Kristen's 5 Can Chile - Quick, Easy, and Cheap!

This is a staple in our menu plan. It helps me save on the budget, it's a great time saver since there's not much prep, and it makes enough to use for lunches later in the week. I LOVE this recipe.


I believe this is truly my own recipe now. I started out with a 5 Can Chile Recipe from The Hillbilly Housewife. I have modified it several times over the years, and now, I can't even locate the original half the time since that site changed ownership. So that's it, from here forward, this will be known as:


Kristen's 5 Can Chile!


Here's what you need:
1 onion
A few (or many) garlic cloves
5 cans (more about that below)
Nutritional Yeast (optional)
Cayenne Pepper
Hot Sauce (I use Franks, The Hubster uses Sriracha)
Brown Rice (optional)


About the Cans:
You definitely need a can of diced tomatoes. My current favorite is the Organic Fire Roasted ones by Muir Glen.
We typically use one can of green beans, no salt added. Sounds strange, but it works well, and it's always good to add a little green to any recipe.
For the beans, I choose three cans, between Black, Pinto, Kidney, White, and Garbanzo Beans. This depends on what I've got in the pantry, and what I feel like. My current favorite combo is Black, Kidney, and Garbanzo. Since we eat this so much, I change it up occasionally, so we don't get bored. I always choose the beans with the lowest sodium count. Using canned items, the sodium content can easily get out of control.


Here's what you do:
Start your rice, if you are using it.
Water saute the onions and garlic over medium heat until soft. I always use one large onion. I change up the amount of garlic according to how much I have on hand.
Drain and rinse the beans, and add them to the pot.
Add the entire can of tomatoes.
Drain the green beans, rinse if the sodium content is high, and then add to the pot as well.
Add seasonings to your taste. I always add a liberal dash of cayenne pepper. You could also add onion and garlic powder if you wanted a stronger taste, or if you didn't have any fresh.
Cover, and cook over low heat for 30 minutes. 
Serve over brown rice, sprinkled with Nutritional Yeast and Hot Sauce.


***If you want to make this recipe even cheaper, use dry beans and soak and cook them ahead of time. 


That's it! This makes a lot of food, and I use it for lunches for a couple of days afterward. You can experiment with it too. This recipe is a result of my experimenting with the original. Next time, I'm going to add fresh jalapeno when I saute the onion and garlic, and see how it goes.


Do you have a favorite chile recipe? Feel free to add the link in a comment below!


Want to see what other people come up with creatively? Check out TipJunkie's Tip Me Tuesday posts!