Old-Fashioned Chili Recipe
This Old-Fashioned Chili recipe is full of flavor and uses basic ingredients like tomato juice, barbeque sauce, ground beef, and kidney beans. If you’re looking for an old-style chili recipe that is robust, zesty and delicious, then this recipe is perfect for you.
Chili is one of those vintage recipes that can be made in a variety of ways. Cooks throughout the years have added unique ingredients to create their own spin on a basic pot of chili like brisket, sausage, smoked sausage, cinnamon, and celery.
One of the most unique recipes for chili is the Ohio famous Cincinnati Chili. Another retro recipe is our easy to make Slim Jim Chili. If you are looking for a totally different and unique spin on chili, then bookmark our Chili with Kielbasa. Check out our post on Chili Recipes that use Ground Beef for more inspiration.
🥘 Ingredients
There is a complete breakdown of the ingredients at the bottom of the post.
- ground beef
- tomato juice
- chili powder
- cayenne pepper
- kidney beans
- diced tomatoes
- bbq sauce
- onion
- kosher salt
- ground black pepper
- paprika
🔪Instructions
I didn’t do step by step process photos as to make this recipe, all you need to do is brown the ground beef and add all of the ingredients then into a large pot.
🧾Substitutions
- BBQ sauce – you can elect to not use this ingredient up to you.
- Onions – you can use a couple of teaspoons of onion powder if you don’t have regular onions.
📖Variations
- Chili Mac – you can cook up some macaroni and add it to the chili to make a fantastic next day meal.
🍽Equipment
Making this recipe is really easy. All you need is:
- skillet
- wooden spoon or large spoon
- large pot
- ladle
- spatula
- knife
- cutting board
🥫Storage
Store the chili in the fridge in an airtight container for up to five days. You can also freeze it in a freezer-safe container for up to three months.
💭Top tip
Since chili is the best the next day, serve it up with pasta, drained and over nachos and topped with cheese.
👩🏻🍳FAQ
I think the best is an 80/20 blend. However, if you can’t find that, use a 70/30 hamburger mixture. You may have to scrape the fat off the next day when you remove it from the fridge to reheat.
If you have leftover bacon grease, put a little bit into the skillet so that the ground beef can cook in the grease. It really brings a wonderful flavor.
📚History Behind the Recipe
I found this recipe taped into a cookbook called “Hoosier ” that I found at a vintage shop. The previous owner had written “excellent” so I knew we had to try it.
We are trying to find the original source for the recipe.
This post was previous on Modern Vintage Recipes
Old Fashioned Chili Recipe
Equipment
- large skillet
- Spatula
- cutting board
- Knife
- large pot
Ingredients
- 2 ½ pounds ground beef 80/20
- 2 quarts tomato juice
- 1/3 cup ground chili powder
- 1/4 teaspoons cayenne pepper
- 32 ounces kidney beans undrained
- 32 ounches diced tomatoes undrained
- 1/2 cup your favorite BBQ sauce
- 1 large onion diced
- 4 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/4 cup ground paprika
Instructions
- If you have bacon grease, put a spoonful into your skillet and turn the burner to medium.
- Add the ground beef, kosher salt, and black pepper to the skillet and cook until it’s browned.
- Add the diced onion to the skillet once the hamburger is done and cook until the onion is soft and translucent. Drain the beef if you want to.
- Add the cooked ground beef and onion mixture into the pot then add the tomato juice, chili powder, cayenne pepper, kidney beans, diced tomatoes, barbeque sauce, and ground paprika.
- Simmer on low for one hour.
- Ladle and serve.