This spicy chili recipe was my first attempt at making a non-vegetarian chili. And I have to say I am super excited to share it.

What a winner! Besides being simple to make, it had the perfect amount of spice for me (I like a med-high range), loads of flavor, and low starch content, so there are no beans or thickening flours in it. I adapted it from this awesome recipe I found. And I can’t wait to try it with ground turkey, as well.

Besides using organic veggies, spices, and meat, I recommend using grass fed beef for a better omega 6 to omega 3 ratio. And try to find an organic chili powder with no anti-caking agents, like this one. Or make your own. If you can find tomatoes in glass containers instead of cans (in order to avoid BPA in can linings) that would be awesome, too.

This is a large batch of chili. I originally made twice as much (almost 8 quarts) so I could feed a lot of people, but I halved the recipe for you. The recipe below makes about 15 cups, so you can either halve the recipe again or freeze some for a rainy day.

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 lbs ground beef
• 3 onions, chopped
• 4 green peppers, chopped
• 1-2 jalapenos, diced, seeds scraped out to desired heat level
• 2 heads garlic, cloves halved
• 2 (14-oz) cans diced tomatoes
• 5 (8-oz) cans tomato sauce
• 5 tablespoons cumin powder
• 5 tablespoons chili powder
• 2 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 1/4 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 1/2 tbsp cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 tbsp turmeric
• optional: water or broth to thin later

Directions:

• Cook ground beef in a pan until fully cooked; drain and reserve the fat.
• Add a little of the beef fat to a large pot, and cook the onions, garlic and peppers in it with a dash of salt to make them sweat. You want their tasty liquid in the chili later, so don’t let it evaporate.
• When vegetables are lightly tender, add cooked beef, tomatoes, and seasonings to the pot, and simmer for 1-2 hours until desired consistency and tenderness.
• Adjust spices and thin with water or broth if desired.
• Serve and enjoy!