Thick Oven Baked Chili

January 21, 2011

For Christmas my sweet friend gave me a new cookbook, The Big Book of Casseroles. It was the perfect gift because I’ve been needing comfort food lately and this cookbook is loaded with warm, delicious comfort food recipes including this terrific chili.

I served the chili with Fritos scoops, which made eating it more fun. I made a couple of changes to suit my family’s tastes. I used black beans instead of kidney beans, ground chicken sausage instead of kielbasa, added a can of green chilies, and I left out the bell peppers. The chili was quick and easy to throw together and we loved the flavor, next time though, I would double the chili powder to kick it up a notch.

Thick Oven Baked Chili

Print Recipe

Ingredients:

  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
  • 1 pound lean ground beef
  • 1 pound ground sausage
  • 1 yellow onion, chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 cans (15 ounce) black beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1 can (14 ounces) diced tomatoes
  • 1 can (15 ounce) tomato sauce
  • 1 can (4 ounce) green chilies
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon chili powder (or more to taste)
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • Freshly ground pepper to taste

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325º. In a Dutch oven over medium heat, warm oil. Sauté beef, sausage, onion and garlic until meat is no longer pink and onion is tender, about 10 minutes. Add remaining ingredients and blend well.

Cover and bake about 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Uncover and bake 30 minutes longer. Remove bay leave and discard. Serve topped with sour cream, sliced green onions or grated cheddar cheese.

adapted from The Big Book of Casseroles