Thoughts on chilli

keepitcroosh

I love chilli. It's so hearty, lots of flavor, lots of protein, etc. But is it something that should be portion controlled? I had 2 cups ( filled with ground beef, beans, mushrooms, green peppers, little bit of corn, tomatoes etc) and mfp calculated that I had eaten roughly 700cals just from the chilli. Is there any way to cut down on those cals without having to have much less of it? Or is this wishful thinking..

vivmom2014

Depends on how you make it. If you measure your ingredients as you cook, you can use the recipe builder to input the data and # of servings and it will give you a more accurate calorie count.

keepitcroosh

What about going meatless?

SherryTeach

Chili (with one l). I make mine with ground turkey. And everything should be portion-controlled except maybe items that are so low in calories as to be negligible.

sheermomentum

I make mine beanless, with lean pork and beef, and it ends up at about 200/cup. Basically its meat, tomatoes, aromatics and spices. I serve it over vegetables like squash, carrots, and mushrooms.

arditarose

You could go meatless, or you could use very lean ground turkey. You could do less beans and more...something else. Actually, I'm no help. I've never made chili but the thread was asking for thoughts and my thought is: yes.

kshama2001

keepitcroosh wrote: »

What about going meatless?

Sure, chili with less ground beef, or ground turkey, or meatless will be lower in calories. However, you really should use the recipe builder so you get an accurate calorie count. Since you're making it, there's no point in guessing since you don't have to.

Here's a meatless recipe from a famous vegetarian restaurant: http://www.moosewoodcooks.com/2013/01/red-gold-black-and-green-chili/

vivmom2014

I'm a new convert to Field Roast products. (Thank you, @janejellyroll ) I used their Italian sausage in my last pot of chili and -- what a hit. So delicious. They have a website. The sausage (which is meatless) is not very caloric, and very tasty. Otherwise my chili ingredients are onions, garlic, peppers, diced tomatoes, crushed tomatoes, spices and beans.

Francl27

Use leaner meat.

MommyL2015

I use 90% lean beef and the chili I make is pretty low-cal. It's good. I like it spicy. The heat has to burn extra calories, right? Right!?

Alatariel75

Are you putting your own recipe in to MFP, or relying on database? The database is basically useless for entries, when your chili is homemade. I make mine with lean pork mince, and bulk it with mushrooms and zucchini, along with the beans and corn.

snowflake930

Ground turkey really cuts calories. I use it for everything I used ground beef in before and really, no difference in taste.

CurlyCockney

I had a mahooooosive bowl of chilli (double l, because that's how we spell it) last night, 490g! It came to 512 kcals, made with low-fat beef mince. Use the recipe builder, and double check each ingredient.

jgnatca

It's the fat that adds the calories. Meat is helpful because of the protein.

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/361132463845484944/

And yes, portion everything.

Pawsforme

Ground turkey isn't necessarily lower in calories than ground beef. It depends on the grind. Some turkey contains skin and is higher in fat than lean ground beef. Read labels!

snowflake930

Pawsforme wrote: »

Ground turkey isn't necessarily lower in calories than ground beef. It depends on the grind. Some turkey contains skin and is higher in fat than lean ground beef. Read labels!

You are correct. I should have said I use fresh ground turkey breast. It definitely depends on what type of ground meat you are using and labels should be read.

Clarewho

I've made it with lean pork mince at less than 300 calories (excluding the rice), I don't add beans to mine as the kids don't like them - so I pad it out with peppers and mushrooms. You don't notice it's not beef. I've tried Quorn and it's not an experiment I wish to repeat... texture was like mushy cardboard

brandi9172

I don't eat beans, so I replace that with sweet potato chunks. Lean ground beef, sweet potato, tomatoes, onion, peppers, garlic, chili seasoning...it's delicious!

LivingtheLeanDream

add lots and lots of veg to it, bulk it up and that'll cut way back on the calories. I grate carrot/courgette/peppers etc into most chilli's/bologneses and it bulks them up nicely and a good portion including rice/pasta works out at 530 cals.
(If you make your own sauce that cuts out a lot of sugar/salt right away too.)

