My mom's epic chili. Easy to make and yields a savory, spicy, full flavored chili with a little bit of sweetness! This is another soup she used to make about 2 gallons at a time to feed all of us. This chili is not hot, but you can easily add some cayenne or other peppers/chilis. My version is a little thicker and chunkier than my mom's, but you can use her method of adding a combination of tomato sauce and juice to make it thinner.
Ingredients:
1 lb. (454 g) ground hamburger/ground beef (80/20 or 90/10)
½ lb. (226 g) regular pork sausage (not breakfast sausage)
1 cup celery, diced into 1 cm pieces (120 g)
1 small onion, diced (150-200 g)
1 28 oz. (796 mL) can whole tomatoes
2 16 oz. (540 mL) cans of chili beans, or kidney beans
1 22 oz. (680 mL) can tomato sauce (or 1 14 oz. can tomato sauce and 6 oz. tomato juice (like V8))
1 to 1 1/2 1.25 oz. (35 g) packs chili seasoning, to taste
1 Tbsp. chili powder (optional) (6 g)
1.5 cups of frozen corn (205 g)
1 1/2 tbsp. brown sugar, or to taste
Salt, to taste
Directions:
Dice the celery and onion and set aside. Open all the cans of tomatoes and beans.
Use your hands to crush the whole tomatoes into smaller pieces (this can get messy, I recommend placing them in a medium sized bowl first).
Place a pot on medium heat. Add the burger and pork sausage, break apart into pieces.
When the meat just starts to brown add the celery and onion and cook until meat is fully cooked and vegetables are tender, about 8-10 minutes.
Then the beans, tomato sauce, crushed tomatoes, the beans, 1 pack of chili seasoning, and some salt. Stir together and let simmer uncovered for 2-3 hours.
While it simmers, taste and adjust salt and spices as needed (I usually use 1 1/2 packets of seasoning and 1 Tbsp. chili powder, but you may be happy with less).
Add corn when the chili is almost done and stir it in. Mix in the brown sugar. Taste and adjust seasonings, but if it's very hot let it cool slightly to get a more accurate assessment of the spice level.
6-8 large servings. Store in the refrigerator up to 1 week or freeze up to 3 months.
The ingredients I used. My mom usually uses chili beans instead of kidney beans but I can't find them here in Canada. She also uses part tomato sauce, part tomato juice.
I wanted to show how to prepare the tomatoes. First put them in a bowl.
Then squish them into smaller pieces by hand (this can get messy!)
All done! Now let's start this soup!
Add the hamburger and pork sausage to a pot on medium heat.
As soon as it begins to brown we'll add the celery and onion (next picture).
Add the celery and onion.
After cooking about 10 minutes.
Add in the tomato products, the beans, some salt, and most of the chili seasoning.
Mix together and then you'll let it simmer for 2-3 hours.
After simmering for 2 hours. Next we'll add the final ingredients!
Add the corn and brown sugar.
Mix in, let it warm through, taste and adjust for seasoning, and it's ready!
Gorgeous!!!!
And serve!
So thicc and delicious :D