The Search For The Best Chili Recipe

Photo Credit: Canva

I don’t have a signature chili recipe and much like a signature perfume, I feel like I haven’t left my mark on a fall staple. I want people to recognize my chili, maybe even have a secret ingredient, but for 20 years I’ve been trying to find my favorite chili recipe and I just can’t settle on one! This year I made two chili batches of chili for Halloween. I thought both were good, but both were flawed in their own way. One way too spicy for most of my household's liking. The other was “too thick” for some. My Mom says “It’s not real chili unless you use dry beans and soak them overnight,” but I cheat every time and use the cans. Is that really the secret?

Anyway, here are the two recipes I used this year. If you have a “perfect chili” recipe, please share, because I am bound and determined to have a signature chili recipe before I have grandchildren someday, or at least before I die so it can be passed down to my posterity!

This is the one that got 5 stars from my kids, but it is rather thick and has been pointed out to me by people every time I make it.

My fiance ate almost the entire pot, but it was way too spicy for my kids and “too soupy” for my son. If you scale back on the hot sauce, this may be a keeper.