Try adding a bit more salt and a few cloves of chopped garlic.

Simmer for a long time.
Don’t eat it the day of - I make it ahead and reheat and it tastes a lot better

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What are your results? Dry or greasy? Bland or too spicy? Etc

Just BLAND. Absolutely no spicy results despite tripling my spice quota.

have you tried adding a little smoked paprika? or maybe fire roasted tomatoes?

Can you tell us how you make chili, and we can help your recipe? Also, everyone likes different chili. I don’t like beans or other filler in mine. How do you like yours?

^If you do a veggie chili I also add tiny cubes of sweet potato or butterut squash with the liquids. These are already cooked, usually roasted (not crispy yet) with salt, oil, and cumin.

This is the recipe that got me cooking chili: https://www.dishdish.us/public/recipe-detail/the-great-ones-chili-con-carne it is super indulgent and delicious.

This one is super easy and almost as tasty:

https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ree-drummond/simple-perfect-chili-recipe-2107099

Brown meat (or not, I do veggie), an onion, several garlic cloves, a bell pepper (I like 1 green, part of a red, and a little jalapeño maybe 1/4). Use olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and cumin. A lot of it.

Deglaze with beer. Half a can.

Add a large can of tomato sauce, a large can of diced or whole tomatoes, two cans of beans (I like kidney and black, but you can do whatever. Also add an entire packet of chili seasoning (I like McCormick), and about 1 tbsp EACH of garlic, cumin, more chili powder and 1 tsp EACH of oregano (mexican if you have it), and chipotle in adobo seasoning (less if you like it mild...you can also use a can of chipotles in adobo and I'd use about 1/4 cup and freeze the rest). I also add about 1/8 cup of sugar and lots of salt.

Add tons of fresh cilatro when adding the wet ingredients, and a cup or so of frozen corn towards the end. This also makes it sweeter.

If you like a different consistency you can add more or less tomato liquids or add broth.

I find at the end if you've spiced properly it's the salt and sugar balance that matters.

Get a packet of chili seasoning, mix that with the browned meat. For the tomatoes and beans buy ones with seasoning. Sautee all veggies with more seasoning. And add more seasoning on top of the. Use things like garlic, onion, leek, jalapeño. Also salt, if there’s not enough salt it will taste bland even if it’s seasoned.

Anonymous wrote:You can't spell it either, lol.

But seriously -- what about your attempts are leading you to call them failures. Like PP said, is it turning out too greasy, the seasoning isn't right, you don't like the texture? What about chili you have had that you liked is missing from what you are doing?

I can spell, I'm just partially sighted and words with lots of letters the same shape sometimes slip past me.

Anonymous wrote:What are your results? Dry or greasy? Bland or too spicy? Etc

Just BLAND. Absolutely no spicy results despite tripling my spice quota.

You’re not alone, there’s a lot of lousy chili out there, including at restaurants.

Just follow a recipe to the T. I like Once Upon A Chef’s chili.

You can't spell it either, lol.

But seriously -- what about your attempts are leading you to call them failures. Like PP said, is it turning out too greasy, the seasoning isn't right, you don't like the texture? What about chili you have had that you liked is missing from what you are doing?

What are your results? Dry or greasy? Bland or too spicy? Etc

I have read about

browning the meat separately
not using too much liquid
using a lot of chili
and
cooking slowly

but really I just cannot crack this one

any advice?