Beef chili

by Andrea Gámez

Beef chili is a recipe that seems mexican but isn´t really. It is true, it has chile, which that automatically makes me think of…. tacos.

It is said that chile originated in Ensenada, Baja California and was mainly cooked for beef to last longer. The reality is in Mexico it is not a famous dish and I would dare to say mexicans do not consider this to be “comfort food”, you know, the food your mom makes to make you feel better or cheer you up. I can for sure say it is not something that reminds me of home.

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However, it is a well known dish in the US and other english speaking countries. In fact, chili, at least the one we know today, was first created in Texas by mexican immigrants. Nowadays it´s a globally known dish and therefore has plenty of variations depending on who makes it.

The basic beef chili recipe has to always have beef or pork, chile and beans. From then on, you can add basically whatever you want.

In spite of chili not being a “completely mexican” recipe we actually love it and our recipe is our version of chili, which for sure there will be lots other versions.

Now, ¿To add chile or not to add chile?… We have seen a lot of chili recipes that don´t have chile or only call for chile flakes, and this has to stop. Chili is called chili because it has chile, real chile, not just chile flakes, but also we do understand there are all types of people… the ones that love chile, and the ones that don´t, there´s people who can handle it just a little and others that just do whatever feels right at the moment. And it´s okay, but please just try it, and add some chile (for real), we promise it won´t turn out to be as spicy as you may think, you will end up loving it.

One more thing, if you have ever tried chili ¿how do you like to eat it? in a bowl, with some avocado or tortilla chips. We really like it with cheese and tortilla chips, my mouth is actually now watering. We will be uploading our nachos recipe soon!

For all the chili lovers out there, beef, beans or chile, in any of its presentations, this is your recipe and we hope you keep it and use it when you have a chili craving.

You can use this chili to make other recipes, see our recipe for breakfast burritos.

Beef chili

Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 35 minutes
Course Main Course
Cuisine American, Mexican
Servings 6

Ingredients
  

  • 1.10 lbs (500 gr) ground beef or pork
  • 0.50 lb (8.80 oz) (250 gr) bacon
  • 0.66 lb (10.50 oz) (300 gr) black beans (usually 1 can)
  • 1 onion
  • 1 red bell pepper
  • 1 tomato
  • 1 jalapeño optional
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 5 dry guajillo chiles
  • 2 tbsp chile flakes
  • 2 tsp cumin ground
  • 2 tbsp brown sugar
  • 1 tsp dry oregano
  • 0.66 lb (10.50 oz)(300 gr) tomato puree
  • Oil
  • Water

Instructions
 

  • Place a pot on the stove to medium heat with some oil in it. Wash all the vegetables and chop them in small pieces. Put them in the pot and stir for 5 minutes.
  • In a different smaller pot, bring some water to a boil. Once boiling add in the dry chiles and let them soften for 10 minutes.
  • Add in the ground beef and the bacon to the vegetables pot and cook for 7 minutes until everything stars to turn golden.
  • Aparte, vacía los chiles secos junto con el agua donde se ablandaron a una licuadora y tritura hasta obtener una mezcla homogénea. Agrega esta mezcla pasándola por un colador a la olla con el chili.
  • Add in the spices, beans, chile flakes, tomato puree and season with salt. Cook for 15 minutes to low heat for all the flavors to integrate . If you want to you acn mash the mixture a little to get smaller chunks of everything.
  • Once the 15 minutes have passed and the liquid has evaporated a bit, the chili is ready to serve.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

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1 comment

Mexican guacamole, the original an authentic recipe - HORNO MX 25 December, 2020 - 2:15 am

[…] this recipe and like mexican food, you will love our flour tortillas, our chicken fajitas, or our homemade beef chili recipe. Maybe you could even go see our canasta tacos […]

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