Tomatillo Paleo Chili with Potatoes

This ground beef paleo chili is livened up with the addition of tomatillos and slightly sweetened by a little kabocha squash. by Marla Sarris, updated February 5, 2016 Posted on December 2, 2015

Paleo Recipe Tomatillo Paleo Chili with Potatoes

Marla Sarris is the founder of Paleo Porn, co-author of Pigskin Paleo (along with her husband Jeff), and project manager at SPYR. After tirelessly dedicating six years to teaching Mathematics at one of the top High Schools in the nation, she left her all-consuming career in pursuit of a healthy, sustainable lifestyle. She continues to indulge her passion for teaching through Paleo Porn.

After making this nut-free Kabocha Squash Paleo Pie I had a little bit of squash leftover. I decided the best way to use it was to make this quick paleo chili.

Tomatillo Paleo Chili with Potatoes

Tomatillo Paleo Chili with Potatoes

What Are Tomatillos?

If you’re not familiar with tomatillos, let me help you with that. :)

Tomatillos look like small, shiny, green or yellow-green tomatoes wrapped in paper husks. The inside is white and is meatier than tomatoes.

They’re typically most plentiful throughout the summer but they tend to be available year round. If you can’t find tomatillos in the fresh fruit and vegetable section of your local grocer, you can definitely find them in Mexican or ethnic markets.

When you’re selecting your tomatillos, choose ones that are firm, that also fill their husks.

Avoid any that have been removed from the husk.

When you bring them home, store them loose in the refrigerator, unwashed and unhusked. They will keep for several weeks that way.

Our Next Cookbook!

We’ve hinted at it here and there, but I’ve been secretly working with my friend Ana to create over 100 authentic Mexican paleo recipes for our next paleo cookbook!

By combining Ana’s knowledge of traditional Mexican cuisine with my experience in the kitchen, we’re really excited to share all the recipes with you soon.

Before we went to the kitchen for our latest cooking marathon, we talked a little about Paleo MX in episode 2 of our podcast, The Sarris Show. You can listen to that here or watch the video below.

After making some green sauce with the tomatillos during our recipe testing, I had a few leftover. That’s when I decided to give them a go in this chili.

Tomatillo Paleo Chili with Potatoes

Yield: Serve 4-6

Ingredients

4 strips sugar-free bacon
8 red potatoes
4 cloves garlic
4 carrots, peeled
2 jalapeño peppers, deseeded & sliced
2 lbs grass-fed ground beef
3 teaspoons chili powder
3 teaspoons coarse ground sea salt
3 tomatillos
1 cup roasted & mashed kabocha squash
1/2 cup water
onion, minced (optional)

Directions

Slice the bacon and transfer to a 5-quart cast iron dutch oven (or a large pot) over medium heat. Stir with a wooden spoon and cook until the bacon grease is released and the bacon starts to brown around the edges.
While the bacon is cooking, rinse the potatoes. Cut in half then chop each half into equal pieces and transfer to the pot. (Note that the size you chop the potatoes will determine how long it will need to cook. Smaller pieces will cook faster than larger pieces.)
Peel and smash each garlic clove with the side of your knife and transfer the smashed garlic to the pot along with the potatoes and bacon. Toss to combine.
While the potatoes are cooking peel and chop the carrot into manageable chunks. Again, size will determine how much longer your chili will cook.
Add carrots and sliced jalapeño pepper to the pot and stir.
Add the ground beef, chili powder and sea salt. Stir to get the ground beef closer to the bottom of the pan and mixed in with all the vegetables. Reduce the heat to medium low and cook for 5 minutes, stirring to cook the ground beef.
Remove the paper shells from the tomatillos and rinse under cold water. Chop the tomatillos into bite size pieces and add to the pot along with the kabocha squash. (If you don't have roasted kabocha squash on hand any squash can be substituted including canned pumpkin.) Add the water and increase the heat to medium. Stir to combine and cover to allow all the flavors to combine and cook. Remove the cover and stir contents every 5-10 minutes and continue cooking until the carrot and potato are fork tender and all the beef is cooked through. The longer you let it sit, the more everything will cook down and the flavors will meld together.
Serve topped with fresh minced onion.
Enjoy! :)

About the Author Marla Sarris

Marla Sarris is the founder of Paleo Porn, co-author of Pigskin Paleo (along with her husband Jeff), and project manager at SPYR. After tirelessly dedicating six years to teaching Mathematics at one of the top High Schools in the nation, she left her all-consuming career in pursuit of a healthy, sustainable lifestyle. She continues to indulge her passion for teaching through Paleo Porn.