I recently saw a general recipe for Gesundheit Chili. At first I thought, okay great, this is probably going to be close to what my mom made growing up since my mom was born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio and was 50% German-American. I’m going to compare from memory watching my mom cook chili countless times with the ingredients for Gesundheit Chili. By the way, gesundheit was a word used often by my mom. Happy memories.
Gesundheit Chili
- Ground Beef
- Olive Oil
- Onion
- Green Bell Pepper
- Garlic Clove
- Tomatoes
- Kidney Beans
- Tomato Juice
- German Pilsner Beer
- Knockwurst or Bratwurst
- Chili Powder
- Salt
- Ground Cumin
- Paprika
- Cayenne Pepper
Mom’s Chili
- Yes, ground beef
- Vegetable Oil
- Yes, onions
- Yes, green bell peppers
- I’m not sure about the garlic
- Yes, canned whole tomatoes
- Yes, in the form of Brook’s Chili beans
- No to juice, she used tomato paste
- No beer
- Wow, definitely no wurst
- Yes, liberal chili powder
- Yes, salt
- I don’t think she added cumin
- No paprika
- No cayenne pepper
Mom added a generous amount of dehydrated parsley in addition to the above. Sisters… please weigh in about what you remember in mom’s chili if I missed anything. It was always so good.
For our readers… please share your family’s chili tradition with us!!
7Sisters13 