Grinding Meat in the Ninja Blender + Uncle Rico’s Chili Recipe

How to Grind Meat in the Ninja Blender

I think Rachael Ray would call that some "Grinding action!"

Since we are not yet to a place where we can raise our own beef, we like to buy it from local farmers a quarter at a time or so.

It’s actually cheaper that way – but not only that, the beef is grassfed and simply awesome.

Not to mention I get to keep the bones (for making awesome stock, aka bone broth), fat for rendering, and organ meats.

I do run into one issue though – I end up with too many roasts.  We just don’t eat many roasts… we like a nice medium rare steak, and of course who doesn’t use a ton of ground beef!

We’re about due for another quarter and so the other day I went and took inventory of what we have left – several packages of T-bones (woohoo!) and a bunch of chuck roasts.

Hmm… let’s see what the ol’ Ninja can do about those roasts, eh?

Step 1 – Chop up your thawed meat into pieces no bigger than a couple inches long

Step 2 – Toss ‘em into the Ninja (I have the 1100 Ninja model)

Step 3 – Blend away!

Note: I stuck with mostly pulsing the blender, probably for about a minute or so.  You’ll need to scrape the sites periodically or push big chunks down.

Simple!  See how easy that was? Here’s what it looks like cooked:

This meat was ground WAY finer than I expected.  I though I’d end up with a coarse grind but I bet I could make Pate in this thing.

So – this was what I made with my ground beef:

Uncle Rico’s Chili!

My husband’s brother (we’ll call him “Uncle Rico”) makes THE BEST chili ever.  Except for he makes it exxxxxxxxxtra spicy.

It’s really kinda funny to watch them together… they aren’t happy till the sweat is pouring down their red splotchy faces.  I’m sure it’s very bonding.

I, on the other hand, am a wuss. 

A nice smoked paprika and mild chili powder are more my style.

I did convince him to give me the recipe once and so when I make this, I split off about a third of it for myself & the girls and the rest gets all the habaneros, serranos and jalapenos my hubby wants.

He then proceeds to inhale it, with sweat pouring down his red splotchy face (if I make it right, that is).

Anyway, I’ve gotten rave reviews of the non-burninating version when I’ve made it for people.  I’m not even sure if this is the same recipe that my brother-in-law makes anymore, but this is what I make.

P.S. – in the picture above, I chopped the peppers in the Ninja also because it goes super-fast.  If you prefer a chunkier chili, you can chop them by hand so they are a little bigger.

P.P.S – I don’t usually MEASURE my spices, I just add more till it tastes right.  So… I kinda estimated.  Just a heads up

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