Ingredients:

• Olive Oil
• 4.5 lbs – 90% Ground Beef (We recommend very lean beef. Fattier beef makes the chili taste greasy.)
• Salt and Pepper – To Your Taste
• Members Mark (Sam’s Club) Tones Chili Powder (To Your Taste – We used about 2 cups for this large batch – We like it a little “spicy.”)
• 5 Onions (Chopped – some small and some large pieces)
• 5 – Green Bell Peppers (chopped)
• 2 heads of Celery Hearts (Chopped)
• 2 – 15.5 ounce cans of Light Red Kidney Beans
• 2 – 15.5 ounce cans of Dark Red Kidney Beans
• 2 – 14.5 ounce cans of Diced Tomatoes
• 2 – 1 lb 12 ounce cans of Whole Tomatoes (chopped in half or quarters)
• 1 – 10 ounce can RoTel Diced Tomatoes and Green Chilis
• 2 – 16 ounce bottles of Tomato Juice
• Optional: Eye of Newt and Toe of Frog

Instructions:

• Heat burner to Medium/High (#7)
• Cover the bottom of the pot with Olive Oil. (We use a 22 quart pressure cooker pot for this large batch of chili.)
• Brown ground beef in olive oil, breaking it up with a spatula
• Salt and pepper liberally – to taste. (we added 4 tablespoons pepper)
• When beef is lightly browned, add 1/2 cup chili powder to the browned beef and stir to mix evenly with the beef
• Add the chopped onions, green peppers and celery and brown until slightly translucent – be careful to stir so mixture does not burn. Turn down burner or all a little oil if mixture sticks to bottom of the pot.
• Add tomato juice, light and dark kidney beans, diced tomatoes, whole tomatoes, and RoTel diced tomatoes with green chilis to pot.
• Add more chili powder to taste (we add another cup)
• If the mixture is too thick – add water so it stirs easily.
• Simmer or lightly boil, stirring frequently to avoid sticking to the bottom of the pot.
• Cook it ’til it’s done! (We usually let it simmer/lightly boil for at least hour.)

Comments:

Serve with shredded cheese, chopped onions and crackers.

Making chili is a constant process of adding some spices, then tasting and adjusting to your taste.  We recommend that you adjust the salt, pepper and chili powder slowly as you taste the chili until it’s suits your palate.

This makes a very LARGE pot of chili. We make this BIG batch, then freeze it in separate bags for future meals. Every one knows… chili is always better the day after it’s made. 

Cut the recipe down if you want a smaller quantity.