Recipe: Make Walt’s Chili from Carnation Café at home

There’s no better way to commemorate the 65th anniversary of Disneyland than by recreating one of Walt Disney’s favorite recipes at home — Walt’s Chili from Carnation Café!

Many variations of Walt’s personal recipe can be found in the Walt Disney Archives, with the first one dating back to around 1958. Over the years, Disney chefs have refined the recipe for park guests, and below you’ll find the recipe for the version served at Carnation Café in Disneyland park.

Be sure to serve up this dish with a few saltine crackers — just the way Walt liked it.

Check out the recipe below:

Walt’s Chili and Beans from Carnation Café at Disneyland park

Serves 6 to 8

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup of olive oil, divided
• 3/4 pounds of beef stew meat
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1 medium green pepper, diced
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 pound of ground beef
• 1 tablespoon of ground cumin
• 1 1/2 tablespoons of chili powder
• 1 tablespoon of onion powder
• 3/4 tablespoon of cayenne pepper
• 3 tablespoons of tomato paste
• 2 plum tomatoes, diced
• 1 (28 ounce) can of diced tomatoes
• 2 tablespoons of beef base
• 1 1/2 cups of water
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can of pinto beans, rinsed and drained
• Coarse salt, to taste

Garnish

• 1/2 cup of sour cream
• 1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese
• 2 diced tomatoes, for garnish

Directions

1. Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large Dutch oven, over medium heat for 5 minutes. Add the stew meat and sauté for 10 minutes, util the meat is browned on all sides. Remove the stew meat from the pan and set aside.
2. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil to the pan, and heat for 3 minutes over medium heat.
3. Add onions and green pepper. Sauté for 8-10 minutes, until soft. Add garlic and sauté one minute longer, until the garlic is fragrant.
4. Add ground beef. Cook, stirring occasionally to break up large chunks of beef, for 10-12 minutes, until beef is no longer pink. Drain the excess fat.
5. Return the stew meat to the Dutch oven with the ground beef mixture. Add ground cumin, chili powder, onion powder, cayenne pepper, tomato paste, diced tomatoes, beef base, and water.
6. Bring chili to a simmer. Cover and let simmer over low heat for 3 hours, until the stew meat is tender.
7. Add pinto beans, and simmer for 10 minutes until the beans are warm.
8. Season with salt, as needed.
9. Garnish with sour cream, shredded cheddar cheese, and diced tomatoes.

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