Busy Mom Chili: A Quick and Easy Go-to
- 1 pound hamburger browned
- 1 can 30 oz chili beans with sauce
- 2 cans rotel tomatoes with green chilis you control the heat
- 1 can hormel chili i like hot, but you pick the heat. i know some will snub their nose at canned chili, but look at the side of the can...all whole ingredients and spices ;-)
- 1 can kidney beans drained and rinsed
- 1 bottle v-8 hot & spicy juice shaken
- Carbohydrate 32.1168323653846 g
- Cholesterol 51.029141625 mg
- Fat 9.50441478257692 g
- Fiber 9.74012093801424 g
- Protein 23.6569971445481 g
- Saturated Fat 3.4004835902375 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (347g)
- Sodium 1042.0372133 mg
- Sugar 22.3767114273704 g
- Trans Fat 1.78759924435192 g
- Calories 297 calories
Step-by-step
- In a stock pot, brown your meat and drain off the fat (sometimes, I brown the meat until the fat all renders out--your choice).
- Open each can and add to pot.
- Add enough V-8 to the pot to your desired thickness (I use about 1/3 of the bottle)
- simmer for 20 mins or so.
Thick, brick-red chili bubbles lazily in the pot, sending up sharp aromas of stewed tomatoes and cumin while releasing a steady plume of steam that coats the kitchen walls in a savory haze. Building deep flavor in minutes relies on proper fat management and strategic liquid reduction. When browning the pound of ground beef in a stockpot, let the meat sit undisturbed for the first four minutes to develop a deep brown crust via the Maillard reaction, which introduces the savory foundation necessary for canned goods. Pouring off excess grease prevents a slick film from pooling on the surface later, though leaving a tablespoon behind ensures the aromatics carry richness. Adjusting the thickness of the pot requires caution when adding the thirty-two ounces of hot and spicy vegetable juice; pouring the liquid in gradually rather than all at once prevents the mixture from turning into a watery soup. Simmering the combined ingredients uncovered for exactly twenty minutes allows the starches from the rinsed kidney beans and chili beans to thicken the sauce naturally as excess moisture evaporates. Swapping the vegetable juice for plain tomato sauce will dramatically flatten the spice profile, requiring extra chili powder and garlic to compensate for the lost flavor compounds. Ground turkey or pork work as direct one-to-one replacements for the beef, though leaner cuts demand an extra teaspoon of neutral oil in the pot to prevent sticking during the initial browning phase. Maintaining a medium-low heat during the twenty-minute simmer prevents the beans from bursting against the bottom of the pot and scorching.
