Spicy Montana Chili

The chicken soup video hit 40,000 views this week. I know this because YouTube sent me a notification and I stared at it for a solid minute trying to understand what that number meant. Forty thousand people. That's more than twice the population of the town I grew up in. That's more people than fit into most concert venues. Forty thousand people watched me make chicken soup in my kitchen in American Fork, Utah, and apparently found it useful.

I called my mom and told her. She said, "Oh Michelle, that's wonderful — what does that mean?" I said I wasn't entirely sure but that it seemed like a lot. She asked if I was making money from it. I said not really, not yet, there are ads on the videos but the amounts are very small. She said, "Well, people know your name now." And I thought: they know my voice. They know my kitchen. They know how I think about food. That might be better than my name.

Gary brought home a bottle of wine to celebrate, which is very Gary — finds the right gesture without making a big production of it. We sat on the back porch after the kids were down and talked about what it might look like if the channel actually grew into something. Not in a planning way, just imagining out loud. He said, "You're going to be one of those people." I said, "What people?" He said, "People who do something real and somehow other people find it."

I made a big pot of chili this week for the first frost. Ground beef, three kinds of beans, fire-roasted tomatoes, chipotle pepper. Enough for two nights and lunches. The ordinary miracle of a hot meal at the end of a cold day. That's still the center of it, no matter what the view count says.

The chili I made for the first frost this week — ground beef, three kinds of beans, fire-roasted tomatoes, a chipotle pepper for smoke and heat — is the kind of pot that has nothing to prove. It fed us two dinners and packed into lunches, and it had no idea that 40,000 people had watched me make soup earlier this month. That’s exactly why I keep coming back to it. This Spicy Montana Chili is the recipe I reach for when I need to remember that the whole point is a hot meal at the end of a cold day — and that that’s enough.

Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 45 minutes | Total Time: 1 hour | Servings: 8

Ingredients

1 1/2 lbs ground beef (80/20)
1 medium yellow onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 can (15 oz) dark red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 can (15 oz) black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can (15 oz) pinto beans, drained and rinsed
2 cans (14.5 oz each) fire-roasted diced tomatoes
1 can (6 oz) tomato paste
1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, minced, plus 1 tsp adobo sauce
1 cup beef broth
2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (adjust to taste)
1 tsp kosher salt, plus more to taste
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tbsp olive oil
Optional toppings: shredded cheddar, sour cream, sliced green onions, pickled jalapeños

Instructions

Brown the beef. Heat olive oil in a large heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add ground beef and cook, breaking it up with a wooden spoon, until no pink remains, about 7–8 minutes. Drain excess fat, leaving about 1 tablespoon in the pot.
Soften the aromatics. Reduce heat to medium. Add the diced onion to the pot and cook until softened and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute more, stirring frequently.
Build the base. Stir in the tomato paste and cook for 2 minutes, letting it caramelize slightly against the bottom of the pot. Add the chipotle pepper, adobo sauce, chili powder, cumin, smoked paprika, oregano, cayenne, salt, and pepper. Stir to coat everything evenly.
Add the liquids and beans. Pour in the fire-roasted tomatoes and beef broth, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pot. Add all three cans of beans and stir to combine.
Simmer low and slow. Bring the chili to a boil, then reduce heat to low. Simmer uncovered for at least 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the chili has thickened and the flavors have melded. Taste and adjust salt and cayenne as needed.
Serve. Ladle into bowls and top with shredded cheddar, sour cream, green onions, or whatever your people like. Leftovers keep well refrigerated for up to 4 days and freeze beautifully for up to 3 months.

Nutrition (per serving)

Spicy Montana Chili — The Ordinary Miracle That Keeps the Channel Grounded