Quick & Easy One Pot Chili

Intro: Quick & Easy One Pot Chili

This chili recipe is quick and easy to make and is packed full of flavor and good for you ingredients. You only need one large pot to make this recipe, so there is very little to clean up. Once your veggies are chopped, the chili will simmer on the stove while it frees you to doing other things. From start to finish you can be eating chili in less than 90 minutes.

This chili recipe will feed 6-8 hungry adults, or will give you enough leftovers to freeze and reheat on a day you're too busy to cook. It goes very well with cooked rice, a side salad, or with garlic bread to dip into your bowl.

STEP 1: Ingredients

2 pounds lean ground beef
4 large carrots
4 stalks celery
1 large onion
2 cups bell peppers
2 cloves garlic
2 tbsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp dried oregano
1 (28 oz) can tomatoes
1 (5 1/2 oz) can tomato paste
1 tsp granulated sugar
1 tsp salt
1 large bay leaf
1 tsp or more of cayenne pepper (Optional)
2 (14 oz) cans red kidney beans

STEP 2: Cook & Prep

In a large (4-5 quart) pot, add lean ground beef and cook on medium-high heat until no longer pink. While the ground beef is cooking, mince the garlic and chop up the vegetables into bit sized pieces or into a finer chop (if desired). For this recipe I utilized some bell peppers that I had frozen, so feel free to add frozen vegetables if you have them. You may also add up to 2 cups of additional vegetables if you have leftovers that need to be used up. (Veggies can be easily hidden in this recipe if you have fussy eaters!)

When the ground beef is fully cooked, add all your ingredients to the pot, EXCEPT the beans. Stir and cover and bring to a boil over medium-high heat, and then reduce heat to med-low and simmer for 40 minutes.

Stir occasionally.

STEP 3: Add the Beans

After the chili has simmered for 40 minutes, add the beans, give everything a good stir, and continue to simmer for an additional 20 minutes. Stir occasionally.

Once the beans have cooked in the chili, you may remove and discard the bay leaf.

Serve and Enjoy!

This recipe yields: 6-8 servings

Comments

[mrcaderly]

I gave this a try and I must say that it was excellent! It was easy to make as you stated and the cleanup was quick. My kids liked the taste, but not the veggies so I think I will throw this in the blender and pass it off as spaghetti! :-)

Oh, I did make a couple of changes. I used honey instead of sugar and chicken instead of the beef.

[susanchen2011]

I will try. Thanks.

[canucksgirl]

Please do. ;)

[susanchen2011]

I tried it. But the taste is not very good. I think it is my problem.

[canucksgirl]

Sorry to hear that. How old were the spices that you used? Did it just lack flavor? I'm not sure what to say. I've made this so many times, including in larger batches to feed 30 people, and everyone has loved it. So all I can recommend is that you use good ingredients, and ensure that your dried spices aren't too old.

[susanchen2011]

Thank you for your advice. I will try it again.

[sunshiine]

This looks so good! I will definitely try it sometime. Thanks for sharing.
Sunshiine

[canucksgirl]

Thanks sunshiine! It really is quick and easy to make. I got all the ingredients on sale, so the whole recipe cost less than $10; plus it freezes really well, so you have leftovers for another night when you don't feel like cooking.

Thanks for commenting. ;)

[sunshiine]

Super! I like to make a little extra to freeze for those lazy don't feel like cooking days! Like today! LOL.

[canucksgirl]

In that case, I would totally recommend getting a basic, inexpensive vacuum sealer. They are great. The bags are freezable and boil-able. All you do is take the left overs out of the freezer and you pop the bag into a pot of boiling water. Then just cut the bag open when its heated and fill up your bowls. Since the pot was only used to boil water, you don't have extra dishes on left over night. ;)

[sunshiine]

I have not been able to find one of the cheap ones. Any suggestions?

[canucksgirl]

I have one of the Tilia FoodSaver brands. I got my on sale, so it was about $30. You can find them almost anywhere now (Walmart, Sears, Target etc), so check around for the sales. Like most brands, they have fancier (more expensive) models, but I find the cheapest one they have works just fine.

[sunshiine]

Thanks! I will start looking!

[jessyratfink]

I love how many veggies you included!

[canucksgirl]

Thanks Jessy! I think it tastes better will all the veggies too. ;)

[ChrysN]

This sounds really good, I like that there are a lot of vegetables.

[canucksgirl]

Thank you. I appreciate the comments. ;)

[bajablue]

Hmmm. Don't tell anyone I said so, but...

This chili bears a striking resemblance to yummilicious Vegetable-Beef Schili. ;-D

[canucksgirl]

It looks like what?

[bajablue]

lol... Vegetable Beef Schili.

Soup + Chili = Schili, you silly! ;-D