Southern chili

This chili recipe is easy to make and taste delicious too! This is the traditional chili recipe with a spicy twist, perfect for cold winter days. If you’ve tried my alternative healthy turkey chili recipe, I think you’ll like this one too.

Why make this recipe?

• Easy to make
• Hot & spicy chili (but you can make it mild if you like)
• Make today and freeze for later

What exactly is Southern chili?

Southern chili recipe is a hotter, spicier version of your regular chili, that also includes tomatoes, peppers and white hominy or beans.

Like with other recipes for chili, my version of the Southern chili recipe is just a suggestion, you can easily make it to your liking by adding more or less spice, changing the type of meat you use or leaving the beans out.

My top tips on making this recipe successfully the first time round

Browning and sealing the meat by frying it first on it’s own is the best way to preserve the flavour and juiciness of the meat.

The browning will also flavour the rest of the dish, once it’s simmering away for the rest of the cooking time.

Time saving tip

Double the quantities of this recipe, make it and then freeze, portioned up, for later. This is the best ‘instant’ homemade dinner you can possibly make.

Ingredients & Possible Substitutions

INGREDIENTS

• 2 tablespoons oil vegetable or sunflower
• 1 pound minced (ground) beef
• 1/2 onion finelly chopped
• 1 cup black beans, hominy or beans of your choice
• 1 1/2 cup canned tomatoes
• 1/2 cup tomato paste
• 1/2 cup salsa sauce medium or mild
• 3/4 cups beef broth beef stock or bouilon
• 1 cup water
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoon cocoa powder unsweetened or few squares of 70-80% cocoa solids dark chocolate bar
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder or use fresh garlic – 1-2 cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper ground

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The method – Instructions

In a large saucepan or a frying pan, heat the oil over medium-high heat.

Add the chopped onion and garlic and saute for a minute or so.

Add the beef and cook until the meat changes the colour and browns a little. This can take about 5-10 minutes.

In another large saucepan or a pot, add the canned tomatoes, tomato paste, salsa, beef stock (broth) and all the spices.

Add the beef to the tomatoes & spices pot and gradually bring to boil.

Once the pot is boiling, reduce the heat to medium-low, cover the pot and simmer for another 30-40 minutes. The sauce can splatter a bit, so keep an eye on the pot and stir occasionally.

When you are ready to serve your chili, add the beans and heat through for another 5 minutes or so.

Taste the chili and adjust the flavours to your taste.

Serve with sour cream or cheese cream on swirled in and a side dish of cornbread, nachos or other bread of your choice.

How else you can make this Southern chili recipe?

There are so many ways you can make chili! You can easily make the chili less spicy by making your own mild spices mix and experimenting with the different quantities of different spices.

You can also use different types of meats and add fresh chillies, peppers and different types of beans. Here are my favourite variations on this recipe:

Mild chili

• Swap the hot salsa sauce for more tomato sauce
• Ease off on the chili spice or use very mild version
• Use sweet paprika powder to add flavour
• Add more meat, fresh red or green peppers (not spicy)

Turkey chili

Great way to use up your leftover turkey is to make a chili. Just replace the amount of beef in this recipe with turkey. Keep the beef stock (broth) in unless you have a turkey or chicken one, as they are similar in flavour.

Mixed meat chili

Use any type of ground (minced) meat you have at hand. This can be for example, sausage meat, pork, beef, turkey etc.

No beans chili

Leave the beans out and add more fresh chillies or red peppers to bulk up the chili.

Serving size & can I scale up or down this recipe?

This Southern chili recipe is for 4 people, but you can easily double up the ingredients and make more. I often make large amount, because I want to freeze some of the chili for later. If you divide the chili into portions and freeze, you’ll have an instant dinner ready any time you want to!

How to serve this recipe

You can serve this Southern chili recipe with sour cream or cheese cream swirled in and a side dish of cornbread, nachos or other bread of your choice. Fresh herbs such as parsley (cilantro) will also look and taste great.

Can chili be made in advance?

Yes, like many meat based dishes, this chili will actually improve with time.

The flavour fully develops about 12-24 hrs after you’ve made it, so you can easily make it the day before you want to serve it, knowing it will taste delicious.

Once made, cool it down and then store covered with a lid in the fridge to serve the next day.

You can also make the chili and freeze it on the same day.

How to store chili if you have any leftovers

Store the chili in a covered container in the fridge and eat within 1-2 days maximum. If you know you can’t finish the chili in that time, I’d recommend to freeze it.

How to re-heat this recipe

If you are cooking for the whole family or large crowd, it’s probably easier to worm up the chili on a hob (stove) in a large saucepan or a pot.

If you are heating up just one or two smaller portions, microwave would be my preferred choice. 30 seconds at the time, with stiring in between, should do the trick.