Is there such thing as low calorie chili?! Lol

wagnerchristina99

I made a pretty simple chili yesterday and i put the ingredients into MFP and also measured how many cups I had of it once it was cooked. I had 5 cups of chili so I put that it serves 5, 1 cup per serving. And that one little cup was 353 calories. Add a serving of rice and it really adds up. There was no room in my calorie allowance for some cheese on top or a dab of sour cream. And I was pretty hungry by the time it was ready so one cup wasn’t really that satisfying.
I already use ground turkey instead of beef, and I’ve also tried having my chili over small red potatoes (they’re quite small and only 20 calories) instead of white rice (160 calories for 1/4 cup). I also use seasonings such as chili powder and ranch powder (it’s good though) which have 0 calories. Any tips/recipes on making chili less calorie expensive?

tcunbeliever

less meat, more vegetables, more broth

if you double the broth on your current recipe (so it makes 10 cups instead of 5), then 2 cups is 353 which is far more volume (even if it's basically just more water)

also, ingredients like onions, peppers, mushrooms, are very low calorie and also take up a great deal of volume (plus taste amazing)

I have seen chili with yellow squash and zucchini in it, but I must say, I'm not as much of a fan, but some folks like it

RunJosh86

How lean is the ground turkey you're using? If you are using 85/15, try going for 99/1.

nooboots

Is minced chicken lower in calorie than minced turkey? The problem with chicken would be that it might be dry which means adding oil.

I make a chilli but always use mince, I like the fat whereas turkey or chicken wouldnt be fatty enough for me. I just add a load of veg (no beans, dont know if you used beans), no oil added to it as I used the fat from the meat.

Greedy old me split it into 2 and each serving was 433. I dont eat rice or potatoes so I had it on its own. It probably could have served 4 if I halved each of my rather large portions and had it with rice.

What was your recipe?

Mine was 400g of 5% mince, courgette, onion, mixed peppers, cumin, garlic, chilli powder (I make no claim that this is a 'chilli', its just what I called it), then one tin of chopped toms.

laurelh8

Hello! I don't know what you put in your chili but have you tried excluding the beans? I love beans but can't eat them due to bloating and stomach discomfort. Not including beans cuts the calories considerable. I've never eaten chili on top of rice or little potatoes...maybe a baked potato.

I use this recipe:
https://www.laurafuentes.com/paleo-chili-recipe-all-meat-veggie/

If you add more veggies you can eat more chili for barely any additional calories. I usually add extra of all the veggies and drain the rinse the ground beef after cooking it.

10 oz of my chili recipe is like 250 calories. I usually weigh my finished chili and subtract out the cooking pot then enter the number of grams (example: 3000 grams) as the serving size and just weigh each portion as I eat it in grams. Do you use a food scale when preparing your meals?

Panini911

i use lentils in chili (and currie). lots of veggies. no oil. you can mix beef and lentils.

i also use cauliflower rice or nupasta type thing. luckily i never started adding things like sour cream ans cheese...a small portion of eitjer should be ok to work in. sadly low calorie often means choices. rice or cheese sorta thing.

my chilies and curries have always been high in taste low on cal.

lynn_glenmont

Support for more veggies (tomatoes, onions, bell peppers, mushrooms) and liquid.

All I have to add is that a 20-calorie potato is pretty dang small. Like the size of a small "boiler" onion -- roughly an ounce (28 g.). You put one of those in a bowl and pour a cup of chili over it?

nooboots

In any case, is 350 cals considered as 'high calorie'.

