Simple 3 Bean Chili

Nothing beats a nice hot pot of chili on a crisp cool day. Maybe I love autumm a bit too much. I love teaching Monkey these super simple recipes that she will know like the back of her hand by the time she is grown.

All of the kids will. When you can make a meal that takes little to no effort, is hearty and the perfect pick me up on dreary days. You have a tool to please any crowd. This simple 3 bean chili fits the bill.

One thing I love about chili is that when you have an extra mouth to feed you can toss in another can of beans and you’re ready to go. While you can do this one with dried beans to save even more money this chili is a great one to have everything on hand just in case. You can opt for an all day in the crockpot or a 20 minutes simmering on the stove to cook this chili. It is simple no matter what spot you find yourself in.

Ingredients for Simple Three Bean Chili

2 packets chili mix (yep you want easy and this will do the trick)
1 teaspoon crushed red peppers
1 teaspoon dried basil flakes
1 teaspoon dried oregano flakes
1/2 small onion
1 clove garlic
1 can red chili beans
1 can black beans
1 can kidney beans
1 can tomato paste
1 can diced tomatoes and chili peppers
4 cups water
2 pounds ground beef (optional)

Make your own 3 bean chili with or without meat

I snapped this mid chopping of the onion and garlic while Monkey began mixing them in to brown the meat. When using meat in your chili you will want to do this for extra flavor. Otherwise just toss them in the pot with the beans. If you skip the meat this entire meals ingredients stores in your pantry.

I wish there was some complicated tricks to tell you this one but the truth is you open everything up, drain the beans and toss EVERYTHING into your pot. All together which is just so easy. See why I like canned for this one?

Monkey likes to ply a bit and loaded the beans into the crock-pot into rows. She was so sad when it was time to dump everything else in and give it a stir.

finally set the crock pot on low for 4-8 hours. Yep, it won’t burn if you let it cook ALL day while you are at work, and it will be cooked if you happen to only let it cook while you run errands. If you opt to use the stove simple place on low heat and simmer for 20 minutes to heat everything up and allow the flavor to mix.