The cold November winds outside welcome a hot bowl of this Black and Red Bean Chili today. It is a wholesome and hearty meal with all fresh ingredients and a homemade spice blend. When you take the extra step to cook from scratch you are rewarded with great taste and satisfied customers around your dinner table. Serve this chili with crackers or chunks of crusty bread, load it with shredded cheese, and dig in.
I have used home-baked beans and fresh tomatoes in this recipe
Brown the ground beef with onions in a large stockpot, then add your chili spices
Prepare the fresh vegetables and add to the stockpot
Add the cooked beans and beef broth and simmer for 1 1/2 hours
BLACK and RED BEAN CHILI
Cook time
Total time
Author: Homa
Recipe type: Dinner
Serves: 5-6
Ingredients
- 1 pound lean ground beef (please see notes for the vegetarian chili)
- 2 medium yellow onions, chopped in food processor
- 2 TBSP olive oil
- 2 tsp kosher salt, divided
- ¼ tsp freshly cracked black pepper
- 3 TBSP tomato paste
- 2 tsp smoked paprika
- 2 tsp dried oregano leaves, crushed
- 1 tsp dried basil leaves, crushed
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp ancho chile pepper powder
- ¼ tsp chipotle chile pepper powder
- 1 cup low-sodium beef broth (or vegetable stock)
- 2 cups cooked black beans (or one 15-ounce can of black beans drained and rinsed)
- 2 cups cooked red beans (or one 15-ounce can of red beans drained and rinsed)
- 2 pounds ripe tomatoes, chopped in food processor (or two 15-ounce cans of diced tomatoes)
- 6 garlic cloves, minced in food processor
- ½ large red bell pepper, diced
- ½ large yellow bell pepper, diced
- TOPPINGS
- Shredded Colby or cheddar cheese
- Chopped fresh cilantro
- Sour cream
- Sliced scallions
Instructions
- Peel and cut the onions in 8 pieces. Add to the food processor and press on/off switch 2-3 times until chopped small. Divide in half.
- Add half of the chopped onions, 2 TBSP olive oil, ground beef, 1 tsp of the kosher salt, and freshly cracked black pepper to a 6-Qt stockpot.
- Saute over medium heat until onions are tender and the ground beef is no longer pink.
- Add the tomato paste, 1 tsp kosher salt, dried herbs, and spices. Stir to combine and saute for 5 minutes.
- To mince the garlic try this quick tip: Peel the cloves and with the food processor running drop one at a time through the feed chute until all the cloves are minced.
- Cut the tomatoes in big chunks and process by pressing the on/off switch 3-4 times.
- Add the chopped tomatoes, minced garlic, the remaining chopped onions, and the rest of the ingredients to the stockpot. Bring it to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium low, cover the pot and simmer for 1 ½ hours. Adjust salt to taste. Add more water as needed.
- For a thicker chili cook without a cover in the last 30 minutes of cooking.
- Serve with all, or your choice, of toppings: Shredded Colby or cheddar cheese, chopped fresh cilantro, sour cream, and sliced scallions.
Notes
If using canned beans and tomatoes, you might want to reduce the amount of salt and then add it to taste as you like.
For the vegetarian version of this chili substitute 2 extra cups of cooked beans for the ground beef and 1 cup of vegetable stock for the beef broth.
For the vegetarian version of this chili substitute 2 extra cups of cooked beans for the ground beef and 1 cup of vegetable stock for the beef broth.
We love Chili Beans at home specially me,I really like it hot and spicy.I can eat it anytime even during summer.I don’t cook at home, it’s my wife who does all the
cooking,I just help her out prepare what she needs.I always wanted to do it myself
specially now that she’s not feeling well. When I came across your article I said Hey!
this looks really yummy and now is the time to surprise my wife though I’m not sure if I can do it with success since I don’t really cook but I never know till I try it.Yes! I’m going to try it and see what happens.Thank for your recipe,what I’m seeing looks really really good and I hope it will be a successes help me God,
Dearest Joe, how wonderful of you to surprise your wife with this chili. I know she will love it. It sounds like the two of you are a good cooking team. Prepping the food is half the cooking and for you to help her is priceless! I hope your sweet wife will be feeling all better real soon. Please let me know if you have questions and best of luck to you. Thanks so much for writing to me. Have a great weekend!
I made this last night and it was fantastic! I used real chili peppers and habanero peppers because my local grocery stores are limited in the spice department. I added more of the listed seasonings too because my hand is heavy. This recipe is great, because I think you can use any variation of these ingredients to come out with chili that will knock you socks off! Just follow the method! Wonderful recipe! It was so much fun to make. My husband loved it and was shocked! It was my very first time making chili. Thanks so much for this recipe!
Dear Nene, I’m very happy to read your comment! I have been making this chili for my family for many years and it is good to hear that you and your husband also like it. I like your courageous use of habanero 😉 I will definitely give it a try! Have a great week and please keep in touch 🙂