Hearty and Healthy Winter Chili
Perfect for those cold winter nights, a bowl of this chili will warm everyone, not to mention it feeds quite a crowd. And don’t tell the kids, but there is a secret ingredient making this recipe even healthier. It may sound a little strange, but adding chopped mushrooms in with the ground meat makes them virtually undetectable while adding volume and healthy nutrients.
Ingredients
- 1 pound 97%-lean ground beef (can also use ground turkey)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil or canola oil
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 2 cups chopped mushrooms
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes
- 1 cup reduced-sodium beef broth
- 1 15-ounce can red kidney beans, rinsed, divided 2 cups
- shredded cheese, such as cheddar
Directions
- Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion, mushrooms, and beef. Cook, breaking the meat up with a spoon, until the beef is browned (about five minutes).
- Add chili powder, cumin, and garlic powder and stir to mix spices in well. Add the diced tomatoes and beef broth and bring to a simmer.
- Mash half the beans in a bowl, and stir the mashed beans and whole beans into the mixture in the skillet.
- Cook, partially covered, stirring occasionally and maintaining a simmer, for 20 to 30 minutes.
- To serve, ladle about 1 cup of chili into individual bowls. Garnish with cheese.
Tips
- To make it a Texas-style chili, add a small handful of corn chips to the bottom of the bowl before pouring in the hot chili and topping with cheese.
- Make it vegetarian. Omit the meat and replace with 1 can of pinto beans, 1 can of black beans, and 1 cup chopped zucchini. Substitute vegetable broth for the beef broth and you’ll have a delicious, vegetarian three-bean chili!
- Nutrition bonus: this chili is a great source of lean protein, and the beans add fiber, iron, and additional protein.
Yield: 8 servings
Nutrition information per serving (a serving is about 1 ½ cups)*
288 calories 8.4 g total fat 436 mg sodium 23 g carbohydrate 4.9 g sugar 6 g fiber 30 g protein
*Nutrition information assessed using caloriecount.about.com.