This THM chili mix recipe is basically a re-working of my family favorite chili mix recipe. I’ll give you the ‘test batch’ recipe, and the jar-full recipe, as well as a DELICIOUS E style chili with ground beef!
Making the chili mix recipe in a big batch means it’s just as convenient and quick as the little pouches that you pay over a dollar for, and that are loaded with not so nice ingredients. So, don’t think of this as just an ordinary recipe…it’s a major time saver/convenience food option in my kitchen. Three cheers for one pot meals with your own FAST spice mix!
Here’s what you’ll need to grab for your chili mix recipe:
cumin, salt, garlic powder, dehydrated onion flakes, chili powder, and a whole ancho chili. Not pictured here: gluccomannan, a few shakes of NuNaturals Stevia Extract or Truvia, and smoked paprika if you’ve got it!
A really good chili mix is going to do three things:
- add amazing flavor to an otherwise plain set of ingredients
- add heat (and you’re in the driver seat with that one…I keep our mix mild, and let my Viking husband add his own hot pepper sauces and flakes at the table)
- AND it should thicken your beef soup into a nice scoopable chili consistency.
The problem with most chili seasoning blends and pouches is that the sugar and flour or cornstarch thickeners are not so “trim and healthy”. And there are worse things in the pouches than just sugar.
Basically, we’re nixing those icky ingredients in favor of a blood sugar friendly (and superior, IMO) thickener called glucomannan powder. It’s found here in my Trim Healthy Mama Amazon Store! (it will open in a new window)
If you don’t have any glucomannan, you can sub xanthan gum or another thickener or guar gum.
This is my favorite kind of recipe. Basically, you add all of your ingredients to a jar and shake! I used a canning jar, and a canning funnel. I did toss my pepper into the blender with other granulated spices to get it blended fine, and then stirred in the onion chunks last.
For this E style Trim Healthy Mama chili mix recipe, you only want to add between 3 and 4 tablespoons of spice to a full pot of chili. Whoo-hoo! Dee-licious, stick to your ribs comfort food right there.
Here is your printable Trim Healthy Mama Chili Mix recipe, and a lovely E style chili to try it out with!
- I recommend that you start out with this smaller one pot batch of chili mix, and adjust the seasonings to your family's taste before making a bigger jar.
- 1 teaspoon glucomannan
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- ½-1 teaspoon salt
- ½ t. garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon sugar
- ¼-1/2 teaspoon crushed chilli pepper flakes (or to taste)
- 1½ Tablespoons minced, dried onions
- ¼ teaspoon smoked paprika (optional, but sooooo tasty!)
- 2½ Tablespoons Glucomannan powder
- ⅓ cup chili powder
- 2 Tablespoons ground cumin
- 2-3 Tablespoons salt
- 1½ Tablespoons garlic powder
- 2 teaspoons sugar (optional)
- 1 Tablespoons crushed chilli pepper flakes (more or less to taste), or use one dried ancho chili for milder flavor
- ¾ cup minced, dried onions
- 2 teaspoons smoked paprika (optional)
- Place all ingredients into your pot of chili (Homemade Chili Recipe below), and stir to blend.
- Make a small batch first, and adjust the measurements and flavors to your liking before adapting them to the big batch.
- Place glucomannan, chili powder, cumin, salt, garlic powder, smoked paprika, and sugar in a blender jar.
- Blend into a fine powder. (Or just skip the blender and dump all into your jar)
- Pour into a clean and dry glass storage jar.
- Add chili pepper flakes and dried onions to the mix and shake to blend.
- Label "Chili Mix", and note the recipe for making homemade chili below.
- I also like to stick on a label with the bulk mix recipe, for easier refills...and shove a little coffee scoop in there if you've got an extra one.
- Brown one pound of ground beef in a heavy bottomed chili cookin' pot of your choice.
- Crumble and really brown it well until the bottom of the meat takes on a deep caramel brown color. (Do you smell that wonderfulness!?!!)
- Now, drain off the fat, and put your meat into a colander, and rinse with warm water. I know this is a weird step...this removes the fat, and allows you to use regular ground beef in an E style meal! Cool, huh!
