Can chili be made wirth REAL ground beef and be good for you

pines2palms
pines2palms Posts: 51
edited September 22 in Recipes
I have been searching for low-cal, low-fat chili recipes...made with real ground beef. I have a little over a pound of it ready to cook...and I want chili...but I also want to keep it as healthy as possible. Please share your recipes and the stats...i.e. calories, fat, carbs, protein, etc... THANKS!

Replies

  • leasah
    leasah Posts: 107 Member
    This won't be helpful for that lb of ground beef you have ready, but I use ground chicken breast in place of gb in my chili and it drastically reduces the calorie and fat content. It does not taste like beef, but it is very yummy.
    Im sure there will be someone out here that has a good beef recipe for you.
  • SHBoss1673
    SHBoss1673 Posts: 7,161 Member
    it partly depends on what type of ground beef it is. What's the percentage of fat in it?
  • lovinyoutwo
    lovinyoutwo Posts: 37 Member
    Some times we use deer meat, it's very lean
  • sheenmarie3
    sheenmarie3 Posts: 38 Member
    I use a lot of ground turkey!
  • vickiele1
    vickiele1 Posts: 394 Member
    I don't have a specific recipe for you, but you can make a healthy chili with very lean ground beef (or the best option is to grind up your own beef using a very lean cut of beef), using home canned tomatoes or making your own tomato puree using fresh tomatoes (even home canned tomatoes must have salt added for preservation), using whatever type of bean you prefer (but don't buy canned beans as they have tons of sugar and sodium added), choosing your own seasonings rather than using the packaged seasoning etc. If you do everything from scratch, you will know exactly what is in the chili you are consuming and you will know it is healthy.

    Blessings

    Vickie
  • JennaM222
    JennaM222 Posts: 1,996 Member
    Maybe only use half of it, and add extra veggies! I make vegetarian chilli that tasted delisuous - dont even miss the meat! good luck :)
  • trisha329
    trisha329 Posts: 266 Member
    I substitute ground bison (buffalo) for ground beef. It's leaner than ground beef AND chicken! It's more expensive than beef, but worth it!
  • carreen
    carreen Posts: 175 Member
    I always use the extra lean ground beef (96/4). It's way leaner than the ground turkey my local grocery store carries (85/15).
  • goron59
    goron59 Posts: 890 Member
    I use 20% fat ground beef (less and it doesn't taste as good) and drain excess oil after browning it. Not uber low fat, but a tasteless chilli is just a waste, in my opinion :-)

    Don't forget the chilli peppers will get your metabolism going for a while afterwards, so you should burn more afterwards!
  • TrainingWithTonya
    TrainingWithTonya Posts: 1,741 Member
    I use 93% lean ground beef in mine and it's not bad fat wise. Here's the info from where I put it in here.

    Per Serving:
    Calories--248
    Carbs--34
    Fat--4
    Protein--19
    Fiber--8
    Sodium--340

    The recipe actually makes about 20 servings and uses 2 pounds of ground beef so you may want to cut it in half for your 1 pound. This is also pretty spicy to some people, so you may want to tone it down by cutting out the peppers and/or cutting out the crushed red pepper.

    Here's the recipe:

    93% lean ground beef--2 pounds
    pinto beans--1 bag
    kidney beans--1 bag
    small red beans--1 bag
    Onion--1 whole
    Jalapeño or Serrano peppers--To taste (I use about 12)
    Chili Powder--6 tablespoons
    Crushed Red Pepper--2 tablespoons
    Spaghetti Sauce--1 large can (about 32 ounces)
    Water--8 to 12 cups depending on how thick you like it
    1 cup flour
    2 cups cold water

    Boil the beans until tender. (3-4 hours) Brown the ground beef with the chopped onion. In separate bowl, combine 2 cups cold water with 1 cup flour. Mix until smooth. Combine beans and meat with 8-12 cups of water. Add seasonings, peppers, and spaghetti sauce. Slowly add the flour mixture to avoid lumps. Cook on low until peppers are tender and flavors have blended.
  • Jenks
    Jenks Posts: 349
    Here's a link to the recipe I use, it calls for turkey...you'll just have to figure out the difference between ground turkey and ground beef (sorry).

