How to Make Quick Chili

Did you know that chili traces its roots back to 17th century Spain? That's right. It's even said that the earliest chili was prepared by poor people. In any case, chili is still one popular food that we today love to prepare for our families, especially during the winter when it's cold out.

Usually chili is left in a crock-pot to slowly cook throughout the day. If I don't want to cook, I can run to a local restaurant to get it. However, when I'm in a time crunch or decide to have homemade chili at the last minute, I can always rely on this recipe to give me and my family a great dinner. This particular chili recipe below has gotten me many compliments. It is quick to prepare, quick to cook, and delicious to eat!

To serve 4 or 5 people, you'll need 1/2lb of ground beef, a 15oz can of kidney beans, 15oz can of garbanzo beans, 15oz can of chili beans, a 14.5oz can of stewed tomatoes, a cup of tomato juice, 1 green pepper, medium onion, 2-3 teaspoons of chili powder, and shredded cheese.

Once you gather all the above ingredients, you are ready to make the chili.

(1) Brown the beef, place in colander to drain the fat, and return the cooked beef to the pan.

(2) Open the cans of kidney and garbanzo beans and empty them into the colander.

(3) While those are draining, you can go ahead and open the can of tomatoes and chili beans.

(4) Cut the green pepper and onion into small pieces.

(5) Place the tomatoes, tomato juice, green pepper, onion, and chili powder in a clean saucepan and stir.

(6) Cook on medium-high heat and bring this mixture to a boil.

(7) Once boiling, immediately lower temperature to low heat.

(8) Cover the pan and simmer for 10 minutes.

(9) Add drained beans from step 1 and cooked ground beef to the pan.

(10) Let this simmer for an additional 10 minutes or until entire mix is warmed.

Let this chili cool off enough to eat so it won't burn anyone's mouth. To change things up, serve this chili in a bread bowl and sprinkle some shredded cheese on top. If you have a larger family or just want to make more to eat later, simply double the ingredients listed above.