Not Your Caveman’s Chili
A rich, thick “chili con carne” has to be one of my favorite foods, but a classic recipe with kidney beans (or black beans, even better) is difficult to manage on a ketogenic diet.
The best recipe I’ve found for a “low carb” chili comes from Ruled.me, although I’ve adapted it somewhat to make it easier to make in large batches.
This recipe comes in four parts:
- A dry spice mix
- This can be a pain to do in small quantities, so I tend to make this ahead of time
- A wet spice mix
- I suppose this could also be made ahead of time. That’s always seemed unnecessary to me, however, so I tend to just whip this up as needed
- A list of stewing ingredients, and instructions
- Macronutrient profile
Dry spice mix
Since I tend to make this recipe regularly, and in relatively large quantities, I’ve found it advantageous to pre-mix a large quantity of dry spice mix, in the following ratio:
- 7 parts chili powder
- 2 parts smoked paprika
- 2 parts cumin powder
- 1 part cayenne pepper
- 1 part dried oregano
- 1 part ground black pepper
- 1 part salt
Wet spice mix
For every 5 pounds of ground beef (see below) I whisk together:
- 100-125g of dry spice mix (see above)
- 2.5 cups beef broth
- 1 cup tomato paste
- 5 tablespoons soy sauce
- 5 teaspoons Thai fish sauce
- 2.5 cups strong dark roast coffee (I find Peet’s Major Dickason’s Blend works particularly well)
Stewing ingredients and instructions
On the day of, I’ll start by boiling the following in a large volume of unsalted water, before draining and setting to the side:
- 5 lbs of ground beef. Anywhere between 85-95% lean works well, the boiling helps wash away much of the added fat
I then chop and soften the following over medium-high heat in the same large pot used for the beef:
- 2 large onions, white or yellow
- 4-5 green bell peppers
- 2 tablespoons minced garlic
Just as the above are starting to color, I’ll then add back the following and mix well, before setting to simmer for 60-90 minutes, or until the liquid has thickened to a robust taste:
- The ground beef, previously boiled
- The wet spice mix (see above)
Macronutrient profile
I have now made this recipe several times, each time carefully measuring each ingredient, I have found the macronutrient profile to be fairly consistent between batches. I am therefore comfortable assuming the following for the purposes of my own accounting:
Not Your Caveman’s Chili (per 100g cooked):
- Protein: 7g
- Net carbs: 3g
- Fat: 13g
