Beanless Chili Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon bacon grease
• 1 ½ pounds ground beef, preferably chuck
• ½ medium white onion, minced
• 8 cloves garlic, or to taste
• 3 tablespoons chili powder
• 1 tablespoon ground paprika
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon black pepper
• 1 (28 ounce) can tomato puree
• 1 cup water
• 3 tablespoons tomato paste
• 2 teaspoons white sugar
• 1 cube beef bouillon

Step 1

Gently heat some bacon grease in a large pot over medium-high heat. Once it's hot, add the ground beef and cook it, stirring now and then, until it’s mostly browned—this should take about 5 minutes. Turn the heat down to medium, then toss in the chopped onion. Keep stirring occasionally until the onion softens and becomes translucent, which usually takes another 5 minutes.

Step 2

Add the garlic along with the chili powder, paprika, oregano, salt, and pepper. Cook everything together for a couple of minutes until you can really smell those spices. Pour in the tomato puree, water, tomato paste, and sprinkle in the sugar. Toss in the bouillon cube as well. Give it a good stir, then lower the heat to a gentle simmer. Cover the pot and let it cook for anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour, stirring occasionally to keep everything from sticking.