Back before ground beef doubled in price I would make a huge batch of chili for canning. I did the math in January of last year and it worked out to a 28% savings over buying it but the downside was that it cost $50 to make the batch.
Of course the upsides were knowing every ingredient and here I am two weeks short of a year later eating chili that now costs way more to make because of beef cost increases.
This time I added a can of black beans during the reheat because I didn’t feel like making corn bread.
Cost per person: $3.06
I use ground pork these days and it tastes just fine. Even better is venison or something local.
I use pork frequently in Italian recipes. When I do make a ground meat chili, I’m usually doing it in these super size batches. So I can get a big tube of ground beef or a lot of packs of ground pork. But I only do that about once or twice a year tops.
If I’m making chili the day of the meal then I typically break out venison or go meatless.