Chili
576kcal41.9g protein18.9g fat60.5g carbs~$2.45/ serving*Estimates computed from the ingredient list; cost uses average US supermarket prices. Not a substitute for packaging measurements or your receipt.
Contains gluten · sometimes contains soy — check the label · only in an optional ingredient: dairy
Restrictions
ContainsglutenIt is in an ingredient you cannot leave out.
Sometimes contains — check the labelsoy (chocolate mexican)Some brands have it, some do not. The recipe cannot tell, so this is the one you check yourself.
Only if you add itdairy (cheese, cream, sour)Leave that ingredient out and the dish does not have it.
Diets
No pork · without one
Worked out from the ingredient list. It knows nothing about brands, shared equipment or cross contamination, and it is not a certification — if you have an allergy, you still have to read the label.
Ingredients
Servings:
| 1 lb |  beef, ground chuck (80/20) |
| 1 tbsp | vegetable oil |
| 1 unit |  onion (diced) |
| 3 clove |  garlic (minced) |
| 2 unit |  ancho chili (stemmed, toasted, ground) |
| 1 ½ tbsp |  chili powder |
| 2 tsp |  cumin (ground) |
| 1 tsp |  oregano (dried) |
| 1 tsp |  smoked paprika |
| 2 tbsp |  tomato paste |
| 1 ½ cup | tomato (canned, crushed) |
| ½ cup |  beer (lager or brown ale) |
| 1 cup |  beef stock |
| 1 ½ cup |  kidney beans (cooked, drained) |
| 1 tbsp |  cornmeal (fine) |
| 1 ¼ tsp | salt |
| ½ tsp |  black pepper (ground) |
| 1 tsp |  vinegar (cider) |
Optional
Not counted above. The dish works without them.
| 2 slice |  bacon (chopped) |
| 1 unit |  chipotle chili (minced, in adobo) |
| ¼ tsp |  cayenne pepper |
| 1 oz |  mexican chocolate (grated) |
| ¼ cup |  sour cream |
| ½ cup |  cheese (sharp, grated) |
| 2 tbsp |  scallion (sliced) |
| 1 unit |  jalapenos (sliced) |
| 1 cup |  tortilla chips |
Steps
- Toast3 mindry pan, mediumancho chilies, pressing flat, until they puff and smell of raisins — 30 seconds too long and the whole pot turns bitter, which no amount of sugar later will fix; then tear and grind
- Sear8 minhigh, uncrowdedvegetable oil + ground beef pressed into one flat sheet, left alone until the underside is brown-black before breaking it up — stirring early releases water, the pan drops below browning temperature, and you get boiled grey meat with no fond
- Sweat6 minmedium+ onion, scraping the fond loose as the onion's water releases it = the base layer of savor
- Saute2 minmedium, stirring constantly+ garlic + ground ancho + chili powder + cumin + oregano + smoked paprika + tomato paste, in the rendered beef fat — the pigments and aromatics in chile are fat-soluble, so this 2 minutes does more for color and depth than an hour of simmering in liquid, but past 2 minutes the spices scorch
- Deglaze3 minhigh+ beer, scraping the pan bare and letting it reduce by half so the raw hop bitterness cooks off
- Simmer90 minbare simmer, partly covered+ crushed tomato + beef stock + salt + black pepper — long and slow so the connective tissue in chuck melts to gelatin, which is what gives chili body; hold it below a boil or the fat splits out into an orange slick
- Simmer20 minuncovered+ kidney beans + cornmeal whisked into a few spoons of the hot liquid first — beans go in already cooked because the acid from the tomatoes stops their skins from ever softening, and the cornmeal both thickens and returns the corn note that ties the chile together
- Season2 minoff heat+ cider vinegar + salt to taste — the acid is what keeps two hours of dried chile and fat from tasting flat and muddy; rest 10 minutes before serving, longer overnight