These meatballs with spinach, feta, and turkey are simple to prepare, freezer-friendly, and delicious when warmed up. This is what my son and I refer to as “Combine Nuggets.” You might not be aware that a combine is a big tractor used to harvest crops from the field. Well, I didn’t until my three-year-old told me! We can therefore put the green items in our nuggets because of the diligent combines.
| Prep Time: | 10 mins |
| Cook Time: | 45 mins |
| Total Time: | 55 mins |
| Servings: | 8 |
| Yield: | 8 servings |
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 pounds ground beef
- 1 small onion, minced
- 6 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 ½ cups beef stock
- ½ cup red wine
- 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 1 (28 ounce) can stewed tomatoes, lightly drained
- 7 sun-dried tomatoes, softened and chopped
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 (15 ounce) can black beans, drained
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 2 teaspoons salt
- ground black pepper to taste
- 1 pinch dried oregano
- 1 pinch dried sage
- 1 pinch white sugar
- 1 bay leaf
Instructions
- In a large Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Brown the ground beef until no longer pink. Drain most of the fat from the ground beef.
- Push the ground beef to the sides of the pan and saute the onion and garlic in the middle until softened.
- Pour in beef stock, red wine, and balsamic vinegar. Stir in tomatoes, sun-dried tomatoes, tomato paste and black beans. Mix thoroughly. Sprinkle in the cayenne pepper, chili powder, salt, pepper, oregano, sage and sugar, then add the bay leaf. Mix thoroughly.
- Cover and simmer on lowest heat for 45 to 90 minutes.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 342 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 12 g |
| Cholesterol | 69 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 2 g |
| Protein | 25 g |
| Saturated Fat | 7 g |
| Sodium | 4616 mg |
| Sugars | 6 g |
| Fat | 21 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
This recipe is fantastic, my young kids and their friends love it. They named it Bubba and won a Chii cookoff with it. I didn’t change a thing, other than not using the cheese and onions to garnish.
Our favorite chili. Gets unbelievable reviews from our tailgate friends. We use ground turkey and keep everything else the same (even the beef broth). We drop a little liquid smoke and ground chipotle pepper in to give it some smoky flavor.
I used the recipe for the base of spices- I only used 1 pound of meat and use some chili beans and two cans of diced tomatoes. I loved the beef stock, wine and vinegar. I did add some pepper sauce and sugar & cooked for about 90 minutes – was absolutely delicious. Served with a dollop of sour cream and cheese on top. I will make this again for sure.
Loved this recipe. The black beans were a nice change from the standard kidney beans. Following the advice of other reviewers, I cautiously reduced the amount of Balsamic vinegar but left it in. I also tripled the Chili Powder as we like it fairly hot. Cornbread was a nice accompaniment.
Updated review.. this is our go to chili.. folks remember it, and we use it in a chili contest yearly. Yum! Here are my tweaks.. Extra onion, extra red wine, a little more balsamic, extra chili powder, brown sugar instead of white. So very good and kids love it too.
This was an excellent recipe. First I made this recipe as is and then used it as a spring board. Wonderful chili when made according to the recipe. Who would have thought to add wine and balsamic vinegar ….BUT….. I HAD to tweaked it a bit the second time around…..Added 1 1/2 cup chopped onion total amount and a half cup of chopped green pepper and 1/2 cup chopped celery, pinch of cinnamon, couple of pinches cocoa powder, 2 large cans whole tomatoes (had no tomato sauce nor purée) 1 small can roasted garlic tomato paste, Cooked the onion, pepper and celery with meat while browning it. Best chili ever husband says. Enough heat without being too much. Will definitely make again, and again and again.
I cut the meat back to 1.4 lbs and used 2 cans of kidney beans. I used ketchup instead of tomato paste. I added veggies (bell pepper and celery). I didn’t have any chili powder, but I used 1/4 tsp Datil pepper and chopped some fresh peppers from the garden instead. This recipe is very adaptable – and the combination of balsamic vinegar, red wine and sun dried tomatoes makes this chili heartier. Family prefers this recipe over my older recipe.
This was gourmet chili! LOVED the unique flavor!
It was good. Add salt to taste.
I loved this spin on chili. I have been cooking chili a lot lately and wanted something different. I used ketchup instead of tomato paste. I used red wine vinegar instead of red wine. and I used diced tomato with onion instead of stewed tomato. I used the same spices and cant wait to taste this again tomorrow for lunch.
Fabulous recipe. I didn’t have garlic, so I used garlic powder and no cayenne or chili seasonings so I used 2 tbls of a pre-made chili seasoning. It was lovely. Made some fresh rolls for dipping and none lasted!
SO delicious!! The wine and balsamic vinegar give it great flavor. Will definitely makes this again!
I made this for a crowd – for 32 servings, added 4 chopped up jalapenos and 6 chopped up cooked italian sausages. Best Chili Ever! Would definitely win first place – enough bite and flavor to take home a blue ribbon.
Very interesting flavor. I used two and half times the chilli powder and also added chili beans as well.
very good. I made mine a bit spicer. I prefer chili with no cilantro.
That is was pretty good. I added 1/4 tsp cumin because I like the taste, but kept everything else the same. I like a mild chili so this one was perfect. I liked the balsamic vinegar. To thicken this a bit, I took the lid off the last 15 minutes and turned the heat up a bit to reduced the liquid. I will be making this again.
This is a great recipe. I use turkey instead of beef and serve with cilantro.
This chili was a little too heavy for me. I think I prefer one with more vegetables and beans.
By reading I knew that it needed some of my touch that I like. Honestly by itself it still marvelous, very tasty + you would have at least 3 more bowls. I had 3, my wife had 2 & my daughter had 1. My wife asked me to do another batch. I must tell you I also added a little spice for me but not too much or the family will not like it. Also I added some cheese with the chill. The rest was as describe in the recipe. As I said it is excellent as is, & also for people who do not like spicy food. 5 STAR ALL THE WAY TOO THE MOON..
Oh MY Goodness this is soooooo good! I made it exactly and the only thing I would change is the olive oil. Not sure why you would need it. I use lean beef too. MY NEW Favorite. YUMMO. If I could give it more stars I would.
I make this recipe all the time. I have been using it for several years. I make it spicier than called for and then I serve it with sour cream, cheese, onions and cilantro on the side. The cilantro is a huge hit as a garnish!