Help Refine My Non-Perishable Foodstaple Chili Recipe

[momeNt]

I have been searching for quick, easy, tasty (relative), cost effective and easy to store dinners that offer a balanced macro nutrient profile.

FWIW I eat differently on the weekends with my Anova.

Previous to my idea of chili I was doing ramen noodles (the prepackaged $.10) with a can of chicken tossed in along with salt, pepper, mexican hot sauce, and butter. It was bland and the ramen doesn't jive with the mexican flavor profile, and I cannot eat asian seasonings 4-5 times a week in order for that dish to make sense.

FWIW I eat differently on the weekends with my Anova.

My Chili recipe is as follows - makes 2x 700+ calorie servings

Canned Pinto Beans - 29 oz
2 cans of chicken - 13 oz each
2 cans of rotel tomatoes with green chiles - 10oz each
2 tsp of Tone's taco seasoning
1 tbsp of butter to quickly bind the flavors together as everything is already canned and cooked so I just warm up to a simmer for a few minutes before serving.

All of this I purchased at sams club and it comes out to under $4 per serving.

I may alternate in different easy proteins like ground beef which doesn't add a lot of extra cooking time. But what I am mostly looking for recommendations on seasonings. Taco seasoning is pretty close to what I am looking for but I think I want something maybe a little more chili-y if you know what I mean. Maybe different proportions of onions, garlic, chili powder, etc. Any help is greatly appreciated.

TLDR: Powdered/dry chili seasoning recommendations!

 

[cbrunny]

Add mustard and brown sugar.

 

[Jaepheth]

grab some dried peppers (ancho, arbol, etc); cut them up into the pot with kitchen shears.

 

[xochi]

This is my goto chili recipe. I like the Wick Fowler Chilli kits but found this a much less expensive alternative. I substitute masa harina for about 6-7 tortilla chips crushed in your hand.

http://www.food.com/recipe/2-alarm-chili-39280

works great.

 

[Strk]

Dried beans last a long time, so personally I'd swap out the canned ones. Their shelf life is a yearish. I know you were aiming for shelf-life, but still, avoid cans if you can.

 

[JEDIYoda]

hell don`t forget the Anchovie paste!!

 

[momeNt]

Dried beans last a long time, so personally I'd swap out the canned ones. Their shelf life is a yearish. I know you were aiming for shelf-life, but still, avoid cans if you can.

Don't dried beans need to be soaked overnight, then have substantial cooking time?

Shelf life of dry vs canned isn't a big deal, I am just not looking for the prep time / cook time or shelf life of fresh tomatoes, peppers, etc.

 

[Jaepheth]

Don't dried beans need to be soaked overnight, then have substantial cooking time?

Not for those of us with pressure cookers

 

[Strk]

Don't dried beans need to be soaked overnight, then have substantial cooking time?

Soaked yes, but once that's done, nothing substantial. If you're doing your recipe in a slow cooker, you don't really even need to soak them.

 

[Xstatic1]

This is my goto chili recipe. I like the Wick Fowler Chilli kits but found this a much less expensive alternative. I substitute masa harina for about 6-7 tortilla chips crushed in your hand.

http://www.food.com/recipe/2-alarm-chili-39280

works great.

I've never made chili before, but I really like the ingredients in this recipe. I may be trying this soon.

 

[slag]

grab some dried peppers (ancho, arbol, etc); cut them up into the pot with kitchen shears.

Take the seeds out first and rinse them before putting them in the pot.

 

[momeNt]

grab some dried peppers (ancho, arbol, etc); cut them up into the pot with kitchen shears.

How long does it take for the dried peppers to integrate into the chili?

 

[slag]

Don't dried beans need to be soaked overnight, then have substantial cooking time?

Shelf life of dry vs canned isn't a big deal, I am just not looking for the prep time / cook time or shelf life of fresh tomatoes, peppers, etc.

Yes if done traditionally. No, if done with an electric pressure cooker.

 

[momeNt]

Yes if done traditionally. No, if done with an electric pressure cooker.

I do like gadgets ^.^

 

[GagHalfrunt]

2 cans of chicken - 13 oz each

I stopped reading there. If you're not going to take this seriously there's no reason we should.

 

[slag]

I stopped reading there. If you're not going to take this seriously there's no reason we should.

Canned chicken is the bomb. I use it to make white chili from time to time and its good!

 

[momeNt]

I stopped reading there. If you're not going to take this seriously there's no reason we should.

It tasted pretty damn good and I didn't have to worry about cooking the chicken to temperature and pulling it. It was a win-win for me. And I do not derive any sort of self-worth or satisfaction for how much time I put into a meal.

Like I more or less said in my OP I am looking for a balance of taste / cost / time / effort. Everybody has different values they assign to each of those variables. You obviously assign an extremely high and pretentious value to whatever variables eliminates canned chicken in lieu of its "fresh" counterpart.

 

[momeNt]

Canned chicken is the bomb. I use it to make white chili from time to time and its good!

I would hazard a guess that much canned chicken is cooked faster from slaughter than whenever you buy it "fresh" and bring it home to cook.

 

[MongGrel]

Depends on how you define chili of course.

Some people would not even allow chicken or beans near chili.

I usually do use beans myself, but there are some serious people out there frown on it.

Dried peppers are always good +1

And soaking beans aren't much of an effort, they about double in size after soaking. Just have to pre plan a little.

Black Beans are good for it even if I use Pintos. I've tended to go to Black beans myself lately though.

 

[zinfamous]

I have been searching for quick, easy, tasty (relative), cost effective and easy to store dinners that offer a balanced macro nutrient profile.

FWIW I eat differently on the weekends with my Anova.

without getting into the chili, this part made me think of:

http://www.seriouseats.com/2014/09/diy-instant-noodle-cups-food-lab.html

You're gonna plotz!

 

[momeNt]

Depends on how you define chili of course.

Some people would not even allow chicken or beans near chili.

That's true. It's a play on chili or chili-like if you prefer.

 

[zinfamous]

Don't dried beans need to be soaked overnight, then have substantial cooking time?

Most beans, you can cover with water, bring to a boil for ~10 minutes, then cover and take off heat for 1-2 hours, or just simmer for an hour. They should be good to go.

Plus, if you are cooking that chili all day, you could boil them then toss them into the authentic chili w/ beans that you are preparing.

 

[momeNt]

Most beans, you can cover with water, bring to a boil for ~10 minutes, then cover and take off heat for 1-2 hours, or just simmer for an hour. They should be good to go.

Plus, if you are cooking that chili all day, you could boil them then toss them into the authentic chili w/ beans that you are preparing.

My plan is to cook this either once or twice a week. Cook 2 servings monday and leftovers tuesday. Or cook 4 servings monday and leftovers tuesday-thursday. Friday-sunday I eat various foods with my anova or eat out. Don't have time to do an all day chili unless it was a weekend special. I am looking for weekday time-sensitive preparation.

 

[MongGrel]

You could even try mixing up Pinto and Black beans and doing the crock pot thing of course.

Have done that myself before, works pretty well actually.

 

[MongGrel]

Most beans, you can cover with water, bring to a boil for ~10 minutes, then cover and take off heat for 1-2 hours, or just simmer for an hour. They should be good to go.

Plus, if you are cooking that chili all day, you could boil them then toss them into the authentic chili w/ beans that you are preparing.

Never tried that myself, but sounds doable.