CHEESEBURGER CHILI in PARADISE
You can make your own Cheeseburger Chili any way you like, that's the best part about it!
READY
Ground Beef, 1-2 lbs (secret ingredient, see below) Beef Broth, 3 cups Tomato Sauce, 28 oz. can Onion, 1, diced Tomatoes, 2 chopped Cheese, sharp cheddar, 1/2 lb Pickles, dill, chopped 1.5 cup splash of the pickle juice Mayo, 3/4 cup Ketchup, 3 tbsp Garlic Powder, 2 tbsp Yellow Mustard, 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce, 2 tbsp A1 Steak Sauce, 1 tbsp Cayenne Pepper powder, 1 tbsp Black Pepper, ground, 1 tsp ---------- Plus 1 Packet of your favorite chili seasoning OR Ground Cumin, 3 tbsp Chili Powder, 3 tbsp dash of sea salt FRESH & ORGANIC - Go with organic ingredients as often as possible. Fresh also matters A TON when cooking, so get fresh whenever possible also. See below for a bunch of great ways to save on your shopping, like we do. See HEALTHY CHOICES for more good stuff. THE BEEF - On beef, if you go lean, it costs a bit more, but you get less fat build up. If you drain the grease before adding other ingredients after browning your meat, you probably end up paying close to the same per pound on the ground beef. If you like the extra fatty, greasy flavor, save a couple bucks and get the 80/20 instead of the leaner 90/10. TIME & BUDGET - When budget and/or time is a factor, feel free to substitute canned chopped tomatoes instead of fresh, just remember the organic thing when you can. Most grocery stores also have a section of pre-diced fresh veggies these days so maybe check that out as a time saver. SPACE & TIME - You can certainly use beef bullion cubes instead of buying those big heavy broth containers. 1 cube equals a cup of broth once dissolved in hot water. This is also a great space saver in the pantry. CHEATING - I like the extra flavor punch of throwing in a pre-packaged chili packet, but you can play around with different levels of spices, ground cumin, chili powder and salt as you go. HEALTH & WEALTH - My Sherry wife has gone GLUTEN FREE so I have found a way to make all of my recipes gluten-free so she can enjoy them also. See more about her discoveries, health improvements, fitness and more over at her blog, http://www.hotmesshalpin.com 
CHEF SECRETS:
CHEESE & MAYO - I habitually add more cheese than the original recipe. Same with the mayo. I love the cheeseburger chili turning very orange as it gets closer to completion. For me, a burger HAS to have mayo to be amazing so I add a bit more to this chili as well. REAL CHEESEBURGER FLAVOR - I make real burger patties on some grill day prior to the chili concoction. I put garlic, pepper, steak sauce, red pepper flakes, and whatever steak seasoning I have around into the ground beef. I mold the patties, grill them to medium rare, cover them with melty cheese and the family has cheeseburgers for dinner. The rest go in the fridge or freezer until chili day. THIS SECRET INGREDIENT MAKES a real difference.
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COMBINE
What'ya got cookin? In a medium to large stock pot, brown the ground beef slightly. You don't have to overdo it here. The beef will continue to cook as you combine. Every good cheeseburger has a little soft beef inside and a little crusty exterior. That crusty part comes from the SECRET INGREDIENT. Frequent stirring here. 
Don't make me cry! Keep the heat going and add those chopped or diced onions. As this is a great family meal and lots of little ones aren't so crazy about onions, I minimize this part. If you want more onion potency, you can do a few things with the onions. 1. You can leave the onions in half circle shape, which means larger and less likely to disappear in the chili. 2. You can put the onions in later in the cooking process so they don't break down as much as they go. This isn't quite as important in chili, because we all know that chili that sits overnight is even better than day one. 3. Add another onion to the ingredients. More onion is better, if you like onions...and your kids won't cry.
Tomato/Tomatoe. Add the tomatoes, tomato sauce, and beef broth. While the temperature catches back up to high, go ahead and start adding your flavors, the Worcestershire, A1, Garlic, Cayenne, Black Pepper and chili flavors by the packet or individually. Salt if you must. Most foods have a natural amount of salt in them that I rarely salt anything, but restaurants do it ALOT, which is where some of that extra flavor comes from. Hey, it is your chili after all!
Keep stirring. 
Pickle anyone? Hey, if you don't like pickles AT ALL on your burgers, by all means, leave them out. For those of you that DO like pickles and find them a necessary part of a complete American cheeseburger assemblage, please continue reading. On the original recipe, I chopped the pickles very small, you might say diced. I may have even used dill pickle relish from a jar, but I will never admit it. On other iterations, I went larger, even trying circular sections so they looked like the ones you'd see on a burger. I always add a splash of pickle juice from the dill pickle jar to make sure the flavor of the pickles makes its way through the entire pot. CAUTION: Do not overload the chili with pickles. I did this once for my lovely wife. She loves pickles so we decided to add a bunch more. Well, let's just say that pickles have a very distinctive robust flavor and can quickly takeover the overall flavor. We need balance and all of those cheeseburger flavors working in harmony together.
Add the SECRET INGREDIENT. Chop them up or crumble by hand into bite-sized niblets of grill-infused joy. I think crumbled by hand is the best way here.
How cheesy! Start adding the cheese. I prefer shredded cheese. There is something magical about the way it falls in and disintegrates a bit at a time. Even if you have a block of cheese, grate it first. You will have much more fun with it and you will also need some of that in the presentation later. After the cheese melts in good, you can turn the heat down to medium-low or low. The cheeseburger ALMOST has all of it's flavors.
Don't forget to stir! 
Get ready for that burger! Remember those cook-outs, especially when you were younger, when you were called to get your bun ready? You had a table full of condiments and you got to spray on as much mayo, ketchup and mustard as you wanted to get that bun prepared for that hot-off-the-grill cheeseburgerliciousness. Oh yeah. It is that time again! Add your chosen amount of mayo, ketchup and mustard to that chili pot. Don't worry that some think mayo has no place in chili. It is wonderful and every bite will take you back to that family cookout.
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PRESENT
When I made this cheeseburger chili the first time, it was going into a chili cook-off and it was turning out so good, and tasted so much like a real cheeseburger with all of the flavors working together, I had to figure out how to make it complete. Since all of the judges and guests would be tasting little samples at a time in small bowls, I decided to make miniature buns, and serve each small cup with a bun, shredded lettuce and shredded cheese for a complete burger experience. It was a huge hit and it still works at home. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. 
I am admittedly not much of a baker, so I use crescent roll pastry from a tube. I flatten it all out and use a small jar to cut out little wafers, spread them all out on parchment paper or a lightly greased pan and bake them at 350 degrees until lightly golden brown. You can also ball up the leftover pastry, roll it out flat and cut more mini-buns. Waste not, want not.
If you come up with a more efficient way to get little mini-burger buns, please, let me know. 
I use bagged shredded lettuce for this presentation. I can chop a head of lettuce, okay, but what a time saver and every shred is exactly the same thickness and it is so cute.
Chili in the bowl, add shredded cheese, add shredded lettuce, bun on the top.
I hope you enjoyed this recipe. Happy cooking! 
Now, I really like my traditional cookware, but Sherry REALLY LOVES her Instant Pot. I have tested this out with a few different things and you actually can cook just about anything in it. This CANNOT, however, replace my grill! Click the image to see more and get your own Instant Pot.
  Okay, I have a friend who claims there is no other mayo than Duke's. As for me, I just stay away from "light" mayo or jars labelled as Salad Dressing when looking for mayo.
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