Ginger Chipotle Chili Con Carne

Whether it’s cold out or you are just in the mood for flavorful, healthy comfort food, this seriously delicious chili will not disappoint! This is a super easy recipe that requires only a little bit of prep and can feed either one person for a week or a whole family all at once. While this con carne is a Whole30 recipe, if you are a fan of beans (not Whole30) in your chili I will show you where to add them at the end. I have placed both 1st and 2nd place in two chili cook offs with this recipe in the past week alone. Do your taste buds a favor and make this chili!

If you want to take it up a notch, there is a “Bonus Round” option that includes sirloin steak and a sous vide! Make sure you read ahead to that part before you start cooking since it requires a little extra cook time and prep.

Time Commitment:

  • Prep Time: 30 minutes (includes 5 minutes of *bonus round*)

  • Cook Time: 1 hour (does not include *bonus round*, add another hour for the sirloin steak in sous vide)

  • Total Time: 1 hour and 25 minutes - 2 hours and 30 minutes

Materials Needed:

  • Dutch oven OR a skillet and a crock pot

  • Stirring spoon

  • Cutting board

  • Knife

  • Mixing bowls for chopped veggies and spices

  • A mortar & pestle or a spice grinder (I use this coffee grinder dedicated to spices)

  • Can opener

  • OPTIONAL: Sous vide kit (if you are in the market, I highly recommend considering one with WiFi like this one)

Ingredients:

  • 3-3.5 lb of chili meat. Some butchers have chili meat, if they don’t you can just use ground meat. I used beef, but you can experiment with any kind of ground meat (I’m going to try lamb next time!)

  • 8 cloves garlic, chopped (for the garlic lovers, now is your chance use more)

  • 1 white onion, chopped

  • 2-3 jalapeños, chopped and de-seeded

  • 4 tbsp sunflower seed oil

  • 1 inch ginger root, chopped*

  • 3 tbsp of kosher salt

  • Fresh cracked pepper to taste

  • 4 tbsp of Ball All-Purpose Rub

  • 3 tbsp fresh ground cumin

  • OPTIONAL IF YOU CAN GET THEM: 2 dried chipotle peppers, ground

  • 1 cup stock (chicken, beef or veggie, chefs choice!)

  • 1 can diced tomatoes

  • 1 cup tomato sauce

  • 3 tbsp hot sauce (scroll to the end for a Whole30 and a non-Whole30 option)

  • 4 oz clarified butter (for non-Whole30 sub with half a stick of regular butter)

NON-WHOLE30 Ingredients:

  • 1 can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained

  • 1 can of baked beans (whatever you are feelin’)

  • Cheddar cheese, shredded (the funkier, the better! I like this one!!)

BONUS ROUND Ingredients:

  • 1 sirloin steak (whatever your butcher has available)

  • 3-4 tbsp of The Meat Shop’s House Seasoning

  • 2 sprigs of fresh rosemary

Instructions:

  1. If taking part in the BONUS ROUND by adding in the sirloin, start by preparing your steak however you would like. If not, skip to step #2. I prefer sous vide for preparing the sirloin (which you will add in step #8) and will walk you through that here

    • Fill a large pot with water

    • Place your sous vide in the water

    • Season your steak with salt, pepper, garlic salt and fresh rosemary

    • Place seasoned steak in a vacuum sealed bag (you can buy these or these or I use a stasher bag) note: you do not need a fancy vacuum sealer for a delicious result

    • Set your sous vide for 130 degrees (per this sous vide cooking guide)

    • Let cook in the sous vide for 45-60 mins, remember it is going to keep

    • Remove from bag and chop it up into bite size pieces and throw it in

  2. If not adding in the sirloin, start by prepping all your veggies and spices.

    • Mix the Ball All-Purpose Rub and cumin in one small bowl

    • Mix the salt [and pepper] in another small bowl

    • Mix the garlic, onions, and jalapenos in a third small bowl

    • Keep the chopped ginger* in a fourth small bowl

  3. Pour a thin layer of oil into your dutch oven on the stove top at medium high heat.

  4. Add your chili meat and half the salt and pepper. Mix it all up frequently to ensure the meat browns evenly.

  5. Once the meat is evenly browned (no more pink!) add the rest of the salt and pepper with veggies* and sweat (let the onions get that “wet” look) a little bit...should only take a minute or two.

  6. Add spice and stir for about a minute

  7. Add tomatoes, stock, and hot sauce (go light on the hot sauce if you want to cut back on the spicy-ness, I love spice so I do a heavy handed pour)

  8. Add in cooked sirloin steak from Step #1 (optional)

  9. Add beans (garbanzo and baked)

  10. Add butter

  11. Stir occasionally and let it sit on medium low heat for 20-60 mins (longer if you’d like)*

Serve with your shredded cheddar cheese sprinkled on top!

*the ginger flavor can get cooked out if you put it in too early. If you are going to keep the heat on longer than 60 minutes, then do not add the ginger until you are 45 mins or so from serving

Some of my favs used in this recipe: 1. Organic Sunflower Seed Oil 2. Organic Bone Broth 3. Organic Diced Tomatoes 4. Hot Sauce (Not Whole30) 5. Hot Sauce (Whole30) 6. Ghee / Clarified Butter 7. Fancy Cheddar Cheese 8. Meat Shop TX House Seasoning

Ryan Ball