!)
Just chop all the veggies you have on hand! This is best done while listening to your favorite podcast or better yet, Christmas music!
Also? I fried up bacon and that’s about the time when Jeremy and Stout showed up in the kitchen.
Bacon- bringing families together for 800 decades.
I removed the bacon from the pan and left in about 1 teaspoon of bacon fat, I added all the chopped veggies and sautéed them until tender.
This chili is so easy because we basically get to dump everything in the pot. Using red wine to deglaze and tomato paste gives this chili a really rich, bold flavor.
It’s flavorful and it is so good especially the next day (isn’t chili always best the next day?). If you need comfort in the cold maybe pull out your soup pot and pull everyone close?
The fun part is letting everyone top their chili just the way they like it. Sour cream, bacon, jalapeños, hot sauce, cheddar cheese, cilantro…all the things!
Also, these bowls?! We purchased some oven safe soup bowls a few years ago specifically for Smitten Kitchen’s roasted tomato soup (see below!). Ever since we have been putting yummy soups in our bowls and into the oven.
Here’s to us weary, maybe cold to the bone, humans. I hope you bring to your table not just this cold weather chili but your stories too.
Cold Weather Chili Recipe
Ingredients
- 1.5 lbs ground sirloin (or ground beef)
- 1 red bell pepper, chopped
- 1 poblano pepper, chopped
- 1 red onion, chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, chopped
- 1 jalapeno, seeds removed and chopped (omit it you do not want a spicy chili)
- 1 TBS chili powder
- 2 tsp salt
- 2 TBS tomato paste
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1/2 cup red wine, or beef stock or beer (choose your liquid!)
- 1 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
- 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed (optional)
Instructions
- In a soup pot fry up 4-5 pieces of bacon. Remove bacon and keep 1 tsp of bacon fat in the pan. Chop bacon for topping the chili with later. This step is optional! If you do not fry bacon just add 1 TBS oil to soup pot.
- Add chopped veggies to pot and saute on medium high heat until veggies are tender, about 3-4 minutes.
- Add beef and crumble while sauting until browned, about 5 minutes.
- Add tomato paste, salt and all spices. Mix to combine about 2 minutes.
- Add your liquid of choice to deglaze the pan. (To deglaze, slowly pour in liquid and use a wooden soup to scrap up any browned bits on the bottom of the pan).
- Add can of tomatoes (with juice) and beans.
- Bring to a boil and then simmer for 10 minutes. Taste and add any salt if needed!
Serve with hot sauce, sour cream, cheddar cheese, crumbled bacon, jalapenos, cilantro or anything else you like!
Mmm, this looks delicious, and I agree – nothing like the smell of bacon frying to bring everyone running to the kitchen! Great idea about the oven safe bowls, too.
Thank you, Monica!! I hope you enjoy 🙂
Made this tonight. I included the bacon addition and I think it brought it to a whole next level. My family loved it!
Our family loved this chili recipe, it could be our new go to!!
What capacity serves 5 individuals?