game day chili

This past weekend we hosted a little football watching party. Only, TCU wasn't playing (we figured out that morning...after putting all 4 of us in our TCU gear. Oh well). Also, we forgot to actually watch football. Instead, we watched these two: 

And these three. They are best friends. It's like Harry, Ron, and Hermione only with less magic and more tantrums.

Didn't matter to me one bit. Football is more of a good excuse to socialize rather than something I actually want to pay attention to. I had a lot of mouths to feed: Henry and his two best buds plus Max and his best bud plus their moms plus the hubs plus me. I whipped up a big o'l pot of game day chili for the occasion. This recipe can serve 12 hungry adults. Or 11 adults and one giant beast baby.

Jump to the end for the short version of the recipe. Or read along because it's more fun that way.

First, grab the biggest pot you have and get some olive oil going in it over medium-high heat. Add ground beef, ground turkey, and a diced onion. Why beef and turkey? Turkey is healthier, but having some beef gives you the great beef flavor. Essentially, the turkey "turns into beef" as far as your taste buds are concerned. Tricky, tricky.

Season the meat with salt and pepper. I let the meat hang out on one side and the veggies on the other. No real magic to this, but it helps me make sure the meat is cooking through.

When I'm going to dice more than one or two things I employ my food processor because I'm lazy efficient. I love a good chunky chili, but since we had kiddos to feed, I diced everything up pretty fine so they wouldn't turn their cute little button noses up at it. I snuck in a whole onion, garlic, 2 red bell peppers and a zucchini. They had no clue. 

Ha.

Hahahahaha!

I grate zucchini or squash and sneak it into all kinds of foods. I like it because it's pretty undetectable AND it works well as a thickener, which makes it perfect for chili.

Add all of those veggies and stir occasionally until the veggies begin to soften and the meat is cooked through.

Once that's all browned and cooked through, add 2 cans of Rotel. I like the Chili Fixin's variety, since it has the right spices already in it. Any will do just fine, though.

And two 8 oz cans of tomato sauce. Then add the spices: chili powder, cumin, paprika, and a bit more salt and pepper. Stir it up, close the lid, reduce the heat to low, and let it simmer for 30 minutes.

Sorry the photo is all fuzzy. It's exceptionally difficult to take a clear picture with one hand while pouring a can with the other while steam billows up from the pot. Ah well, you get the idea.

Once the ingredients have had some time to get to know each other (about 30 minutes), it's time to add the beans.

Before you get all "real chili doesn't have beans!" on me, hear this: I get it. But I also get that it's waaaaaay cheaper to feed 12 people on beans than it is on meat alone. And they are yummy. I make no apologies.

I add 2 cans of pinto beans, 2 of kidney beans, and 1 of chili beans, all drained and rinsed. Feel free to adjust the quantity and variety to your liking.

Let it simmer, covered, for 20 minutes. After that you can serve it, or just keep the heat nice and low until you're ready for it. It just gets better as it sits there.

This is a photo of the second bowl I ate, which is why it's all messy. I dove in so quickly once the chili was done that I forgot to stop and take a photo. This is a recurring problem for me.

You could eat the chili as is, but where's the fun in that? I piled it over Fritos (low sodium, because I'm super health-conscious) and topped with light sour cream (again, healthy), cheese (full fat, because I'm not a fool), and green onions. Holy moly, was it good.

So good, in fact, that I had it again for dinner. This time I added some Chipotle Tobasco Sauce and really patted myself on the back.

And we ate it the next day. And we have a bunch in the freezer for later. This makes a LOT of chili. Feel free to cut the recipe in half if you don't have a small nation to feed.

THE GOODS

• 1 lb lean ground beef
• 1 lb lean ground turkey
• Olive oil - about 2 tbsp
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced
• 2 bell peppers, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 zucchini, finely diced or grated
• 2 cans Rotel Chlii Fixin's
• 2 8-oz cans tomato sauce
• 1 tbsp chili powder (or more to taste)
• 1 tbsp cumin
• 1 tbsp smoked paprika
• 2 cans pinto beans
• 2 cans kidney beans
• 1 can chili beans
• Salt and pepper
• Garnish
• Fritos Low Sodium
• Cheese
• Light Sour Cream
• Chopped green onions
• Hot sauce

HOW TO

1. Add olive oil to a large pot over medium-high heat, brown the meat on one side and diced veggies on the other. Season meat with salt and pepper. Stir occasionally and break up meat as it cooks.
2. Once meat is cooked through add 2 cans Rotel, 2 cans tomato sauce, and spices. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer 30 minutes.
3. Drain and rinse beans. Add to the pot, stir, cover, and simmer 20 more minutes.
4. Taste for salt and pepper and serve over Fritos and add toppings of your choice.

YOU MIGHT ALSO ENJOY:

bacon jalapeño cheesy skillet cornbread

so southern pinto bean soup

tara's house salad dressing

jalapeno margaritas