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EASY BEANLESS CHILI RECIPE

A delicious, quick and easy beanless chili recipe that's so yummy, you'll want to add it to your cooking arsenal - It's sure to become a family favorite! This recipe yields plenty for a family of four, with quite a lot leftover for freezing or serving another night.

Course Main Course
Cuisine Mexican
Keyword Easy Beanless Chili Recipe
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 20 minutes
Servings 4

Ingredients

  • 1/3 cup olive oil *extra virgin
  • 1 medium onion *diced
  • 2 garlic cloves *minced
  • 3-4 lbs ground beef *medium
  • 2 large cans crushed or pureed tomatoes
  • 1 small can tomato paste *if desired, for thicker chili
  • 1/4 cup red wine
  • 2 tbsp dried parsley
  • 2 tbsp dried oregano
  • 1/3 cup chili powder *I sometimes add even more!
  • 2 tsp salt *or more, if you're generous with salt
  • 1 tsp cracked pepper *I like to use a pepper mill

Instructions

  1. Dice onion and mince garlic. Sautee in olive oil over medium heat, until tender, about 5 minutes.

  2. Add ground beef, and cook thoroughly, about 5-7 minutes.

  3. Add crushed tomatoes and mix well. Add tomato paste, if you like your chili a little thicker. Mix well.

  4. Add red wine and mix well.

  5. Add all dry ingredients and mix well.

  6. Once everything is mixed together and chili begins to cook, turn the heat down to low, and simmer for 1 hour, minimum. You can cook this for 2, or even 3 hours - the longer it cooks, it will be more flavorful and thicker.

  7. Once cooked, top with greek yogurt or sour cream, fresh parsley, and grated cheese. Green onions are also a delicious topping! Add chopped bacon for even more deliciousness! 

Recipe Notes

I like to serve this with cheesy ciabatta buns for the kids - simply grate cheese over open bun halves and bake until golden and bubbly.

You can also use 1 tbsp garlic powder if you don't have fresh cloves.

You can easily add beans to this recipe - one 28 oz. can of red kidney beans, drained and rinsed, then add them for the last 20-30 mins of cooking. I personally don't like to cook beans too long, in order to keep them from getting too soft and mushy if overcooked.