Easy Chili

📝 Eirian Huang

Updated 11/13/2025

The best way to combat Ithaca fall and winter is with a nice hearty bowl of chili. This recipe makes a few swaps to make things easier and freezes well. Omitting the meat yields a hearty vegetarian chili.

Ingredients

  • 2-3 cloves of garlic, diced 
  • 1 medium onion, diced
  • 1 jalapeno, diced (optional) 
  • 1 pack Trader Joe’s soy chorizo 
  • 1 lb. ground beef or turkey (can skip or sub sweet potato or tofu) 
  • 2 cans of beans, drained (I use black and kidney) 
  • 1 8 oz. can tomato sauce 
  • 1 14 oz. can diced or crushed tomatoes 
  • 1 6 oz. can tomato paste 
  • 2 cups preferred stock or water 
  • 1 packet taco or chili seasoning  

Instructions

  1. Saute diced garlic, onion, and jalapeno in a large pot.
  2. Add meat and tomato paste. Saute meat with tomato paste until color deepens.
  3. Add seasonings and stock, then add the rest of the canned goods. Bring to a boil then lower heat and simmer for ~30 minutes until preferred thickness, adding water or stock as needed.
  4. Serve with sour cream, cheese, and tortilla chips! 
Try something different
An assortment of jello shots

Jello Shots

Drink

Crappy vodka? Little plastic cups? Sticky frat floors? Your bed spinning 12 hours later?

Maple Glazed Pumpkin Muffins

Dessert

These maple glazed pumpkin muffins make for a perfect low-stress yet satisfying bake.

Sparkling Americano with grapefruit and mint

Sparkling Americano

Drink

Most people take their coffee with some form of cream and sugar, whether it’s a thick drizzle of caramel sauce swirled around a plastic Starbucks cup or two ounces of perfect micro-foam to top a cortado. I, on the other hand, have been skipping these accompaniments recently and reaching for the sparkling water instead.