This is the best chili I've ever made - it's my former MIL's recipe. It's easily doubled or even tripled and makes great leftovers. Now that the weather's getting cooler, it's a perfect time to make a big batch of chili!

Recipe
1 pound ground beef (can also use ground turkey or 1/2 beef and 1/2 turkey) (2.99)
1 medium onion, chopped (0.50)
1 clove garlic, diced (.10)
1 6oz can of tomato paste (.79)
1.5 tsp salt
1 quart water
1 tsp vinegar (.15)
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce (.15)
1 tbl chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1 medium whole dried red pepper
1 bay leaf
8 whole allspice
2 cans of pinto beans, drained and rinsed (2.00)

Brown the meat in a large pot or stockpot over medium heat. Drain the fat and if you want, rinse the meat well to remove excess fat.

Return the meat to the pot and add the onion and garlic. When the onions become nearly translucent, stir everything together and add the tomato paste, salt, water, vinegar, Worcester, chili powder, and cumin. Bring it to a rolling boil for about 10 minutes and then reduce to a simmer.

You can simmer it for as little as 1 hour or as long as 4 hours. We like to let it simmer for at least 2 … I think the flavors blend better that way.

Put the whole red pepper, bay leaf, and allspice into a spice ball and leave it in the simmering chili for an hour or so. Don’t leave it in longer than two hours or the allspice will overwhelm the chili. About 20 minutes before serving, drain and rinse the beans and add them to the pot. They need to heat thru, but not cook into mush.

This recipe has been doubled, tripled, and even quadrupled and works great. When you double it or more, the beans don’t double exactly. Instead add 1 can of beans per pound of meat … plus one can of beans for the pot.

This is also great the next day (or the day after) and can be frozen (w/out the beans) and reheated for yummy quick dinners or lunches.

Nutrition
Based on 6 servings: Cals - 353. Fat - 7g. Carb - 40g. Fiber - 12.6g. Protein - 34.2g. The full nutritional value for the recipe can be found here:
Solais Chili Recipe - Calorie Count

Cost
$6.53 total for 6 good sized servings. Prices are based on my spreadsheet + $1 to cover the cost of the spices on hand & misc ingredients (vinegar, salt, etc.)

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