Weeknight Beef Chili Recipes

SPEEDY WEEKNIGHT CHILI

Steps:

• In a large saucepan or Dutch oven, cook the beef, onions and green pepper over medium heat until meat is no longer pink. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer. Drain. Add remaining ingredients; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes.

SLOW-COOKER WEEKNIGHT CHILI(COOK'S COUNTRY)

Steps:

• 1. Toast chili powder, cumin, coriander, oregano, cayenne, and pepper flakes in large Dutch oven over medium heat until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Transfer toasted spices to bowl. Add bacon to Dutch oven and cook over medium heat until crisp, 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer bacon to plate lined with paper towels and pour off all but 1 teaspoon fat from pot. Return pot to medium heat, add onions and bell pepper, and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
• 2. Add beef, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper. Increase heat to medium-high and cook, using wooden spoon to break up beef into 1/2-inch pieces, until just slightly pink, about 5 minutes. Drain beef and vegetables in colander.
• 3. Add tomato puree, diced tomatoes, and toasted spices to empty pot and bring to simmer over medium-high heat, scraping up any browned bits from bottom of pot. Return drained beef and vegetable mixture and bacon to pot, stir to combine, and bring to simmer. Transfer contents to slow-cooker insert.
• 4. Set slow cooker to low, cover, and cook until tender, 6 to 8 hours, stirring in beans during last hour of cooking. (Alternately, cook on high for 3 to 4 hours.) Adjust seasonings and serve. (Leftovers can be refrigerated for several days or frozen for several months.).
• Make Ahead: If you'd prefer to just dump the chili ingredients into the slow cooker before running off to work, you can do all the work the night before. Follow the recipe through step 3, but continue to simmer the assembled chili for 10 minutes. Transfer the chili to an airtight container and refrigerate overnight. In the morning, simmer the chili in a Dutch oven for 10 minutes, then transfer it to your slow cooker and proceed with step 4.

WEEKNIGHT BEEF CHILI

Steps:

• Mash bread and milk into paste in large bowl using fork.
• Mix in ground beef, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper using hands.
• Heat oil in a 12-inch skillet over med-high heat until shimmering.
• Add onions, chili powder, tomato paste, garlic, cumin, oregano, and red pepper flakes and cook until vegetables are softened and lightly browned, 8-10 minutes.
• Stir in beef mixture, 1 pound at a time, and cook, breaking up any large pieces with wooden spoon, until no longer pink, about 3 minutes per pound.
• Stir in 1 cup tomato puree, scraping up any browned bits; transfer to slow cooker.
• Stir remaining tomato puree, diced tomatoes with juice, beans, soy sauce, sugar, and chipotles into slow cooker.
• Cover and cook until beef is tender, 6-8 hours on LOW or 3-5 hours on HIGH.
• Let chili settle for 5 minutes, then remove fat from surface using large spoon.
• Break up any remaining large pieces of beef with spoon.
• Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve.