National Chili Day: The Ultimate Guide to a Do It Yourself Chili Recipe

Chili: so universal and flexible. Everyone has their own go-to recipe. But what exactly defines a “chili”? It’s a bit of a debate. Most people agree it’s more of a stew than a soup: stew meaning it’s thicker than your typical broth or cream based soup. Though some people won’t even classify it as a stew; they consider it it’s own category- chili. The basics of a chili seem to be: meat, tomatoes, and spices. The exact ingredients and the measurements are up to the chef. There is even Texas Chili that is completely beanless, focusing on the meat. Others make it vegetarian. A little confusing, right?

My personal definition: It’s a one pot, stew type food, that can be its own meal, and it has tomatoes and chili powder in it as the only 2 required ingredients. Ha! Not very specific, but that’s the beauty of chili, you can make it your own!.

The problem with all the versatility is all the different recipe combinations. I’m a recipe follower. I need measurements and ingredients or at least a general idea. I am NOT good at looking in my pantry and “whipping” something up without a set of directions (I can’t even begin to guess an oven temperature). I’m not jealous of people who can do that, not at all….

So, instead of having twenty different recipes for essentially the same food, I decided to see if I could create a master list of the most common ingredients found in chili and a general guideline to follow to make the chili your own. Like heat? Crank it up! Want more veggies? Pile them in. This is a completely customizable recipe for you to make your own, or make different every time. So let’s get started.

Step 1: What do you feel like making?

Check the list below and figure out what you want in your chili. Do this before you grocery shop to ensure you have the specific items you want, or base it on the ingredients you have in the house, or even better- what you need to get rid of- like those peppers that only have a day or two left. Something not on the list? Add it anyway! Try to find what column it would go in so you know when to add it during the cooking process. A protein that needs to brown is different from a spice…you catch my drift.

Protein Choose 2-3	Aromatics Choose 2+	Additional Veg Choose 2+	Liquid Choose 2-3	Spices Choose 2+
Ground beef (1#) Ground Turkey (1#) Ground chicken (1#) Beef chuck (1#) Chorizo (1#) Pork sausage (1#) Kielbasa (1) Bacon (1#) Vegetarian: Lentils (1 cup) Veggie Crumbles (1#) Beans: (1 can) Kidney Black Cannelli Pinto	Onion Garlic Jalapeno Peppers Red Green Yellow Orange Celery	Corn Potato Sweet potato Mushrooms Carrots Zucchini Parsnips	Water (1-3 cups) Broth (1-3 cups) Beer 0.5-1 cup) Red wine vinegar (splash) Tomato juice (1-2 cups) Crushed tomatoes (1 28oz can) Diced tomatoes (1 28oz can) Red wine (0.5-1cup) Coffee (0.5-1 cup)	Brown sugar White sugar Tomato paste Cumin Chili powder Salt Pepper Garlic Powder Cayenne Smoked paprika Cinnamon Cocoa powder Oregano

#= pound or 16 ounces

Step 2: I have my ingredients, now what?

Prep the veggies if they need to be cut up, rinse the beans, gather the spices, etc. It’s quicker, and easier to have all the ingredients ready to go, before you start cooking. I’ve done it haphazardly and prepped as I went, it’s a little frantic, but it got the job done.

Step 3: Time to cook the chili

Add meat to the pot and cook until brown (a dutch oven is a popular choice, but any large pot will do). Remove meat from the pot and drain fat, set aside.
Add about 2 tablespoons of oil to the pot over medium heat and add the aromatics of your choice (column 2) saute until soft, about 5 minutes. Add meat back to the pot.
Add spices and stir for 30 seconds to disperse (you can add more later if you need to adjust)
Add additional vegetables here
Add Liquid: ingredients in pot should be submerged but not swimming
**Add lentils and beans now if desired
Put the lid on, reduce to low and let simmer for at least a ½ hour to soften the veggies, but up to 2 hours. Longer than an hour or so, just check on it periodically to make sure it isn’t drying out.

Helpful hint for the spices: The ones listed below are typical chili spices and herbs, that’s not to say you HAVE to add them, just a jumping off point if you’re not sure what you want to use. You can also adjust the amounts to dial up or back a certain flavor.

1 to 2 tablespoons chili powder: Use regular or chipotle chili powder for warm heat and gentle spice.
1 to 2 teaspoons ground cumin: This will bring smoky undertones to the chili.
1 to 2 teaspoons dried oregano: A spoonful of oregano brings some herbal notes to the pot.
1 to 2 teaspoons paprika: Use sweet or smoked paprika for an extra layer of warmth and smokiness.
Up to 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper: It you want chili with heat, cayenne will do the trick

So…did it work?

Was my “guideline” specific enough to make something edible, but vague enough to really make it your own? I did three trial runs to find out. And by “me”, I mean I did one and my husband did two….

First Attempt

I like sweet potato and black bean chili, so I started with those two ingredients in mind (helps that we typically have them in the pantry) and went from there and ended up with:

Protein	Aromatics	Additional Veg	Liquid	Spices
1 can black beans 2 cups quinoa**	Onion (1) Garlic Red Pepper (2)	Corn Sweet potatoes	Broth (2 cups) Water (2 cups- ish) Crushed tomatoes (1 28oz can)	Cumin Chili powder Cinnamon Tomato paste

**I thought I was making lentils, but didn’t look too closely at the bag, my bad! It still turned out well! My husband actually commented he liked the quinoa in the chili, and I was like, no, lentils, and he goes, no….quinoa.

I put it on the stove to simmer while I was in the snow with the kids. My husband tried it after an hour and…wait for it….didn’t change a thing! This is a big deal, he normally asked “did you add salt?”. I’d say that was a success! The nice thing was, I didn’t really measure. I measured the chili powder so I wouldn’t go overboard (my kids don’t like spicy, but I do, so I had to be careful). Otherwise, I just threw stuff in until it “looked good”. I had peeled two potatoes, but they were big so I ended up only putting in one and a half. I used the open broth in the fridge (about ½ a box, or my best guess is 2 cups) but that wasn’t enough liquid, so I topped it off with some water. Tried some cinnamon (I figured that might go with sweet potato?) and set it to simmer. All in all, it took more time to cut up the onion, peppers, and potatoes than it did to get the whole thing in the pot and set to simmer.

Second Attempt

I volunteered my husband to cook the next chili using my guide to see if it made sense. He’s a much better cook than me, so I wanted to see if there was anything missing or straight up wrong in my outline, but he confirmed he could follow it and this is what he came up with after scanning the kitchen for ingredients:

Protein	Aromatics	Additional Veg	Liquid	Spices
Ground beef (1#) Black beans White beans	Onion (1) Garlic Yellow Pepper	Mushrooms	Broth (2 cups) Crushed tomatoes (1 28oz can)	Cumin Chili powder Salt Pepper Cayenne Paprika Oregano

My husband’s comments: He enjoyed going column by column and seeing what we had in the house to make the chili. He used extra beans since we had about ½ a can left in the fridge from the day before. We all liked it, including the kids. It was pretty different from the first chili so it didn’t feel like we were eating the same dinner again a week later.

Third Attempt

My husband was SO good at the last one, I decided to make him…I mean let him….make the third one! This one was for the Super Bowl, so while he followed the guideline, he did shop beforehand to get some of the ingredients he wanted, mainly the kielbasa and chipotles.

Protein	Aromatics	Additional Veg	Liquid	Spices
1 can black beans 2 kielbasa 1# bacon	Onion (1) Garlic Red Pepper (2) Chipotle peppers	Corn	Broth (2 cups) Water (2 cups- ish) Crushed tomatoes (1 28oz can)	Cumin Chili powder Cinnamon Tomato paste

This one was interesting. I wanted to call it more of a traditional chili focusing a lot on the meat, but it was kielbasa, which was different. He also doubled the kielbasa to really bulk it up. The chipotle peppers really added some smokiness to it. Using the same guide, he made a completely different chili from the first two.

Bottom line?

It works! It’s one recipe with multiple end results. Like one of those choose your own adventure books (am I too old to be referencing that….). It’s easy to follow and easy to manipulate. And you can’t really mess it up, need more liquid- throw in some water or broth or a can of beer, want more veggies? Check your freezer to see if you have any stashed in there. Maybe one batch isn’t quite up to par, but you can adjust next time! Give it a go!

Bonus Round: Toppings

Toppings can also change your chili entirely. Try a batch for a group of friends and let them customize with toppings. Sounds like a good idea for the Super Bowl…..

Hot sauce
Sour Cream
Bacon crumbles
Shredded cheese
Lime
Avocado
Tortilla chips or strips
Mango salsa
Scallions
Queso
Fresh and or pickled Jalapeno
Fresh diced tomatoes
Diced red onion
Cilantro

So why don’t you give it a go for National Chili Day, February 24th 2022? Have a cook off, dust off a family recipe that’s been passed down, or create a new chili all your own!

Tag us on Facebook or Instagram with a picture of your chili! @simplestartnutrition

Stay Happy, Stay Healthy

This blog was written by Chris Henigan MS, RD, LDN, co-founder of Simple Start Nutrition. For more blog posts and nutrition information follow @simplestartnutrition on Instagram and Facebook. Also feel free to contact us, by visiting our website (simplestartnutrition.com) to schedule an appointment to discuss your nutrition related needs. We’re here to help.