Tim Hortons is the largest fast-food restaurant chain in Canada, with locations throughout the country. But don’t worry – you won’t have to cross any borders to try their popular bowl of home-cooked chili. You can prepare it by cooking the meat, and then placing all the ingredients in a slow cooker to let them simmer on high for about 4 hours. This is a rich, flavorful chili that blends a variety of colorful ingredients, including ground beef, kidney beans, tomatoes, mushrooms, green peppers, onion, and celery.
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While this recipe can be prepared in a pot over the stove, a slow cooker is the best way to make chili. Letting all the flavors simmer and work together adds an extra element of deep flavors – plus you get to smell it cooking all day.
Tim Hortons original chili recipe has 19 grams of fat, so if you’re concerned about the nutrition, I’d recommend using ground turkey instead of beef. You can also skip the meat completely, and make this a vegetarian chili. Simply add more beans and veggies.
The secret to this recipe is the ketchup. I know that sounds crazy, but it’s true. The sugars in the ketchup change the acidity of the tomatoes and the chili powder, giving it a sweeter flavor.
Tim Hortons Chili
Equipment
- Slow Cooker
Ingredients
For the Ground Beef Mixture
- 2 lbs ground beef or turkey
- 1/2 white onion
- 3 cloves minced garlic
For the Chili
- 1 can (28 oz) crushed tomatoes
- 1 can (15 oz) black beans drained and rinsed
- 1 can (15 oz) kidney beans drained and rinsed
- 1/2 red pepper, diced
- 1/2 yellow pepper diced
- 1/2 orange pepper diced
- 1/2 green pepper diced
- 1 cup mushrooms
- 2 carrots, diced
- 2 celery stalks, diced
- 4 tbsp chili powder
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 1/3 cup ketchup
Instructions
- First, fry the ground beef with the diced white onions until the beef is cooked and the onions are soft. Drain the grease, add in the minced garlic and saute for another 2 minutes until the garlic is browned and fragrant. Then pour the cooked ground beef into the slow cooker.
- Dice all of your veggies and toss them in the slow cooker with the ground beef.
- Combine the can of crushed tomatoes and the two cans of rinsed beans into the slow cooker. Then mix in the brown sugar, chili powder, and ketchup.
- Turn the slow cooker on high for about 4 hours.
- When the vegetables are soft, take about 1 to 1 1/2 cups of the chili, and puree it. Add it back in, and continue to cook it for another 30 minutes. This gives the chili a thick base texture.
- Add any of your favorite toppings (sour cream, cheese, or cilantro) and serve hot.
Notes
- This chili can be frozen for a later meal. Simply place it in an air-tight container and place it in the freezer for up to 4 months.
- You can also make this chili as a vegetarian option by replacing the meat with another can of beans and some more vegetables.
More Tim Hortons Recipes
If you like Tim Hortons Chili, maybe you’ll also enjoy Skyline’s Lentil Chili or Wendy’s Chili. Try them all, and let us know which one is your favorite.
