Simple Way to Prepare Award-winning Three Bean Chili

Three Bean Chili.

You can have Three Bean Chili using 17 ingredients and 10 steps. Here is how you achieve it.

Ingredients of Three Bean Chili

1. You need 1 Tablespoon of oil.
2. You need 1 of onion, minced.
3. It's 1 of bell pepper, chopped.
4. Prepare 6 cloves of garlic, chopped.
5. It's 1/4 cup of tomato paste.
6. You need 2 teaspoons of chili powder.
7. It's 1 teaspoon of cumin.
8. You need 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper.
9. You need 1 of bay leaf.
10. You need 1.25 cups of unsalted liquid (water, stock, dry wine are all ok).
11. Prepare 1 cup of canned tomatoes (puree, sauce, or diced are fine).
12. Prepare 1 pound of 80/20 ground beef (ground turkey, chicken, pork all work fine).
13. You need 1.5 teaspoons of salt.
14. You need 2 Tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce.
15. Prepare 1-2 Tablespoons of hot sauce (used up my Popeye's leftover Louisiana packets - WOOT!).
16. Prepare 3 (15.5 oz) of cans beans of choice, well drained.
17. It's of Optional toppings: minced onions, jalapeños, and cilantro, sour cream, shredded cheese, hot sauce.

Three Bean Chili step by step

1. In a large pot (4 to 5 quart works), bring oil up to medium temp, add onions, peppers, and garlic, and sweat the aromatics until onions turn translucent (about 4 or 5 minutes)..
2. Add tomato paste, chili powder, cumin, black pepper, and bay leaf..
3. Stir to incorporate and let the tomato paste caramelize for about a minute or so..
4. Stir in liquid..
5. Add ground beef, salt, Worcestershire sauce, and hot sauce..
6. Stir until ground beef is all broken up and all the ingredients are thoroughly incorporated..
7. Add beans and give it a few good stirs..
8. Turn heat down *just* under medium and cook, COVERED (I know the pic isn't covered - I forgot to take that one), for 20 minutes, stirring once or twice during that time. If solids are getting stuck to the bottom of the pot, turn the heat down just a little bit..
9. Turn heat to low and cook with lid askew for another 20 minutes, adjusting seasoning halfway. Leaving the lid askew lets the steam evaporate, the flavors concentrate, and the chili will thicken a bit..
10. All done! Enjoy with toppings of choice..