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Chocoholic Chili - My New Go-to Recipe!
New and Improved Chili
I make chili quite often. So much so, that sometimes I have to look back on my wall calendar and make sure it is not too soon to have it again for my husband's sake. I actually look forward to the cooler weather and winter so that I have an excuse to make chili a lot. It has been one of my favorite meals my entire life and I think I have always made a really good chili. My husband even loves my chili, and he grew up with a very different style of chili than I did! I modeled my Western-style chili after my mother's recipe, but I never made it exactly the same way. I have found a new way of making chili with this recipe and will probably stay pretty true to this from now on. Once you try out this recipe, let me know what you think and let me know if you have a new way of making chili, too! I cannot wait to enter this into a contest!
Cook Time
Ingredients
- 1 lb. ground chuck, browned
- 1 small to med sweet onion, diced
- 3 or 4 cloves fresh garlic, diced
- 2 14 oz. cans diced tomatoes, I used one Italian style and one plain
- 1 can of black beans, drained
- 1 can of chili beans, drained
- 1 14 oz can beef broth, plus 1/2 cup water w/ 2 beef bouillon cubes dissolved
- 1/4 C chili powder, I prefer Penzey's Chili 3000
- 3 Tbsp cocoa powder, this is awesome in chili!
- 1 Tbsp cumin
- 2 tsp paprika
- 2 tsp oregano
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon, I prefer Penzey's Vietnamese Cinnamon
Instructions
- Brown the ground chuck with the chopped onion and garlic cloves. I always chop up my garlic cloves into little pieces and slightly crush them to help bring out the flavor. I love garlic and the smell it makes in the kitchen as it cooks! Cook over medium heat until the onions become clear and then drain and empty into a crock pot. I actually dabbed the meat with a paper towel to soak up some of the grease because I am trying to make things a bit healthier for my family. For this recipe I used my large 7 quart crock pot.
- Next, empty the tomatoes into the crock pot with all their juices. I then drained the liquid off the beans but I didn't rinse them because I like to keep some of the liquid for flavoring. Then, add your beef broth and dissolved boullion cubes. Lastly, add all of your spices. I turned this on at 10:30 in the morning and had it cooking all day on low. It can use between 6-8 hrs on low in the crock pot.
- I actually like to put a cornbread muffin in the bottom of the bowl all crumbled up, and then I add my chili on top of it. The sweetness of the corn muffin counteracts the spiciness of the chili. This chili is really not overly spicy considering the 1/4 cup of chili powder in the recipe. You could make it much spicier if you'd like with the addition of hot peppers or hot sauce.
- Garnish this incredibly savory chili with shredded cheddar cheese (we prefer local Bucky Badger Sharp Cheddar), sour cream, green onions and/or bacon. Please let me know what you think of this, I guarantee you will not be disappointed! Enjoy! PS. It is even better the second day!
