Hearty Garden Chili
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Flavorful and chunky red chili with lots of ground beef, vegetables, and beans.
Author:
Recipe type: Dinner
Cuisine: American
Serves: 6-8
Ingredients
  • 1 medium onion, diced
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 2 large stalks celery, thinly sliced
  • 1 red bell pepper, diced
  • 6 jalapeño peppers, seeded, diced small. If you don't want your chili to be hot /spicy, use a green bell pepper instead.
  • 4 cups crushed vine ripe tomatoes with juices, if available. Core the tomatoes and run through a food processor until no large chunks remain. (Or use a large 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes plus an extra ½ cup water)
  • 1 cup water
  • 3 whole cloves (or ¼ teaspoon ground cloves)
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 2½ teaspoons salt
  • 2 teaspoons chili powder
  • 1 teaspoon cumin
  • ½ teaspoon pepper
  • ½ teaspoon paprika
  • ¼ teaspoon celery seeds (optional)
  • ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper (very spicy, can be omitted)
  • ½ tablespoon honey
  • 1½ lbs ground beef
  • 1 can (15.5 oz) black beans
  • 1 can (15.5 oz) pinto beans
  • 1 cup shredded Colby jack cheese
  • ¼ cup heavy cream
Instructions
  1. Prepare all vegetables.
  2. In a medium-large sized pot, saute onions until glossy, then add garlic and saute for another minute or two.
  3. Add celery, peppers, and jalapeño peppers. If you want to cut back on cooking time, saute celery until somewhat softened, before adding onions and garlic.
  4. Add crushed tomatoes and water.
  5. Bring the pot to a boil.
  6. Put whole cloves in a tea strainer or other device to contain them. Bay leaves can also be added to strainer if desired. Add tea strainer with cloves to the pot, also add bay leaves, salt, chili powder, cumin, pepper, paprika, celery seeds, cayenne pepper, and honey. Stir well.
  7. Cover and simmer on low heat for 1-2 hours or until celery is mostly tender.
  8. Meanwhile, brown ground been until no longer pink, then immediately remove from heat and set aside, covered. Preferably, do not drain but keep the drippings.
  9. Drain beans and rinse, set aside.
  10. When chili is finished simmering and vegetables are tender, remove tea strainer and bay leaves.
  11. Add beans, cheese, heavy cream and meat plus drippings. Raise the heat to medium-high for a couple of minutes, stirring gently, until cheese has melted and chili is steaming.
  12. Serve with corn chips, sour cream, and shredded cheese.
Recipe by The Country Basket at https://thecountrybasket.com/hearty-garden-chili-recipe/