- Saute one diced onion in the chili pot for a few minutes, and then add your beef back into the pot.
- Add 3 Tablespoons (equal to a scant ¼ cup) of your dry spice mix to the ground beef.
- Stir well, and add in one 15 ounce can of plain tomato sauce, one can of petite diced tomatoes, ¼ c. water and a two 15 oz. cans of drained beans (chili or kidney beans.) If you like a bit more spice, add a small can of diced green chilis to the pot.
- Simmer uncovered for 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- I would love it if you would rate this recipe, or tell me your favorite tweaks!
Rinsed ground beef crumbles have anywhere from 4 grams per 3.5 ounces (for the cheapest 30% ground beef) to 3 grams for a leaner 10% ground.
If you'd rather indulge in the melty cheese, and move to an S, then you can add your one can of beans, and serve yourself, then add the additional can before serving the family.
Reference for rinsing ground beef and fat count:
Reducing Fat Count in Ground Beef.pdf will open in a new window
This turned out great! Love it and added oregano. Thank you for the great easy recipes and mix!
You’re very welcome! 🙂
I made the THM chili mix and E style chili – my husband said that it is the best chili that I have EVER made! Thanks for the recipe!
SO glad you enjoyed it, Sandy! You rocked it!
Is the 1/4 tsp of sugar necessary. I don’t have any in the house. Can I substitute Truvia or is it important to the mix?
It’s totally not critical at all. I usually add just one shake of stevia extract if I remember. It’s just to slightly balance the acidity of the tomatoes. But you can leave it off and you probably won’t ever even notice. 🙂
Hi Gwen! I just started THM last month and feel like I’ve died and gone to heaven! I don’t feel like I’m missing out on anyting, and I’m losing weight! Just found your site…wow! Congratulations on your journey to better health and thank you for all of your hard work and tips on the site! One question…wanted to try your chili, but I was wondering why sugar? Why not a stevia product? Just curious…Thanks again!
I saw somewhere to add 1/2 t baking soda to reduce the acidity in the tomatoes in spaghetti sauce. But you need it to cook at least an hour after adding or it will be bitter. I do this with chili also. When making sauce I cook it about 4 hrs so I add it every hr for the 1st 3. Just a thought. Wondered if you had heard of it? Thanks for this recipe it looks great. I think I’m going to have THM approve nachos with this.
I’ve heard about it with tomato sauce, but not tried it. 🙂 Great idea of doing that with chili!
I made this just the way it was written except I used ground turkey. It was fabulous and very tasty. I also love that I have leftovers to freeze!
Glad you enjoyed it! Turkey and black bean is a yummy alternative to the regular recipe too. 🙂
Hi there, I am a bit confused about what you say at the end. So if I want to have this Chili in an E setting I need to keep my portion to 1 1/2 cups beans and 3.5 ounces of meat? How exactly do you measure that out in the bowl?
I am not a super strict measurer…in my world, this looks like me ladeling about 2 cups of chili into my bowl. 🙂 And using very light sprinkling of 2% cheese on top for an E setting.
This was great! Used Chicken Italian Sausage instead of beef. Whole family loved it! Thanks!
So glad you enjoyed it! Great idea using Italian chicken sausage!
I wonder if I were to use the same amount (2 cans worth) of chana dahl beans, do you think I could have it as an S meal? I just don’t know if they would spread out to enough servings to not put the carb count over the S limit….my problem is I love lots of BOTH beans and cheese in my chili…may have to choose….
Yeah, that’s tricky. You can go S helper, or even just plan to make it a crossover meal. There were times when that actually boosted my losses if I did it sparingly! 🙂 You can use light cheeses with an E, or stir in some plain Greek yogurt, which really tastes just like sour cream to me. 🙂
Is the •1 teaspoon glucomannan necessary? What is it’s purpose?
Hi Angie,
The glucomannan is a thickener, but you can sub another starch or flour if you don’t have it. If you’re wanting to stick with the Trim Healthy Mama recommendations, then try flax flour or xanthan gum if you don’t have glucomannan.
