A spicy chili made with dried red beans, Mexican chorizo, and a variety of chile powders. Hearty, healthy and spicy.
*See Kitchen Notes for more information, substitutions, related links, and for instructions on using canned beans instead of dried.
When hot, add the onion, bell pepper, garlic and half of the chorizo. Sauté at medium / medium low, breaking up the chorizo and until onions are translucent but haven’t started to brown about 5 minutes.
Add 6 cups of liquid and the drained and rinsed red beans. Increase heat to medium high and bring to a boil.
After an hour of cooking, add the tomatoes with juice, 1 Tbsp. tomato paste, and the rest of the chorizo, breaking it up as you add it to the pot.
Simmer, covered, until the beans are completely cooked and the sauce has thickened to desired consistency (30 - 45 minutes). If too thick, add more liquid and cook 2 – 3 minutes. If too thin, add 1 Tbsp. tomato paste and cook until thickened. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed.
Liquid - You can use all water or half water and chicken or vegetable broth. I have also used bean broth from other batches of beans. Whenever I cook beans, if I end up having too much broth, I freeze for use in soups, stews and chili.
Red Chile Powder - Make sure you are using just chile powder, not a chili powder mix. My favorite New Mexico chile powder is Chimayo from northern New Mexico, but any New Mexico/Hatch chile powder is good.
Sea Salt - You can use any sea salt, but I like using a seasoned salt like Apple Smoked or even Lime.
Using Canned Beans - You can eliminate the four hour brine and reduce the cooking time by about an hour using canned beans instead of dried. You'll four 14.5 ounce cans of beans, drained. If you do use canned beans, sauté all of the chorizo with the vegetables, add the seasoning, reduce the liquid to 4 cups and add to the pot with the beans, tomatoes, and tomato paste. Cook 30 - 45 minutes until sauce has thickened.
Recipe author: MJ of MJ's Kitchen