Quick beef and bean chili

• Easy
• Serves 4 tonight + 4 frozen for Day 7
• About 50 min, including chopping
• Iron: 6.4 mg per serving (USDA data)
• About $3–4 per serving

Naturally gluten-free and nut-free. A vegetarian swap is below.

Ingredients

You need a big pot (6 quarts or larger). The finished chili is about 4 1/2 quarts.

• 2 tbsp (27 g) olive oil
• 2 large onions (300 g), chopped
• 2 medium green bell peppers (238 g), chopped
• 2 lb (907 g) lean ground beef, 90% lean
• 6 cloves garlic (18 g), chopped
• 1/4 cup (32 g) chili powder
• 1 tbsp (6 g) ground cumin
• 1 1/2 tsp salt, plus more to taste
• 2 cans (28 oz / 794 g each) diced tomatoes, with their juice
• 3 cans (15 oz each) red kidney beans, drained (about 720 g drained)
• 1 cup (240 ml) water

To serve (optional, not counted in the iron number): shredded cheese, sour cream or plain yogurt, chopped cilantro or green onions, lime wedges.

Steps

1. Heat the oil in the big pot over medium-high heat. Add the onions and peppers and cook, stirring now and then, for 5 minutes, until soft. Chop the garlic while they cook.
2. Add the beef. Break it up with a spoon and cook for 6–8 minutes, until no pink is left. It finishes cooking during the simmer. (90% lean beef doesn't usually need draining. If there's a lot of fat, spoon some off.)
3. Stir in the garlic, chili powder, cumin and salt. Cook for 1 minute, stirring, until it smells toasty.
4. Add the tomatoes with their juice, the drained beans and the water. Bring to a boil, then turn the heat down and simmer, uncovered, for 15 minutes. Stir now and then so the bottom doesn't stick.
5. Taste and add more salt if needed. Serve 4 bowls with any toppings you like.
6. For Day 7: spoon the other half into 2 or 3 shallow freezer containers so it cools fast, and put them in the freezer within 2 hours. Label them "Day 7 chili" with the date and freeze.

Iron helper tip

This pot has two kinds of iron: the iron in beef, which the body takes up easily, and the plant iron in the beans. The tomatoes and bell peppers bring vitamin C, and vitamin C and meat both help the body use plant iron. Squeeze a lime over your bowl for a little more.

Vegetarian swap

Leave out the beef and add 2 more cans of beans (black beans or pinto beans are good). Cook the onions and peppers, then go straight to step 3. The iron number above is for the beef version.

Gluten-free note

Naturally gluten-free. Check the chili powder label if you need to be strict: most are just spices, but a few blends add other things.

Leftovers

Half of this pot is Day 7's dinner. Freeze it tonight; don't keep it in the fridge until Day 7, because cooked leftovers should be eaten within 3–4 days. Move it to the fridge to thaw the night before Day 7 (Day 6).

Cost: the whole double batch is about $25–30 for 8 servings; most of it is the beef. Approximate US supermarket prices, store brands, October 2026. Prices vary by store and area. Time and cost are careful estimates.