Uncle Hector’s Famous Chili
Warm, hearty, and spicy, this award-winning chili is a family favorite!
My husband’s family loves to cook and eat. This chili recipe is one of his Texas uncles’, created for entry into a chili cook off, where it won an award! My husband fondly remembers his dad making Uncle Hector’s chili every year for the Super Bowl.
I grew up with a very bean-heavy chili, always served with cornbread. My husband grew up with this beef-heavy chili (pinto beans added separately!), always served with saltine crackers. The first few years of our relationship saw multiple arguments over cornbread vs. saltines. I still think chili and cornbread belong together as a unit, but I’ve come around to enjoying crackers with my soups and stews.
What You Need:
- Bacon
- Onions and garlic
- Canned tomatoes
- Ground beef (80/20 or preferred)
- Tomato sauce (Contadina is our preferred brand)
- Mild chili powder: People can get up in arms over different brands of chili powder, but freshness is the more pertinent factor. Fresh chili powder of any kind is much more flavorful, and you will not need as much as you would with older seasoning.
- Fresh serrano and habañero peppers: Gloves are recommended when handling these hot peppers.
- High quality light lager: I think something like Bud Light was in the original recipe, but we enjoy something with a bit more substance, while still remaining a light beer. Fosters is often the choice because it is easy to get one large can. There are some other excellent “plain” light lagers out there that would work.
- Kosher salt, pepper
Let’s Make It!
It’s hard to go wrong with a recipe that starts out with bacon grease! Beef, onions, and garlic are browned in the bacon fat, followed by the tomato sauce, water, tomatoes, and seasonings.
This simmers for 4 hours, adding peppers, beer, and bacon at the halfway point. About an hour after adding, the habeñeros can be removed. They have thicker skins that do not break down, so at this point remove the skins, dice the pepper, and return to the pot.
After removing the cooked chili from heat, skim off as much fat as possible. Add salt to taste.
Top with sour cream and grated cheddar cheese. Serve with these pinto beans and saltines! (or cornbread…)
Ingredients
Instructions
Add diced bacon to large stock pot. Cook until crispy. Remove and set aside.
Brown beef in the bacon grease.
Add onions and garlic, cook 3-4 minutes until incorporated.
Add tomato sauce and 3 cans of water (“rinse out” cans with water and add)
Add diced tomatoes.
Add seasonings. Stir and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 2 hours.
After 2 hours, add peppers, beer, and bacon. Return to a simmer for 2 more hours. **after 1 hour, pull out habañeros and remove skins. Dice and return to pot.
Remove from heat. Skim off as much fat as possible.
Salt to taste.
