I feel the need to call this recipe something other than just “chili”.  Growing up chili meant the red stuff with beans and ground beef, but now with white chili and chicken taco chili you have to distinguish…sometimes I call it red chili but I think that’s a weird name. No matter what you call it, here’s my (really, my mom’s) recipe for your basic, traditional chili.

you’ll need: ground something (we usually use ground beef, but our Kroger doesn’t have a great selection of ground beef and the ground turkey was the same price per pound so we used it this time – I couldn’t tell a difference), onion, tomato juice, chili powder, beans (not pictured: salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper)

chop the onion

and combine it with the ground beef/turkey/chicken

brown the meat and onion (I think it’s funny to say “brown the meat” when you’re cooking turkey because it actually turns white…but you know what I mean)

I like to cook the meat in the same pot that I’m going to use for the soup so that I don’t have to get two things dirty, but you can certainly brown your meat in a large skillet then put it in a pot.  If you cook it in the pot, just make sure to drain off any fat before you add the other ingredients.

add the tomato sauce

as well as the beans, chili powder, salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper

then serve it up with some cheese and sour cream (fat free/low fat if you’re doing South Beach)

Recipe

Ingredients

• 1.5 lbs ground beef/turkey/chicken
• 1/3 cup onion, chopped
• 2 cans Bush’s chili beans (Mom always used pinto beans in chili sauce; I like lots of beans so I actually use 3 cans of beans: pinto beans in chili sauce, red beans in chili sauce, and kidney beans)
• 1 large container of tomato juice (about a half gallon?) or 4 11.5 oz cans
• 2 TBSP chili powder (approximately, I just shake a lot in the pot until I think it’s enough)
• salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper to taste

Instructions

Brown ground beef (or turkey, or chicken) with onion and drain, if needed.  Add juice, beans, and seasoning (I just dump the chili beans in there sauce and all, but the kidney beans I rinse before I put them in).  Simmer at least 30 minutes.

This is a South Beach phase 1 recipe.