If you don’t have a grill feel free to cook the beef in another pan. You shouldn’t need to add any oil to cook the meat in. Make sure you drain any excess fat before transferring meat to the skillet (or not if you want the extra fat).
Makes 8 servings.
Approximate cooking time: 3 hours
Ingredients
- 2 pounds lean ground beef
- 1 green bell pepper, diced
- 6 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 Tbs olive or coconut oil
- 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 3 Tbs cumin, or to taste
- 1-1/2 Tbs chili powder, or to taste
- 1 (28 oz) can diced tomatoes
Instructions
- Light coals in grill. While coals are setting (30-45 minutes), form ground beef into large patties.
- Heat oil in a heavy bottomed soup pot, and add freshly ground black pepper.
- Add bell pepper and saute 5-7 minutes. Turn heat off and stir in minced garlic.
- Grill patties over coals until medium rare, no more than 5 minutes on each side.
- Turn heat on high under soup pot, and place patties in with garlic, oil, and pepper mixture.
- Break up patties into small pieces with spatula and brown meat thoroughly. Add tomatoes.
- Mash and break up tomatoes with spatula.
- Add enough water to cover all ingredients, reduce heat to low, and let simmer 2 hours or more.
17 Comments
mikkijoy
I made this and added 1 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder and 1 tsp paprika and I swear this is one of the most OUTSTANDING chili recipes ever!
camisha
I wasnt a fan of this recipee. Cooking the chili for two hours made the beef come out dry in the pot. Not sure where I went wrong with ths one.
Jenna
I just made this, and WOW… I love it!!! Thank You so much.
Gurudwara
We love this chili! We make 2 huge pots and freeze most of it for lunches. Instead of making the hamburger patties, I crumble the beef in the pan straight away. I am allergic to everything even remotely spicy so I leave out all of the seasonings in my batch. I add onions to both and jalepenos to my husband’s. Thank you for sharing this! We are pretty new to eating paleo but so far this is one of our favorite recipes.
divaprof
I’m cooking this now and needing a little extra spice. I’m thinking about adding the following: liquid smoke, jalepenos, beer, and cayenne pepper. Are any of these things NOT paleo (I’m thinking the liquid smoke and beer are not).
Matt
Beer would not be allowed as all beer is made from one grain or another with barley and hops being most common.
Bill
If you are looking fore a smokier flavor and are not a fan of liquid smoke, maybe puree a chipotle chili or two and add it to the mix. Watch out though, some come packaged with adobo sauce. It tastes good, but contains vinegar, which you may or may not want depending on how how strictly you have tailored your paleo plan for yourself.
MCraig
My first Chili made ever and have to admit, it’s the Bomb.com! I used 3 fresh tomatoes instead cuz i didn’t have any canned tomatoes…Thanks for your site! This helps a whole lot sense we’re on a 30 Day Paleo Challenge!
Tara
Is this very spicy? I love spicy, but the rest of the family doesn’t.
michael
could you substitute the ground beef with ground turkey? looks delicious!
rae1104
im making this today. but im not grilling the meat and im adding red pepper, chipotle powder, portobello mushrooms & and jalapenos. i may had a dash of cinammon as well….
kealaz
What would you serve this with? We’re still fairly new to eating this way and everything I’m thinking up [Crackers, corn bread, rice, tortillas, cheese, etc.] are all “no-no’s”. Other than this bowl of red, what else would you serve with this dish to make it a meal? TYIA
Neely Quinn
Kealaz – Well, by virtue of the veggies, meat, and good fats in this recipe, it is a full meal. It’s kind of hard to get used to not having bread, some other carb, or dairy to make something “full meal”, but you’ll get used to it :) If you really want, you could even out the flavor with some coconut milk/cream, add a salad on the side, or eat a little fruit with it.
Courtney
Sounds good, but why do we need to grill the burgers first instead of just cooking the meat in the pan?
DHB
I am trying this recipe tonight~ I had to stick it in the crock pot for a while as i head to take the kids to baseball practice. I sure hope it turns out as good as it sounds :)
Lucy
This chili sounds great. My husband suffers from gout, so I will have to use turkey. I much rather use beef . I am starting a Paleo tomorrow , and I am excited to feel better. Wish me luck.
Julzjay13
Another great recipe! Used ground turkey, cooked in a pot, threw everything in and simmered. Didn’t need to use that much chili powder, or it may have been a little to spicy for the kids. I also didn’t add the water, simmered it with the cover on for only 30 min. it came out deeeelish :) thanks again.