🥣 Slim Jim Chili

bowl of chili that has ground beef, tomatoes, green peppers, onions, beans, and celery

Our Slim Jim Chili is a vintage chili recipe that started making the rounds in the 1970s. This hearty chili is full of beef, tomatoes, peppers, kidney beans, and celery.

5 from 21 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 30

Total Time 40

Course Dinner

Cuisine American

Servings servings

Equipment

Dutch oven
knife
cutting board
soup ladle

Ingredients

2 lbs ground beef
4 stalks celery diced
1 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 bay leaf
28 ounce diced tomatoes
1 medium onion diced
1 green pepper diced
2 Tablespoons chili powder
Pinch ground black pepper
15 ounces kidney beans undrained

Instructions

Wash, dry, and chop the celery and the green pepper and set aside.
Dice the onion and add to the pepper and celery mixture.
In a large skillet, brown the hamburger. When the hamburger is cooked, drain and place in the Dutch oven. Use the skillet that you cooked the ground beef in and add the celery, peppers, and onions and cook until they start to become soft.
Add the celery, onions, and green peppers into the Dutch oven then add in the remaining ingredients. Cook on medium-low for 30 minutes so the flavors can marry together. Then serve.

Notes

Storage: This chili will store in the fridge for up to five days in an airtight container. You can also freeze it for up to three months.

Variations

Vegetarian - Omit the beef to make this a vegetarian chili.
Deluxe - You can add in some bacon, beer, or ground sausage into this recipe too.
Coney dogs - This chili makes an amazing coney dog sauce too!
Chili Mac - If you are looking for an idea to use up the leftover chili, cook some pasta and add it together with the chili and you have homemade Chili Mac! Top with some shredded cheese and dinner is done.
Nachos - You can also use leftover chili to make nachos. Just drain the sauce off of the chili and add the chili to the top of your tortilla chips, add some cheese and put under the broiler for a few minutes. And you have piping hot and cheesy nachos!
Chili Cornbread Salad - Another way to use up leftover chili and cornbread is to make Chili Cornbread Salad.

Keyword Chili, Slim Jim Chili