    It's about 213 Cals per serving
    20Carbs
    19 protein

    http://www.food.com/recipe/chili-with-beans-and-ground-turkey-280886
  • guidosgal
    guidosgal Posts: 581 Member
    1 Pound extra lean Ground beef
    1 cup chopped onion
    1 cup diced celery
    1 tablespoon garlic

    Brown all together

    add
    1 can stewed tomatos (diced)
    1 can stewed tomatos (pured)
    1 can tomato paste (small)
    3 table spoons chile powder
    1 can diced green chilis (small)

    Simmer about 1 1/2 hours

    Add 1 can kidney beans (drained and rinsed)
    simmer about 1 more hour

    Salt and pepper to taste.

    I say it make 6 servings but they are large servings :bigsmile: (about 2 cups each)
    so if you only eat 1 cup then half the cals


    Nutrition Facts

    User Entered Recipe

    6 Servings



    Amount Per Serving


    Calories 319.8

    Total Fat 16.9 g

    Saturated Fat 6.5 g

    Polyunsaturated Fat 1.2 g

    Monounsaturated Fat 7.0 g

    Cholesterol 56.7 mg

    Sodium 805.3 mg

    Potassium 1,042.4 mg

    Total Carbohydrate 25.5 g

    Dietary Fiber 7.6 g

    Sugars 9.3 g

    Protein 19.0 g
  • sh_smith
    sh_smith Posts: 3
    I dont know what the calorie count is on this but I can tell you it's delicious:

    3 lb ground turkey
    2 cans organic black beans
    2 20oz cans of organic diced tomatoes
    1-2 red peppers, diced
    1 green pepper, diced
    1-2 lg. onion, diced (depends on how much you like onions)
    4-8 garlic cloves, minced
    1 cup water
    1/4 cup red wine
    4 bay leaves
    4 tsp. cumin
    2 tbs. chili powder
    2 tsp. sea salt
    3 tbs. oregano
    a pinch of cayene


    Ironically enough, this recipe comes from the Howard Stern show... His wife makes this for him.
  • sh_smith
    sh_smith Posts: 3
    whoops, forgot the instructions:

    Brown the meat in a skillet and drain. Saute the peppers and onions in canola oil in a separate pot. Add spices to the peppers and onions after they've cooked a bit.

    Don't over do the veggies - they'll cook when it's all mixed.

    Add tomatoes, water, red wine, bay leaves and meat to the pot & let simmer for a couple of hours if you can.

    When you eat it, add some shredded cheddar to the top.
  • kayemme
    kayemme Posts: 1,782 Member
    excellent chili doesn't even require meat! we replace meat with mushrooms if anything at all! so delicious, thick and spicy. practice w/o the meat and see what you come up with.
  • TammyK777
    TammyK777 Posts: 230 Member
    bump
  • Katiekat1182
    Katiekat1182 Posts: 83 Member
    Bump!! These chili recipes sound delish!!
  • themyriadthings
    themyriadthings Posts: 225 Member
    I put TVP (textured vegetable protein) in my chili and I use it my spaghetti sauce as well. :)
  • melodyg
    melodyg Posts: 1,423 Member
    bumping for recipes... and, yes, I think you can make chili with ground beef. Here's my recipe (NI calculated with ground turkey but just sub in the ground beef calories)

    1 pound ground chuck
    3 cans of beans (any combo of chili beans, kidney beans, or pinto beans... or substitute 5 cups of cooked beans to decrease sodium)
    2 cans of diced tomatoes (no salt if you can find them)
    2 small cans of tomato sauce
    1 onion, diced
    1 pepper, diced (I use whatever I have, green is cheapest)
    2 T chili powder (add more to taste)
    1 t cumin (add more to taste)
    water if you want it soupier
    Oh... and I think I throw a few cloves of garlic in there too that I forgot to include in the nutrition information. Garlic makes everything better, right? :)


    Cook ground beef until brown. Put in pot with everything else and heat about 30 minutes! (You can cook the onions/garlic with the meat if you want to but I have done it both ways and it doesn't seem to make a difference) This chili isn't very hot so you may want to up the spice with more chili powder or red pepper flakes. It is approximately 210 calories/cup and makes about 12 cups.

