Bob's Little Known, Less Cared About Chili

Savory, smoky, easy-to-make chili. Sometimes I add a can of corn, too. Maybe have some sweet corn bread muffins with honey on the side. You could use black beans, pinto beans, pink beans, or small red beans in place of the kidney beans.

• Preparation Time: 10 mins
• Cooking Time: 1 hr 15 mins
• Total Time: 1 hr 25 mins
• Calories: 516 Calories

Ingredients

• 2 cups water
• salt and ground black pepper to taste
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 ½ pounds ground beef
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• ¼ cup chili powder
• 1 teaspoon liquid smoke flavoring
• 1 large yellow onion, chopped
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can fire-roasted diced tomatoes
• 1 dash hot pepper sauce (such as Tabasco®), or to taste (Optional)
• ½ pound thick-cut bacon, chopped
• 3 (15.5 ounce) cans kidney beans, rinsed and drained

Recipe Instructions

Step 1

Cook bacon and onion together in a large pot over medium heat until the onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Add ground beef, garlic and cumin to the pot; cook and stir until the beef is completely browned, 7 to 10 minutes.

Step 2

Stir kidney beans, diced tomatoes, water, chili powder, liquid smoke, salt, black pepper, and hot pepper sauce into the beef mixture; bring to a simmer and cook until thick, about 1 hour. Skim excess grease if desired.