WinoGelato

Make it with leaner meat (I make mily red chili with a 50/50 mix of ground beef and ground turkey), or I make a white chicken chili version as well. After thanksgiving I always make turkey enchilada verde soup with leftover smoked turkey, black beans, salsa verde, etc. I covet the leftover turkey so I can make it every year, but sadly last night was my final bowl of it!

mbaker566

it can be great.
of course, you should be portioning it so you know accurately how much you are eating
use the recipe builder to help you figure out the true calorie amount

my SIL made a buffalo/stout chili that was wonderful. buffalo is a lean meat

janejellyroll

vivmom2014 wrote: »

I'm a new convert to Field Roast products. (Thank you, @janejellyroll ) I used their Italian sausage in my last pot of chili and -- what a hit. So delicious. They have a website. The sausage (which is meatless) is not very caloric, and very tasty. Otherwise my chili ingredients are onions, garlic, peppers, diced tomatoes, crushed tomatoes, spices and beans.

They should start paying me a commission!

jgnatca

@moyer566 buffalo/stout chili sounds amazing.

Queenmunchy

I think I have five different chili variations in my freezer now. I also go beanless and use zucchini and other vegetables to bulk them up (husband can't eat beans). I don't think I've ever made one that was more than 250 calories for 1.5 cups. We love it all different ways!

earlnabby

I make mine with beef stew meat rather than ground beef and no beans. I also use low sodium beef stock concentrate, diced tomatoes, tomato paste, onions, celery, bell peppers. Very hearty and ~364 calories for a 2 cup serving (calories vary a little depending on the exact weights of the fresh ingredients in each batch)

faramelee

Mmmm, chilli! We make two different variations in our home sometimes using lean beef mince, sometimes lean turkey mince.

If you don't want to drop your portion size for this particular meal, have you thought about doing some extra exercise for that day to compensate?

I agree though that if you are using a generic Chilli recipe from MFP it may count higher than the meal you are actually preparing so definitely give the recipe builder a go and avoid jars/tins/packet mixes and make from scratch if possible as it'll taste even better and there's no risk of hidden sugars, fats etc.

Good luck!

chelsea7162

If you go meatless, try Gardien's meatless crumble. It's amazingly similar to ground meat as long as you don't over cook it. It's also loaded with protein!

cwolfman13

1 - everything should be eaten in appropriate portions for whatever your goals are
2 - how are you arriving at those calories? did you use the recipe builder or enter all of your ingredients individually or are you using a generic entry for chilli in the database? if it's a generic entry, who knows what they used ingredient wise...how much was used...what if any oil was added, etc.
3 - personally i wouldn't go meatless because meat for me is part of what makes a chilli a good chilli...i personally use 96% ground beef in mine; it's not something i'd use for making burgers as they would be too dry, but it's fine in things like chilli and meat sauces. the fattier the meat you use, the more calories there will be.
4 - keep in mind that beans, while very healthy, are also calorie dense.
5 - if you add cheese, this is also going to up the calories...i used to douse mine with cheese until i figured out that a mere ounce was adding quite a few calories...i've since learned that a sprinkle is enough and i actually get to taste the chilli, not just cheese.

kshama2001

I'll take this opportunity to drop a Cincinnati Chili recipe here. It has a lot of the standard chili ingredients, but also includes unsweetened chocolate and some sweet spices. http://allrecipes.com/recipe/206953/authentic-cincinnati-chili/

brb2008

My chilli is always meatless, I will use different styles of beans to give color and variety in what Im looking at! Mine ends up being in the 400cals per serving range when I make it. So it can certainly work, super customizable, make it fit your goals!

Damn now I want to make chili for dinner....

vivmom2014

Thanks, @cwolfman13 , for the cheese reminder. We have a chili ritual here that definitely adds calories... first Fritos go into the bowl, then chili, then cheddar cheese, then sour cream, then green onions.

These extras are not grossly piled on, and they (of course) are counted in the calorie total. But without them, my chili experience just isn't what it *could* be.