Thats ok for a tea isnt it? Even with a bit of potato or rice.

brittanystebbins95

I usually use turkey, pinto beans, kidney beans, black beans, diced tomatoes, tomato puree, diced green pepper, diced onion, diced sweet potato (or sweet potato puree), chicken stock or broth, chili seasoning, and water.
I can't tell you exact ratios because I throw it together and figure out the calories anew every time, rather than following a recipe.
But usually a full crockpot makes 12 servings (like 2 cup servings) and they aren't over 300 calories.

acpgee

If you don't mind that vegetarian quorn is highly processed, substituting one third of minced meat with quorn mince cuts calories and cost without affecting flavour or texture. Use minced turkey breast for meat. Substitute rice with raw cauliflower that has been blitzed into a rice texture in the food processor.

laurelh8

nooboots wrote: »

In any case, is 350 cals considered as 'high calorie'.

Thats ok for a tea isnt it? Even with a bit of potato or rice.

I guess 350 calories could be considered high calorie if you are limiting yourself to only 1200 calories per day. Most people don't need to eat only 1200 to lose weight though.

earlnabby

Mine is a total meal and relatively low calorie. It is also low sodium and high potassium.

4 cloves Garlic
1 (12 Oz) container Tomato Paste
1/2 cup Chili Powder, Regular
2 Tbl ground cumin
3 tsp Oregano, dried
2 Tbl Worchestershire Sauce (Original)
550 g, Onion - Yellow, Raw
236.00 g, Peppers - Sweet, green, raw
216.00 g, Celery - Raw
4 container (1 4/5 cups ea.), Tomatoes Petite Diced Low Sodium
32 oz, Sirloin Tip Roast

Cut the roast into bite size pieces. Add all ingredients into a slow cooker and cook on low 8 hours. Adjust seasoning as desired.

Makes 8 servings (approx 2 cups each).

Obviously the vegetables will vary in weight and calories. This is what the edited recipe is from the last time I made it and each serving was 355 calories.

Nutrition:
Total Fat 7 g
Cholesterol 0 mg
Sodium 134 mg
Potassium 602 mg
Total Carbohydrate 29 g
Dietary Fiber 5 g
Sugars 14 g
Protein 36 g

Panini911

nooboots wrote: »

In any case, is 350 cals considered as 'high calorie'.

Thats ok for a tea isnt it? Even with a bit of potato or rice.

my dinners are usually under 400. i'm on 1400/day and need snacks so lots of "smaller" meals calorise wise but big volume wise.

I think the OP meant that 350 for chili alone was hard because she wanted rice and cheese and sour cream in there too. which would add easily over 100 calories. heck rice alone is hard to do under 100 cals unless you keep it super super small portion.

JRsLateInLifeMom

http://www.kitchme.com/recipes/weight-watchers-slow-cooker-chili
138 calories makes 12 servings weight watchers

nooboots

Ok, what about if you have quinoa with it and forget the cheese and sour cream?

nooboots

JRsLateInLifeMom wrote: »

http://www.kitchme.com/recipes/weight-watchers-slow-cooker-chili
138 calories makes 12 servings weight watchers

184g is a child's serving that wont fill up a hungry adult for their tea. Perhaps a small quick lunch.

Also they say in the recipe either beef or turkey, surely they are different in calories? But it only has one calorie calculation at the bottom.

JRsLateInLifeMom

Thankyou Nooboot was thinking of trying it guess it’s weight watchers puliin a fast one again should have known.They charge members for every pound they loose or gain. My Mom used to go in the 80’s when she was alive. Maybe brunch like you said I was liking the fact I have all the ingredients for this one on hand. Woke up feeling like using my new steamer for fish or pan fry some steak in olive oil. So hard to decide.

nooboots

Well I suppose even if you doubled the serving size, to 360g per serving size, you're still only looking at 280 calories which if you had it as a meal on its own, is ok and a big enough to fill you up. But you would have to do your own calculations I think in order to check theirs is correct.

nooboots

Ok, well I stand corrected, as I am so sad I put the recipe in the recipe thing on here and it came out about the same if you divide it into 12 servings and use lean mince. It would probably be less if you used minced turkey.

However I still maintain that unless those 12 people are children it wouldnt be enough so I think its more accurate to have it as serves 6

JRsLateInLifeMom

276 calories for 6 adult servings sounds good to me too. I would think turkey hamburgers or chunks too can’t picture any other meat not adding grease more calories but could be wrong. Guess lamb would be lean

nooboots

Lamb is quite fatty. Which is why its my favourite meat.

