Cooking Time & Servings

Michigan Ski Country Chili Recipe

You Will Also Need

  • Michigan Ski Country Chili Mix
  • 1 tbsp Oil
  • 3 Slices bacon, cooked and chopped (or 1/2 cup thinly sliced pork)
  • 1.50 lbs Ground chuck
  • 2 tbsp Brown sugar
  • 1 Can diced tomatoes (14.5 oz.)
  • 2 cups Beef broth (16 oz)
  • 1 cup Red wine
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Here's What You Do

Preparing the beans:

  1. Pick through the beans. Remove discolored, shriveled beans and any foreign material. Rinse well.
  2. Place the beans in a bowl with 8 cups water and soak for 4 hours at room temperature or overnight. (For a quick soak boil for 10 minutes and let stand for 2 hours.)
  3. Drain beans and place in a 4 quart pot with 8 cups water.
  4. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 45 minutes.
  5. Remove from heat, drain and set aside until ready to use.

Preparing the soup:

  1. In a 4-quart pot, heat oil over medium heat. Cut bacon into smaller pieces and sauté in oil.
  2. Add ground beef into pot and continue to brown.
  3. Stir in contents of chili pix packet and brown sugar. For milder chili, remove one or both chile peppers.
  4. Add drained, cooked beans, tomatoes, broth and wine to pot.
  5. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer covered for 1 hour.
  6. Remove chile peppers. Salt and pepper to taste.
  7. Optional toppings: sour cream, grated cheddar cheese or tortilla chips.

Recipe Adaptations

Vegan

You Will Also Need:

  • 2 Tbsp. oil
  • 1 lb. plant-based ground beef substitute
  • 2 Tbsp. brown sugar
  • 1 tsp salt, ½ tsp pepper
  • 1 can diced tomatoes (29 oz.)
  • 2 cups vegetable broth (16 oz.)

Here’s What You Do:

Preparing the Beans:

  1. Pick though the beans. Remove discolored, shriveled beans and any foreign material. Rinse well.
  2. Place the beans in a bowl with 8 cups water and soak for 4 hours at room temperature or For a quick soak, boil for 10 minutes and let stand for 2 hours.
  3. Drain beans and place in a 4-quart pot with 8 cups fresh water.
  4. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer covered for 45
  5. Remove from heat, drain, and set aside until ready to use.

Preparing the soup:

  1. In a 4-quart pot, heat oil over medium heat. Crumble and sauté the beef substitute.
  2. Stir in contents of chili mix packet and brown sugar. For milder chili, remove one or both chili peppers.
  3. Add drained, cooked beans, tomatoes, and broth.
  4. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer covered, for 45 minutes.
  5. Remove chili peppers. Salt and pepper to taste.

Slow Cooker

Recommended slow cooker size: 4 quart

Here’s What You Do:

Preparing the Beans:

  1. Rinse, drain and pick over beans.
  2. Place in a bowl with water to cover by two inches and soak overnight.
  3. In the morning drain beans and place in 4-quart pot on the stove with fresh water to cover by two inches.
  4. Bring to a boil, cook for 10 minutes and lower heat, simmer covered, 30 minutes.
  5. Turn off heat, and drain when ready to add to slow cooker bowl.

Preparing the Soup:

  1. The night before or in the morning while beans are simmering, use a large skillet and brown the cut up pieces of pork in oil and transfer into the bowl of 4-quart slow cooker.
  2. Brown the ground beef in the same skillet.
  3. Add the contents of the Michigan Ski Country Chili Mix and stir well for 30 seconds, then transfer to the bowl of slow cooker.
  4. Put cover on the bowl and refrigerate overnight so that step is done, or if preparing in the morning, proceed by adding the canned tomatoes, brown sugar, red wine, beef broth and drained beans.
  5. Stir together, set slow cooker on low and let it cook for 8 hours.
  6. Come home to a full bodied hearty chili supper. Serve with sour cream, guacamole and/or shredded cheddar on top, if desired.

Pressure Cooker

Here’s What You Do:

We recommend soaking the beans for this recipe. Always make sure red kidney beans cook to the nicely softened stage to avoid digestive distress.

  1. Pour all beans into a medium bowl and add water to cover by two inches. Let soak 8 to 24 hours. We soaked beans from 9 am to 5 pm and prepared fantastic chili for supper. In a 4-quart pot bring beans to a boil for 30 minutes. Turn off heat, drain and set aside.
  2. Cut up 3-4 pieces bacon and place in bowl of pressure cooker on Sauté setting. Cook 5 minutes till bacon partially browned.
  3. Add 1-1/2 lb. ground chuck to pot and continue to sauté meats 2-3 minutes, breaking up clumps.
  4. Stir in 1 14-oz. can chili-ready diced tomatoes, 1 14-oz. can beef broth, 1 cup red wine, 2 Tablespoons brown sugar, 2 teaspoons salt and drained beans.
  5. Set pressure cooker for 20 minutes. It will take about that long to reach the proper temperature before it begins the 20 minutes cooking time. Use natural release at end of cooking time, which may take another approximately 20 minutes. This makes a total of about 1 hour.
  6. Serve with a dollop of sour cream on top and shredded cheddar, if desired, and cornbread on the side!

Recipe Variations

We don’t currently have a recipe variation for this soup, please send us yours!

Cooking & Nutrition Tips

Remember these are soup-starter mixes, you can’t go wrong! Feel free to omit any of our recommended additions and/or add any of your favorites!

  • To boost vegetables, add additional can of tomatoes, 1 1/2 cups fresh diced bell peppers, and 1/2 cup chopped carrots with the soup mix.
  • To reduce sodium: use a low-sodium broth, bone broth, or stock.
  • For added protein: add a can of your favorite bean (black, chickpea, navy, etc), chicken breast, or other plant-based protein option.
  • For added nutrition: look in your fridge/garden and add any vegetables you have on hand!