It’s chili time

Making Green Bay style Chili is super easy. The name is a bit of a misnomer – it isn’t actually “chili” in the way that many people think of chili. Rather, Green Bay Chili is similar to “Cincinnati Chili” in that it’s essentially flavored ground meat, usually beef, over spaghetti. You can use ground turkey or chicken, but for the full experience for your first time I recommend ground beef. You only need a few ingredients and it’s super easy to make.

THE RATIO:

  • 1/2 LB Green Bay Chili Powder to

  • 2 1/2 LBs Ground Beef (Lean is fine, but if you’re not going to use suet use 85% to get it good and oily and unhealthy)

I’m bad at math so if you want to make less or more, godspeed. This will make more than enough and I recommend you freeze about half of it. This is the only powder I’ve ever used for this. The instructions say to use suet. We don’t use suet because some people (cardiologists) seem to think it’s bad for you.

OTHER INGREDIENTS

  • 1.5 white/yellow onions, finely diced

  • 3-6 cloves garlic, depending on taste preference

  • 1 box spaghetti noodles

  • 1 can kidney beans

  • 1 whole shitload of olive oil

HOW TO

  1. You have two choices here: put 1/4 cup of olive oil into a pan; or don’t. Both are great options, but oil is key to making this work. You’re going to need a pretty big pan, because all 2.5 lbs of beef are going into that bad boy. Using some oil (either way you need at least some), and the first onion (save the rest for later) and all the garlic. Fry those bad boys up for a couple mins, then add the meat and let it brown. Split it up as you go, you want it as separated as possible

  2. Once sufficiently browned (you don’t need it like, brown brown but still like kind of cooked-ish) add the chili powder and some water to let it kind of… diffuse into the meat. You can also add more olive oil at this point too. If you didn’t add olive oil earlier, I’d recommend adding at least some this stage. You want the liquid about 1/4th inch above the meat, according to family lore. Stir, stir, stir, then you’re going to let it just sit and simmer for 45-60 mins, stirring to keep from sticking.

  3. While that’s going, heat up the beans. Dice the other onion. Cook the spaghetti. Read a goddamn book for once.

  4. Finally, when it’s done, your beef should look like it’s become one with the chili mixture. Now all you gotta do is the final step: take a bowl, put some spaghetti at the bottom, then the chili mixture, then beans, then onion. Play with ratios, see what works for you. I’ve always found that I don’t need as much of the chili (added a picture below)

Also, 2.5lbs is a lot. If you went for the whole hog (or cow), freeze some of your chili mixture for a lazy winter day. It’s a great easy meal, any time of year.