My Mom’s Classic Chili
Ingredients
- 2 medium, or 1 large yellow onions, diced
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 2 to 2 ½ pounds ground beef or lean ground turkey
- 3 large cans (29-ounces each) pinto beans, rinsed and drained
- 46 ounces tomato juice
- 1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce
- 1 cup (227 g) ketchup
- 2 bay leaves
- ½ cup water
- ¾ teaspoon garlic salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper, plus more if you want the chili spicier
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
Instructions
- In a large 12-inch nonstick skillet, brown the ground beef (or turkey) with the onion and salt until the meat is cooked through. Drain excess grease, if needed.
- In a large pot, combine the pinto beans, tomato juice, tomato sauce, and ketchup. Stir in the bay leaves, water, garlic salt, pepper, chili powder, cayenne, cumin and brown sugar.
- Add the cooked meat/onion mixture.
- Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring, then reduce the heat and simmer, partially covered, over medium-low heat for an hour (or up to 4-5 hours), stirring occasionally. Add additional salt and pepper to taste, if needed, before serving.
Notes
For a Slow Cooker Version: brown the meat and onions in the first step but instead of a pot, combine the rest of the ingredients in a large slow cooker. Stir in the meat and cook on low for 5-7 hours. I've also subbed in stew meat for the ground beef and it is delicious also (I don't precook it, I throw in the meat cubes and onions with the other ingredients and cook it on low for about 8 hours).
Amount: this recipe can be easily scaled down.