Beef Chili

This beef chili combines ground beef, onions, bell peppers, tomatoes, pinto beans, and kidney beans in a perfectly seasoned broth, with a little kick from chipotle peppers and adobo sauce.

You are going to love this quick and easy chili. Customize it with cheddar cheese, sour cream, green onions, or whatever suits your taste.

Ingredient Notes and Substitutions

See the complete list of ingredients on the recipe card below.

• Ground beef: Use ground beef with a bit of fat. Fat is what gives the beef flavor.
• Bell pepper: I like using a green bell pepper for the flavor dimension, but you can use any colored bell pepper.
• Marjoram: You can substitute dried oregano, but I like the milder, sweeter flavor of marjoram.
• Fire-roasted tomatoes: You can substitute any canned diced tomatoes.
• Rotel tomatoes: Rotel now has fire-roasted tomatoes with green chiles. If you can not find them, use regular, mild, or hot Rotel tomatoes with green chiles if you like things a little spicier.
• Beans: You can use kidney beans, pinto beans, or black beans.
• Chipotle peppers: Chipotle peppers are aged, dried, and smoked jalapeno peppers. You can find them canned with adobo sauce in the Hispanic food section of your local grocery store. Adobo sauce is a spicy, slightly sweet, tangy, rich sauce made with ground ancho and guajillo chiles.

How To Make Beef Chili

This is a summary version; for the complete list of ingredients and instructions, please refer to the recipe card below.

1. Brown the ground beef in a Dutch oven or large pot over medium heat.
2. About halfway through the browning process, add the onion and cook for 3-4 minutes. Add the bell pepper and cook until the ground beef browns and the onion and bell pepper are soft.
3. Reduce the heat to low and add the garlic, chili powder, ground cumin, dried marjoram, and smoked paprika. Cook for a minute, while stirring.
4. Stir in the brown sugar, beef broth, tomato paste, fire-roasted diced tomatoes, Rotel tomatoes, pinto beans, kidney beans, chipotle peppers, and adobo sauce.
5. Simmer over low heat for 30-45 minutes.

Preparation Tips

• Adjust the seasonings to suit your taste. This chili is moderately spicy. If you want it milder, reduce or eliminate the chipotle peppers and adobo sauce. If you like it spicier, add more chipotle peppers and adobo sauce.
• If you want more vegetables, add sweet potato, celery, carrots, zucchini, or butternut squash.
• If the chilli becomes too thick, add a bit more beef broth. Add about ¼ cup at a time until you reach the desired consistency.
• I simmer this chili for about 45 minutes. You can simmer it longer, but the bell pepper and tomatoes will break down.

Serving Suggestions for Beef Chili

https://www.smalltownwoman.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Beth-1.pdf