beef and three bean chili

it's soupy stewy chili season

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Happy Halloween weekend!

Hey, it’s me, Caroline! I missed you guys, but getting to work with all of the guest authors who contributed recipes during my maternity leave was really fun and rewarding. I’m so pleased that you guys loved their recipes so much. But I’m back, baby! I have a 5-week-old child barfing on my shoulder as I type this at my kitchen table, and I honestly couldn’t be happier. I can’t wait to share all of the recipes I’ve been scheming.

We celebrate What To Cook When You Don’t Feel Like Cooking’s second birthday in December, and I’m feeling more excited than ever about its future and potential. Thanks for being here, y’all. This is fun.

WTC is coming at you a day early this week so that you can cook this chili tonight or tomorrow for Halloween night! Soups, stews, chilies — they all get more delicious the further in advance they’re made. Ya know, within reason. I make them up to four days in advance.

I mentioned this with last week’s chili recipe, but chili on Halloween night is a tradition for us (and I know many of you, too!). We always make one beef-y, tomato-y chili and one white chicken chili. Lots of cornbread to go around. Fritos scoops are a non-negotiable. Plenty of sour cream for all the wusses who are like “this chili is spicy!” even though it’s totally not spicy, it’s just *seasoned*. Also for all the people who just love copious amounts of sour cream in their chili (me).

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we’re not using ground beef?

Nope, we sure aren’t (but you CAN — check the subs section below the recipe, as always!). This is a beef stew-style chili — we are using big chunks of beef. It’s going to cook low and slow for a few hours, until the beef is tender and falls apart in your mouth. It’s insane, you’re going to love it.

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don’t rinse your beans

You know that slimy stuff covering your canned beans? That you’d usually rinse off before adding the beans to a recipe? Not so fast! That liquid is incredibly starchy, so leaving it on the beans will actually help thicken up our chili! We don’t want to use all of it, just what’s clinging to the beans after we drain them off.

It’s the same idea as when we add pasta water to our pasta dishes when tossing the cooked pasta and sauce together (like we do with the healthy-ish turkey bolognese)— the extra starch from the can of beans or pasta water helps everything come together and thicken up really nicely.

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a meat seasoning tip

You know that seasoning your meat ahead of time is a great idea, right? So why aren’t we all more proactive about this!? As soon as you get home from the store, season your meat (any kind, not just the beef for this recipe!) with a nice sprinkle of salt and pepper. Seasoning it ahead of time allows the salt and pepper to penetrate not just the outer layer, but all the way to the center of the meat.

If you’re able, it makes a huge difference to season the beef in this recipe ahead of time. As far in advance as possible, but even just a few hours is great!

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in a huge rush?

Skip all of the searing and sautéing you see in the recipe and just dump everything in the pot all at once, bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and let it cook for 2 1/2 to 3 hours, until the beef is super tender. The beans will be really mushy, to the point of falling apart. But honestly? I like them like that.

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beef and three bean chili

Serves 8 to 10

Cook time: ~3 1/2 hours (but only about 30 minutes active cook time)