Our favourite Chili
I was driving home from work last week and heard on the radio that the hot temperatures we’ve been having all summer are expected to last until mid-October.
I LIVE for Autumn. So, I was pretty devastated to hear this news.
Not only do I love the weather – cool, crisp autumn weather that is like no other season but I love the foods on fall – apples in my pie, pumpkin in my coffee, and just all out comfort in my belly in the form of chilis, stews and casseroles.
So, you can imagine my excitement, a term I am using somewhat loosely when I awoke to a very cool Saturday – which turned into a dreary and rainy day.
You know what Saturdays like that are good for?
Well, for Jon and me, we decided to hit up a couple of antique stores and in general just spending the day exploring a few towns around our city. I ended up finding a cool wooden antique ice-cream scoop that I can’t wait to take pictures of – probably will have to wait a while for that one though.
And for the Russell, he’d put his day into pictures:
Apparently, a lot of deep thought and reflections on life…
And, a bunch of ‘zzzz’s in between…
He is definitely the more athletically challenged of our two furry-ones! Most of his days are spent similar to the above pictures. I think there’s only two things he looks forward to everyday – breakfast and dinner! And most nights, he is out-like-a-light around 8:30.
Anyway, back to our Saturday – a day out in the rain left us wanting something warm and comforting for dinner, chili. It’s pretty much our “kick-off” meal as a welcome to Fall. We had a similar meal last year too.

Until this chili recipe, I never had a “go-to” recipe for chili. But this is by far, the best chili in both of our books. It’s a subtly sweet and spicy chili that is just the right consistency – not too thin and not too thick – just enough to be able to sop it up with some fresh-baked bread. It was, to our surprise, the best chili we’ve had – all due to one unexpected ingredient – sugar! I had never, ever seen a recipe for chili that had sugar and I almost passed on it for that reason. But, considering we fought over the leftovers for this one, do not pass this one by – it just might end up being your favourite chili too!
Chili Recipe
Recipe type: Stew
Ingredients
- 1-1/2 lbs extra lean ground beef
- 1 small onion
- 1 green pepper, diced
- 1 jalapeno, diced
- 1 can beans in tomato sauce*
- 1 (14 oz) can tomato sauce, preferably with no salt added
- 1 (14 oz) can diced tomatoes, preferably with no salt added
- 1 (6 oz) can tomato paste
- ½ packet chili seasoning
- ¼ cup sugar
- black pepper, to taste
- Shredded cheese, sour cream, and green onions – optional
Instructions
- Brown the ground beef and onion in a large heavy bottomed pan over medium-high heat and drain grease.
- Add the green peppers, jalapeno and beans with the sauce. Then add the sugar, pepper (to taste) and chili seasoning and stir.
- Add cans of tomato sauce and diced tomatoes, including the juice. Add the tomato paste and then fill the can with water and add it to the pot.
- Bring ingredients to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer for about an hour.
- Serve hot sprinkled with cheese, sour cream and green onions, if desired.
Notes*The original recipe calls for “chili beans in sauce” which I couldn’t find, so I used beans in tomato sauce which worked perfectly.