Years ago, as a young married couple about to have our first child, we lived by another young couple who were about to have their second child. She was originally from Trinidad but her father lived in England. One day they invited us over for dinner where they served “European Chili”. This meal was actually the first “table” food my son Landon ever tried. He loved it! We figured if their daughter could eat it, so could Landon. After all, they were the same age.
My neighbor explained that in England a seasoning packet for this chili was available on the market which is how she made it that night. Her father would mail her packets. Of course, I didn’t have the packet and so I duplicated the recipe by trial and error. Years later, while living in Alaska, she mailed me some original seasoning packets and to be honest, we could not tell the difference between the packet version and my version. So Euro Chili was born!
Now the original version has you throwing everything into a dutch oven and baking it. I still brown my meat first in the dutch oven before baking it. The baking really allows the flavors to meld together.
To start, brown some lean ground beef in a dutch oven with diced bell pepper and onion.
Next, mix in a large can of Ranch style beans, diced tomatoes and a little water. Add some garlic powder, salt and pepper.
Place the lid on your dutch oven and bake for an hour.
Serve over some steamed rice. Enjoy!
Euro Chili
Ingredients
- 1 lb lean ground beef
- 1 small diced onion or 2 T. minced onion flakes
- 1 bell pepper diced
- 1 14.5 can petite diced tomatoes
- 1 15 or 26 oz can Ranch Style beans*
- 1 cup water*
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 350. In a dutch oven, brown the ground beef with onions and bell pepper. Remove from heat and drain if necessary. (If using lean ground beef, no need to drain.)
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Add tomatoes, beans with juice and water. Stir in garlic powder, salt and pepper. Cover with lid and bake for one hour. Serve over steamed rice.
Recipe Notes
I like extra beans in my Euro chili so I use the larger 26 oz can and omit the water. If you prefer less beans use the smaller 15 oz can and add the cup of water. The juice from the beans add a great deal of flavor so be sure to use the Ranch style version.
This recipe works well with ground turkey as well.
