**Intro**Everyone has their favorite chili recipe, and I was unfortunate enough to lose mine. Anything I've found since then, including by ways of googling, hasn't come close. Before I found my own recipe, though, I was making my chili with Carroll  Shelby's Chili Fixin's, a definite step above to the normal seasoning packet way of making chili. Seeing it at the store reentry I decide to give this old way another try.**Preparation**Making chili with Carroll Shelby's Chili Kit is just as easy as doing so with a packet of seasoning, but it provides you choices to set the degrees of sodium, spiciness, etc. Plus, you always have the option to add your own special items into it, so in some ways to me it's like a happy medium between making it from scratch with a favorite recipe and throwing something together quickly from package of seasoning.After you brown your ground beef and drain it, you add the packet of season, along with as much or little of two different option. The first is salt. Watching your sodium, no problem, skip it. Like your things salty and heavy a healthy heart, no problem, add it all. The second is cayenne pepper. They tell you if you're brave to add it all. I add about 1/3 to 1/2 of the packet of cayenne. Make of that what you will. All you need is to simmer it for 15 minutes, but I like to do it for longer if I have the time. Add whatever you like, be it a can of beans, green peppers, etc. During the last 5 minutes, there's another optional packet of mesa flour. Mix it with water and add it at the end to thicken it up, if you wish.**Taste**It's obviously not chili made from scratch, but it still seems better than the normal packages of seasoning, and to me that partially comes from not having to add all the salt. There's nothing more than tells you this was made out of a package than something tasting heavily of sodium. Adding the mesa flour, too, is another thing that just seems to make it a little different, again, more than just a normal seasoning packet. **Conclusion**If I was ever lucky enough to find that favorite recipe of mine, I would always prefer that (anyone seen it? It has cocoa powder in it ...); however, if I'm going to be making it quickly, without a recipe, and without simmering it half the day, I much prefer making chili with Carroll Shelby's Chili Kit, allowing me to set my own degrees of salt and cayenne.

LauraBelle

South Elgin, IL

There is no doubt that Carroll Shelby's chili packet makes the best tasting chili around BUT with a sodium content of 1320 mg's or 55% of one's daily minimum requirement the stuff is definitely in the foods to avoid if you have high blood pressure or are having to watch your sodium intake. I have written to the company to find out if the sodium level is due to the tiny pouch of salt which one can control or omit or if the sodium in the product is from preservatives in the larger spice packet. I cannot get an answer out of them. If you have no sodium intake problems I wholeheartedly reccomend Carroll Shleby's chili pack.   

Alienwordz

Clackamas, OR

My wife and I have always loved the Carol Shelby's Chili kit. In fact we always recomended it to our friends. However the last 2 times we had it was very disapointing. The first of the latter the contents of the kit were only half there and the second it just didn't have enough chili flavor.It tasted watered down.   We are looking for a new recipe.

Vettra

Lutz, FL

This is the best chili kit going! I remember eating it as a kid and loved it then, too. It's easy to prepare and has good ideas for jazzing up your pot of chili and making it your own. I always use the whole packet of chili seasoning, because we like it hot!  

hurstreview

Jefferson, GA

I had never heard of this mix until my husband and I married. My experience with chili had always been made from scratch. I was not sure how this chili was going to turn out but of course I had to try it since he had made it. I loved it. It has a great taste and it was not to spicy but it had enough. It is a great mix for anyone who has not tried it. Give it a try.

wjb0607

Paris, TN