Most people have a sweet tooth. I have a fat tooth.

JRsLateInLifeMom

I’m fat,salty,sweet,y bland lol guess we get hooked on then favs

JRsLateInLifeMom

Ended up making a poor mans version of vegan chili lol.
Cheese tsp,tomatoe, was going to grab some black beans but saw pork y beans they called to me pretty hard well that means I need a 2 tbl of pancake syrup too then skillet fried it all ate it. Thought about adding more veggies but said Nah grabbed some potatoe chips. Having a weird craving day. Don’t even think I made chili in the end looked more like a fancy pork y bean recipe.

MelanieCN77

I make chili with TVP sometimes and I quite like it. Next time I will try a bunch of rough chopped cauliflower for volume also. I add a small amount of kidney or black beans, stock, canned tomatoes, spices.

lorrpb

What goes in you chili that adds do many calories? I bulk up my chili with chunks of zucchini and yellow squash. You could also try cauliflower in the chili or cauli rice.
I use yogurt rather than sour cream to save a few calories. But what is chili without cheese????

JRsLateInLifeMom

I tasted a chili once with spinach leaves tossed in they were good but the rest of it was fatty hamburger meat to beans tomatoes y something as couldn’t identify didn’t have cheese but you could taste butter

FitGirlPennyPanda

I make the bombest vegan chili I got from a website. It's really filling too.

aokoye

lorrpb wrote: »

What goes in you chili that adds do many calories? I bulk up my chili with chunks of zucchini and yellow squash. You could also try cauliflower in the chili or cauli rice.
I use yogurt rather than sour cream to save a few calories. But what is chili without cheese????

Eatable

As opposed to the monstrosity that it is with cheese

kazminchu

A metric butt-tonne of veg. I make a LOT of chili, and these are my recommendations that don't compromise flavour too much. My chili works out about 250 calories for a portion (not a small one either, I like volume).

Mushrooms are perfect, if you blitz them in a food processor they end up a mince-like consistency with hardly any calories.
Courgette - again I like it chopped super small.
Carrot
Cauliflower - can make it a bit gritty if you put too much in
Peppers
Onion

I also put about 5 types of beans in, I think they're about the same calories as mince but they help add more bulk IMO.

I've never put sour cream on chili, but 25g of mature cheddar is enough for me.

Oh, I use cocoa powder instead of chocolate, saves a bunch of calories and we can't tell a difference.

hesn92

Hmm interesting. I don't have a recipe really I just throw stuff in, but when I calculated it, it always seems pretty reasonable calorie wise. I use 90/10 ground beef and a little sausage. Black and kidney beans. all the other stuff is pretty low calorie (tomato sauce and veg.)

I don't put cheese and sour cream etc in my chili though. I've tried it like that and never felt like it added any value to my chili for the calories lol. I do like putting avocado in there though.

BattyKnitter

kazminchu wrote: »

A metric butt-tonne of veg. I make a LOT of chili, and these are my recommendations that don't compromise flavour too much. My chili works out about 250 calories for a portion (not a small one either, I like volume).

Mushrooms are perfect, if you blitz them in a food processor they end up a mince-like consistency with hardly any calories.
Courgette - again I like it chopped super small.
Carrot
Cauliflower - can make it a bit gritty if you put too much in
Peppers
Onion

I also put about 5 types of beans in, I think they're about the same calories as mince but they help add more bulk IMO.

I've never put sour cream on chili, but 25g of mature cheddar is enough for me.

Oh, I use cocoa powder instead of chocolate, saves a bunch of calories and we can't tell a difference.

I do the same, add a ton of blitzed veggies especially mushrooms! I have a friend who will NOT eat veggies but raves about my chili, he has no idea it's packed with veggies. I also do half ground turkey.