My friend Anne shared her simple chili recipe with me and said her kids call it Camp Chili because… You guessed it, they usually have it when they're camping!
Kent and I are firmly and proudly NOT campers (even our kids don't like camping, although they may have been slightly swayed by our sour attitudes toward it, lol), but if your family DOES like to camp, this will be a great recipe to keep handy. For me, since the ingredients for this super easy chili can be stored easily, you can keep it all on hand and throw it together quickly on a busy day. I love meals like that, and have a whole list of them here, because our days are often crazy busy, as I'm sure yours are too.
By the way, if you want even more real food camping recipes, check out the Family Camping Handbook here, from my friend, Katie!
Anne's Camp Chili
Ingredients
- 2 pounds Pasture-fed ground beef If you don't have a good local source for pastured meats, here's the online source I trust for healthy meat — you could also try my trick for getting more superfood meats into your family the way I showed you in this post
- 1 quart of your favorite organic tomato sauce
- 2 cans organic red beans
- 2 cans organic corn or 2 cups frozen
- 1 Tablespoon chili powder more or less to your taste
- Sea salt and pepper to your taste
- Other spices you might like for more flavor: 1 teaspoon garlic powder onion powder, etc.
Instructions
- Brown beef and drain if needed. Add the other ingredients, taste-test to get it how you like it, and heat thoroughly. Total prep time is only 15-20 minutes! Serve with other sides if desired…
Great sides that would go well with Camp Chili:
- Homemade beer bread
- Gluten free cornbread
- FAST and Easy Mixed Fruit Salad
- Nourishing Traditions Sauerkraut
- The BEST Pasta Salad Recipe Ever!
- Grape Salad with Cream Cheese Topping
- Grated Carrot Salad with Lemon
- Raw Applesauce Recipe — Blended with the Peels for More Nutrition
- Roasted Crispy Herbed Potatoes – Side Dish Recipe
Kent's Chili — it's all about the MEAT and the HEAT
My husband Kent makes a KILLER chili that the neighbors go nuts over each fall at our “chili cook-off driveway party”, and although it's not quite as simple as Anne's Camp Chili, people ask for it all of the time, so I'm going to include the variations for that here too…
I don't have amounts listed because he never keeps track, he just throws everything in, adds more for a big crowd if needed, and taste-tests 'til it's right. Basically the biggest difference in Kent's chili compared to the above recipe is the meat and the heat!
He uses ground beef, made into patties, and steak, and first cooks them over a charcoal grill — the flavor this gives makes all the difference. While that's grilling, he sautés 1-2 chopped onions in his big pan to soften them up. Then he crumbles up the burgers, not too small because he likes it to be chunky, and cuts the steak into various bite-sized pieces, and throws them into his chili (see above for the basic chili or just add stewed tomatoes and tomato paste), along with some HOT hot sauce, like this one. Add some of that, and again, taste-test to get it how you like it. He also adds mushrooms, some whole and some sliced from a can (I pick around them, since I can't stand mushrooms, especially the canned ones), and kidney beans.
I'm so thankful that he loves cooking more and more all the time and we enjoy cooking together, too. 🙂
More posts you might like:
- Fast & Easy Meals
- Don't forget to grab one of these: Family Camping Handbook
- More recipe ideas — in many different categories!
- Bye Bye Dangerous Teflon Skillet… HELLO New Stainless Steel Electric Frying Pan!
- Unrelated: know anyone who has been unable to get pregnant? Please share this post with them: Could it be this Simple? A Surprising Solution for Up to 64% of Women Who Can’t Get Pregnant?
- HELP for Arthritis Pain
Kelly the Kitchen Kop says
(Or if you hate camping like we do, think of it as a fast-food-at-home meal!)