Wendy’s Chili Copycat

Photo from Insanely Good Recipes

It's October Sunday dinner night. And I thought I'd bring bag "Frito Lollies" for dinner. I made these the "tradition" about 10 years ago and then somehow stopped. Mom made these EVERY Christmas Eve. So keeping with that tradition, but moved it to October. 

Chili is always a crowd pleaser. And on a nice fall day in October, it's warmth and comfort fits the bill. But, tonight, I thought I would try a new recipe instead of my chili recipe. Which, by the way, is not written down anywhere. I feel like chili is a lot like soups to me, it's really anything goes and a fairly simple recipe for me. 

But I digress. So I found this copycat recipe and thought I'd give it a try. It was better than my chili recipe. No lie. I don't think I've ever had Wendy's Chili, but I might have it now if it tastes like this chili did. 

The only odd thing, to me, about this recipe was adding celery to the chili. Honestly I don't think you could taste it at all by the time it cooked for several hours. I did not, of course, add the bell pepper in. Gross. When I make it again I won't add the celery. It seemed like a waste. 

Wendy’s Chili Copycat

Recipe from Insanely Good Recipes

Makes 10 servings

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 pounds ground beef

2 stalks celery

1 onion, chopped

1 green bell pepper, chopped

3 (14 ounce) cans stewed tomatoes

1 (10 ounce) can diced tomatoes with green chiles

1 (14 ounce) can tomato sauce

1 cup water

2 (1.25 ounce) packages chili seasoning

1 (14 ounce) can kidney beans, undrained

1 (14 ounce) can pinto beans, undrained

salt and pepper to taste

1 tablespoon white vinegar

Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat.

Place the ground beef in the pot. Press the beef down to form one large patty. Let the bottom brown for 8 to 10 minutes, then use a spatula to break it into bite-size crumbles. Cook until no longer pink (about 5 more minutes).

Stir in the celery, onion, and green bell pepper, and cook until the onion is translucent (about 5 minutes).

Pour in the stewed tomatoes, diced tomatoes with green chiles, tomato sauce, and water. Break up any large pieces of stewed tomatoes, then stir in chili seasoning.

Add in the kidney beans and pinto beans. Salt and pepper to your desired taste.

Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce the heat to low, and simmer for 1 hour.

Stir the vinegar into chili. Serve and enjoy!