Simple and Easy Weeknight Chili Recipe

by | Feb 27, 2020 | About The Food We Eat, Entree, Fun To Make, Recipes, Week Night Meals

Life At The Table | Easy Weeknight Chili Recipe. A white bowl of chili with fresh diced white onions in a white bowl with a beige napkin in a napkin ring on the left side and three gold stars on the right side.
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Easy Weeknight Chili Recipe

Ready for a bowl of weeknight goodness? Give this easy chili recipe a try that’s perfect for a weeknight.

What does a German immigrant who owned The Phoenix Saloon in a central Texas town to have to do with a red, spicy powder that’s a base ingredient in chili?

Everything.

 

 

William Gebhardt’s Obsession With a Good Bowl of Chili

Located in downtown New Braunfels and established in 1871, William Gebhardt’s saloon had an interesting reputation. His bar was the first in Texas to serve women, had an alligator pit, and a parrot inside the front door who was taught to say, “Have you paid your bill yet?”.

And proprietor Gebhardt was known for his chili that he served in the cafe at the back of the saloon.

So enamored was he by the spice that was central to his chili recipe, he bought fresh ancho chilis by the wagonload in season to ensure that his renowned and beloved dish remained on the menu year round.

Preserving this all important ingredient became a passion and he soon discovered methods for drying the chilis and grinding them into a powder.

Originally he called it “Tampico Dust.”

Today we simply know it as chili powder.

By 1915 Gebhardt was producing 18,000 bottles of chili powder a day.

And I’m grateful.

 

Chili Powder is a Central Ingredient in a Good Bowl of Red

Chili powder is still a central ingredient in a beautiful bowl of goodness also known as a bowl of red in Texas.

In fact, Will Rogers described chili as “the bowl of blessedness”.

So great is the affection for this delightful dish that the 4th Thursday of every February is known as National Chili Day.

The truth is chili is good any day of the year and it’s easy enough to make on a weeknight, even for a crowd.

It’s such a simple dish to prepare that it was a favorite of the Texas prison system in the mid to late 1800s. The prisoners enjoyed it so much that after release they often wrote the prison asking for the recipe.

The resolution that proclaimed chili as the Texas state dish said that one cannot be a true son or daughter of this state without having his taste buds tingle at the thought of the treat that is real, honest-to-goodness, unadulterated Texas chili.

 

Make No Beans About It, Texas Chili is the Best!

And that means no beans are added.

This recipe is super simple and easy. It’s perfect for a weeknight bowl of comfort.

Read more about how Texas is the epicenter of all things even before it named this tasty creation its official state dish.

 

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Simple and Easy Weeknight Chili Recipe

Simple and Easy Chili
Print Recipe

You can have a bowl of delicious chili from countertop to dining table in 30 minutes. It’s an easy weeknight recipe that will have your tastebuds dancing!

  • Prep Time: 0 hours
  • Cook Time: 0 hours
  • Total Time: 0 hours
  • Yield: 4 Servings 1x
  • Category: About The Food We Eat, Entree, Fun To Make, Recipes, Week Night Meals

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 lb. grass-fed beef
  • 1 1/4 cup onion, small dice
  • 1 tablespoon fresh garlic, diced
  • 2 tablespoons chili powder
  • 2 tablespoons cumin
  • 1 tablespoon paprika
  • 1 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon cayenne
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1–15 oz can stewed tomatoes
  • 1–8oz can tomato sauce
  • 2 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 1/2 cup coffee porter beer

Instructions

  1. Heat a pot over medium-high heat.
  2. Once it’s hot drizzle it with olive oil and add the grass-fed ground beef.
  3. As the beef begins to brown, add the diced onion.
  4. Once the beef is cooked through, add the garlic.
  5. Sauté until fragrant, about 1-2 minutes.
  6. Add the remaining spices. Stir to combine.
  7. Add the stewed tomatoes, the tomato sauce, and tomato paste.
  8. Using a wooden spoon, break up the large pieces of the stewed tomatoes.
  9. Add the beer and stir to combine.
  10. Lower the heat and simmer 15-20 minutes.
  11. Voila! Your chili is done.
  12. Taste and adjust the seasoning with additional kosher salt as needed.
  13. Serve with fresh diced onions and grated cheese.

Notes

Grass-fed beef is lean. If you use a higher fat content of ground beef, you may need to drain some of the fat before adding the spices.

Makes 4-1 cup servings.

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 1 cup
  • Calories: 134
  • Sugar: 8.2 g
  • Sodium: 448 mg
  • Fat: 4.7 g
  • Saturated Fat: 1.4 g
  • Trans Fat: 0.2 g
  • Carbohydrates: 19.1 g
  • Fiber: 5.3 g
  • Protein: 8 g
  • Cholesterol: 13.2 mg
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