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This is the time of year when a nice big pot of Hearty Red Bean & Beef Chili makes a perfect meal.
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My Hearty Red Bean & Beef Chili is a perfect complement for cool winter evenings or tailgating with the team. You can dress it up as a side dish, add it as an appetizer or serve it as your main course, the possibilities are truly endless.
I always like to start with the freshest ingredients for any of my homemade soups. Secretly I love to chop up the peppers and onions and put them into bowls so they are ready to go for my meal.
In fact a great time saving tip is to precut your veggies all on one prep day at the beginning of the week, and pre-measure them into containers for your upcoming meals. Then during your busy weeknight meal prep, it is just a quick dump and go.
You will want to saute your veggies first, then add in ground sirloin, and lightly brown for 10 minutes. (You could also use ground beef, chuck or even bison for this chili, I have even used a mixture before.) Drain off any fat or grease that forms in the pot. Once done add in all your pre-mixed chili spices to toast spices into the meat for 1-2 minutes on medium heat. Then drop in the secret ingredient, the dark semi-sweet chocolate. This makes a mole’ style of sauce, which is amazing for flavor.
Finally, you will stir in your tomato sauce, which can be homemade to take your chili up another notch. Lightly stir in chili beans, and tomatoes. I like a nice fire roasted tomato for added flavor. You can also use a variety of of beans as well, I have mixed black bean and red kidney beans in to this chili on occasions to mix up the recipe a bit. There really is not a hard and fast rule to what exactly goes into the pot. 
Hearty Red Bean Beef Chili
- 1 lb Ground Sirloin
- 2 tbsp Olive Oil
- 1 Onion Optional
- 1 Green Bell Pepper Optional
- 1 can Fire Roasted Tomatoes
- 2 cans Chili Beans
- 1 can Tomato Sauce
- 2 oz Espresso Dark Semi Sweet Chocolate
- 3 Jalapenos chopped, 2 reserved for garnish
- 2 tbsp Chili Powder
- 2 tsp Cumin
- 2 tsp Himalayan sea salt
- 2 tsp Cayenne Pepper
- 1 tbsp Garlic Powder
- 1 1/2 tsp Smoked Paprika
- 1 tbsp Brown Sugar
- 1 tbsp Oregano
- 1 Bag Cheddar Cheese garnish
- 1 cup Sour Cream garnish
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Premix all the spices together, and set to side.
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Set your Instant Pot to Saute add olive oil, all peppers and onions (optional Jalapenos). sweat for for 5 minutes.
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Add in ground sirloin, and lightly brown for 10 minutes. Adding all your chili spices to toast into the meat.
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Drop in your chocolate squares to melt during the 2-3 minutes of cooking.
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Add tomatoes, beans and beef stock to pot.
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Secure lid and set to manual high pressure cook for 20 minutes
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When finished cooking quick release the vent.
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Serve up chili and garnish with cheese jalapenos and sour cream. This makes a great chili mac too!
We like to top our chili with cheese, sour cream, maybe some fresh jalapenos or cilantro. You can also reserve a few peppers or onions too, if you like, or even some chips or salsa. It is all good when it comes to this chili. One of our favorite meals it to pour this chili over pork tamales, which is amazing. Another great leftover dish is chili mac, just cook up some elbow macaroni to stretch out your chili leftovers, top it with cheese, jalapenos, and a dollop of sour cream. 
Check out my Southwestern White Chili Recipe & Peach Muffins for more tasty treats to pair this season:
Peach Muffins & Bread Warmer Hostess Gift
Southwestern Chicken Chili
Easy Black Bean Soup
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