Would I use the same amount of xanthan gum as glucomannan? I don’t have any gluccie at the mo!
Yes!
Just pre-made this for Superbowl Sunday. Absolutely fantastic and will become a staple in my home!!! My Tweaks: I used black and pinto beans, rinsed. Used 85/15 ground turkey, rinsed with warm water. 29 oz can tomato sauce, 14 oz can diced tomatoes with basil, garlic & oregano. Sauted red onions in organic chicken broth. Added 1/2 pack Stevia to sauce, plus about a cup of water.
Awesome! SO glad you enjoyed it!!!
Made this a few times now. Used chicken sausage instead of ground beef this time. Yum!
Oh, YUMMY!
Wowwie!! I must have different chili powder then you! Made it exactly as per the recipe (added about a cup of minced cabbage) and it was to hot to eat. Very surprised as normally we like quite hot. Added plain yogurt to my kids so they could get it down and my DH was sweating. Should have made the single pot seasoning and only used a little, tasted and then added more. Love the flavor but will tone it down next time. 😉
Chili powder isn’t hot-spicy…maybe you used a chili (cayenne?) that has more kick? We don’t like super spicy either.
Forgive my confusion as I’m still new at this. Can you clarify what you said at the end about adding only one cup of beans for an S meal? I didn’t realize any beans were okay in S and thought that would make it an S helper. I’m hoping I’m understanding you right that it would be S! Thanks for what looks like a fabulous recipe!
Tina
Hi Tina,
The pendulum swings a bit on this topic, but this was what Pearl said early on. 🙂 I know that they really want you thinking by category of foods, and you’re totally right that beans are an E food. However, you do have a 10 gram carb limit even on an S meal, and many of the S recipes in the book contain E foods (like the Secret Agent Brownies).
So it really all depends on how you want to do THM: if you’re comfortable with a little mixing, but still keeping with the spirit of low carb S recipes, then go for it. If you prefer to strictly separate fuels for meals, then that’s fine too. Both ways work. 🙂
Thanks, Gwen! That really helps.
I’m trying your recipe for a bunco group tomorrow and am confused on the use of the ancho chile pepper. It’s not in the printable recipe, but you mention it in the blog post where you added it to the blender. So, for a one-pot chili mix, is the whole ancho chile used or just a portion? I’ve never used ancho chile before but purchased to try with this recipe. I have a Vitamix blender (but not a dry ingredient blade) so not sure it will even grind it.
I use the ancho when making a big batch, but you can definitely use just a chunk of it for a single batch. 🙂 For such a tiny amount, I don’t think I’d try the blender for that…I’d probably just dice it up very finely…sort of like the pepper flakes at a pizza place. That’s how it ends up in my mix when I use my Blendtec, and it’s perfect! 🙂
Hi Gwen. I love your recipes and comments. Can you tell me how this Chili E is different from Peatl’s Chili in the cookbook? I’ve been looking for an E Chili and didn’t know how to change Pearl’s Chili into an E. any insight would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
Hi Penny,
Which cookbook? I’ll take a look and answer.
Hi Gwen. I tried your recipe and it was delicious. I only use 97/3 beef. I mixed that with 2 lbs of ground venison. Even though I used extra meat I still used 2 cans of beans, rinsed and drained, a double amount of seasoning, and one can each of tomato sauce and diced tomatoes. I just added a little more water.
With the leaner meat and fewer beans will the meal type change at all?
BTW, I look at your site all the time for recipes. Love them.
Hi Debra!
I think you need a certain serving size of beans to take you into E territory with your meal. If you had more than 15 grams of carbs, you may be in S helper territory. 🙂
My husband and I enjoyed very much. One of the best we have used. I doubled my recipe, use 1 lb turkey, 1lb Italian sausage, my husband eats very little beef. Also doubled the ingredients. Thanks for all the comments, it helps me alot.
I absolutely love this chili mix recipe Thank you so much. it worked out just great. I’ll be making it again soon.
This recipe for the chili seasoning and the pot of resulting chili is delicious. Thank you for sharing it.