    NI using 20 oz ground turkey and canned chili beans/tomatoes (regular, not no salt added): 210 calories/28 carb/16 protein/5 fat/5 fiber/796 sodium
  • LittleSpy
    LittleSpy Posts: 6,754 Member
    I make chili often in the fall/winter. I use 96% lean ground beef and dry beans (rather than canned because of all the sodium). Low cal & delicious!
  • TropicalKitty
    TropicalKitty Posts: 2,298 Member
    Well the title of this thread and what you actually put as your post are two very different things!

    First, YES, REAL GROUND BEEF IS FINE! I'm so tired of seeing all the bs about fat content in beef. Get grass-fed beef! Just like humans, if you feed cows stuff they aren't supposed to eat (corn!) their bodies won't be happy. Corn-fed "regular" beef that you get at the grocer, ick. Get the real stuff. It's the corn-fed cattle that have the high omega-6 content that's not good for you. Grass-fed cattle do much better - as in a great source of omega 3's. Plus, if you are really worried about how lean the beef is, all the grass-fed beef I get is super lean. (Which, like someone earlier hinted at, too lean and it's just nasty.) *end soapbox*

    Anyway, like suggested previously, just drain the excess fat from what you have, although you didn't say what kind of ground beef you have. You have some great recipes in here!

    Happy cooking! :)
  • ka_42
    ka_42 Posts: 720 Member
    This is a really yummy chili recipe!! It's from the America's test kitchen cookbook... Sorry, I don't have the nutritional info with me now but if you want it send me a message and I'll get it to you later when I can look at home. Also, I made it in the crock pot! :)

    Chili!
    1 tablespoon vegetable oil
    1 onion (chopped)
    1 red bell pepper (stemmed, seeded, chopped)
    1/4 cup chili powder
    1/2 tablespoon cumin
    1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
    3 garlic cloves
    1 pound ground beef
    1 can dark red kidney beans
    1 can diced tomatoes
    1 can tomato puree
    1. heat the oil in a large dutch oven over medium heat until shimmering. Add the onions, bell pepper, chili powder, cumin, cayenne, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Cook until the vegetables have softened, about 7 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook for 15 seconds.
    2. Add the beef and increase the heat to medium high. Cook, breaking up the beef with a spoon, until no longer pink, about 10 minutes. Stir in the beans, diced tomatoes with their juice, tomato puree, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Bring to a simmer, cover, and cook for 45 minutes.
    3. Remove the lid and continue to simmer until the beef is tender, about another 45 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste before serving! Enjoy :)
  • joleanrook
    joleanrook Posts: 117
    We use ground buffalo (you can buy it at walmart in the specialty meats seciton)... it is lower in fat, calories, and cholesterol than beef but it tastes just as good and in my opinion BETTER. You will know it's better for you when you go to drain the fat, there isn't barely any... not like when you brown hamburger meat!! I substitue buffalo for beef ALWAYS.

    Also, FYI, buffalo is always organic because they are not allowed to use chemicals. They are also grass fed.

    Once you have had a buffalo filet mignon you will never go back to beef!!
  • LuckyLeprechaun
    LuckyLeprechaun Posts: 6,296 Member
    A tip for using ground beef, in almost any recipe:

    start with the lowest fat content you can handle. Brown it up and drain away the excess fat. Put the ground beef in a colander and pour very hot water over it. Pat dry. You have just reduced the fat content by a LOT.

    When I use hamburger in this way, I log it in my diary as the calorie content of the original beef, but the reduction in fat content is pretty significant. If I knew exactly how much it was reduced, I'd log it that way, but it goes down by quite a bit.

    (source: Dr. Oz....I think)
  • janna674
    janna674 Posts: 410 Member
    here is my favorite chili recipe...it uses ground turkey with a little bit of sausage so its very flavorful and its Emeril's recipe...I have never calculated calories for it but all chili is fairly healthy...lots of beans and veggies yum

    http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/turkey-and-hot-sausage-chili-recipe/index.html
  • lisafrancis629
    lisafrancis629 Posts: 287
    Lean Ground Beef (93% lean) has 170 calories and 8 fat grams for 4 oz. Ground turkey has 160 calories and 8 fat grams for 4 oz. I got the info from 3 different websites but some times the nutritional info is on the packages. To me, there are just some things I make that aren't as good unless as use ground beef so as long as I buy lean, I don't fret about it.
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