Cheater Chili

This chili is full of flavor. No scavenging the depths of the fridge to find something (God, anything) to give this one a boost. It's cheater chili because it uses a couple of shortcuts to add flavor fast.

Makes About 10 cups. 

Ingredients:
1 medium yellow onion, diced
3 ribs celery, diced
1/2 green pepper, diced
2 T olive oil
1 T butter
2 lbs beef
28 oz. crushed tomatoes
2-3 cans traditional Chili Magic beans
2 cups beef broth
1/2 package chili seasoning mix

Heat oil and butter over medium heat in your big soup pot or Dutch oven. Once the butter is bubbly, add the Holy Trinity (onion, celery, green pepper). Saute until soft. Remove veggies from pot and set aside.

Prep your meat, if necessary. You can use tri-tip steak, round steak, etc., and chop it into little cubes. It helps to partially freeze it. I like using cube steak, diced. You can also just use ground beef. Just remember, good quality meat makes good quality chili. Bad beef makes tomato-y, bean-y crap.
Add your meat to the hot pan and brown.

Once your meat is nicely browned, add veggies back in. Add your tomatoes.

Now the beans. If you can't find the Chili Magic, any old beans will do, but these add a beautiful texture to the soup and every bean is full of chili goodness.

Add your beef broth to your desired consistency. Two cups makes me happy.  Finally, add a prepared chili seasoning to your own tastes.

I like this one because it comes with a separate hot pack and masa flour, so you can customize your chili. I used about half the packet.

Heat it all up and eat it immediately if you want to. I subscribe to the theory that chili is better after some time. So I typically make this in the morning and then transfer it to my crockpot to cook on low until dinner time. It would be super terrific after a night in the fridge, too.

That's it. Top that yumminess with cheese, sour cream, green onions. Serve it over macaroni or spaghetti. Freeze your leftovers and turn it into Chili Mac by adding cooked elbow macaroni and way too much freshly shredded cheddar cheese.

Here's the finished product. Whoopsie, did I top my Cheater Chili with so many yummy extras that you can't see it? Sorry about that.

Enjoy the poison. ☠