Hi, this is Lisa’s husband Eddie, guest blogging my award winning chili based on popular demand (mostly from my wife).
I tried a number of different approaches in the following years, including a purist Texas style chili that shunned beans and ground beef in favor of unadorned hunks of stew meat simmered in what I thought was an excellent balance of chiles and spices. “Delicious”, someone told me after I placed third, “but it’s not really chili”.
The award winning chili had beans in it. And I had to admit it was much better than mine, in part because it had three different kinds of meat in it, including sausage.
Determined to come up with an award winning chili, I narrowed my sights to multiple-meat chilis and came upon Guy Fieri’s Dragon Breath chili, which is the recipe I’m adapting here.
This chili contains chuck meat, Italian pork sausage and ground beef plus three different kinds of peppers (poblano, Anaheim and jalapeño) which results in excellent flavor, texture and heat. And my version has a little something extra! Fieri‘s recipe calls for either bacon grease or canola oil to sauté the aromatics. Easy choice I thought, but it’s not as if you can buy bacon grease so I got a 12-oz package of bacon, cut it into small pieces and rendered the fat myself. It produced just about the right amount of fat, but also an interesting byproduct. As I looked at those cooked bits of bacon I thought “who am I kidding? Those are going into my chili!”
Also Lisa advised that I use three different kinds of chili powder to add a depth of flavor to match up against the three (now four actually) kinds of meat and three types of chili pepper. Finally, my taste in beer steered me toward an IPA rather than the lager suggested by the original recipe.
Aside from those differences and the fact that I brown the meat separately instead of in with the sautéed vegetables, the credit goes to Fieri for an amazing recipe, especially his use of spices which generates a level of heat that is just on the edge, which in my view is where a chili should be.
My chili won two cook-offs outright including one against Dean’s award winning white chicken chili.
It also took best meat chili in a third competition (lost to a vegetarian in the all-around that year) and came in a very close second to Dean’s white chicken chili in another cook-off that was heartbreaking for me.
Against a field of roughly 20 chilis and with hundreds of votes tallied, Dean and I were counted up exactly even to tie for the win and the medal was awarded jointly to us. In what has since become known as Chili-gate, I later that day discovered that unlike the previous competition, the cooks were not allowed to vote. I conceded that I had in fact voted and presented sole ownership of the blue ribbon to Dean. I kidded him that my vote was for his chili (it wasn’t).
HERE’S HOW TO MAKE EDDIE’S AWARD WINNING CHILI:
This chili takes time to prepare and involves numerous ingredients, but it’s totally worth it and the basics are straightforward.
Start by roasting, peeling and chopping the chiles. Keep a close eye on them while they are roasting – things can escalate quickly.
In the meantime, cut up and fry down the bacon to provide the grease to use for sautéing (and the bacon itself!). You then sauté the chiles and vegetables in the bacon fat, remove them and brown the meat in the same pot.
Then add the spices, the tomato sauce and paste, chicken broth and beer and simmer for two hours.
Lisa asked me to advise you that if you want to be a little healthier you can skim the fat off the surface periodically which, in my opinion, for this dish is sort of like saying that if you want to be a little safer when you go cliff diving, wear knee pads. But anyway consider it mentioned.
No skimming was involved when I took first place in the cook-offs. And if you really want a healthy chili option, try this vegetarian chili.
I also want to say that it is great to have a sous chef alongside when you prepare this chili, preferably Lisa.
One final note: for my taste the heat level is perfect, but if you want to tone it down, the best way is by reducing the amount of cayenne pepper.
Here’s my award winning chili recipe. If you make this please come back to leave a comment and let me know what you think.
Eddie’s Award Winning Chili
A fantastic award winning chili con carne, with beef, pork, three kinds of chilis, a perfect balance of spice and heat.
- Prep Time: 1 hour 45 mins
- Cook Time: 2 hours
- Total Time: 3 hours 45 mins
- Yield: 10-12 1x
- Category: Main Dish
- Method: stovetop
- Cuisine: Tex-Mex
Ingredients
- 3 Anaheim chiles, roasted, peeled, chopped
- 3 poblano chiles, roasted, peeled, chopped
- 12 ounces of bacon, cut crosswise into 1/4-inch strips and sautéed until almost crisp. Reserve 3 tablespoons of bacon fat.
- 3 tablespoons bacon fat (rendered from the bacon)
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil (canola, grape seed or your favorite)
- 2 red bell peppers, seeds and ribs removed, diced
- 2 jalapeño peppers, seeds and ribs removed, minced
- 2 yellow onions, peeled and diced
- 1 head garlic, peeled and minced (10–12 garlic cloves, 6 tablespoons minced garlic)
- 1 pound boneless beef chuck, trimmed of fat and gristle, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
- 2 pounds ground beef
- 1 pound sweet Italian sausage, casings removed
- 3 tablespoons chili powder (Try using 3 different chili powders for great depth of flavor – I use ancho, chipotle and Mexican)
- 2 teaspoons cayenne pepper (Half this amount for less heat)
- 2 teaspoons ground coriander
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 2 teaspoons granulated garlic
- 2 teaspoons granulated onion
- 2 teaspoons hot paprika (not smoked)
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
- 2 cups tomato sauce
- 8 ounces tomato paste
- 12 ounces of your favorite beer (I use an IPA because I like the hoppy flavor)
- 1 cup chicken stock
- 2 15-ounce cans kidney beans, with juice
- 2 15-ounce cans pinto beans, with juice
- Optional Garnishes:
- 1 bunch green onions, thinly sliced or 1 red onion, finely chopped
- Shredded cheddar cheese or Monterey Jack
- Sour cream
Instructions
- Roast the Chilies: Preheat the oven to broil (500ºF) Set an oven rack at the top, directly under the broiler. Spread the chiles out on a low-sided oven tray and roast for 15-20 minutes, turning peppers with tongs every five minutes, until their skins are about 60-70% blackened on all sides. Put the hot peppers directly into a paper bag. Roll down the top of the bag so they’re tightly contained. Let them sit and steam for 15-20 minutes until the skins are loosened and easy to peel off. Peel off skins, remove seeds and membranes, and chop.
- Sauté Chilis and Aromatics: Add the bacon grease and oil to a large heavy pot or Dutch oven (6-quart), over medium-high heat. Add the chopped chiles, red bell peppers, jalapeño peppers and onions. Cook for 5 minutes or until the vegetables just start to become translucent. Add garlic and cook 1 minute longer. Transfer all the sautéed vegetables to a bowl and set aside. No need to wash the pot, you’ll use it to brown the meat.
- Brown the Meats: Add the cubed beef chuck to the pot and cook, stirring often, until lightly browned on all sides, about 4 minutes. Add the ground beef and sausage and cook for 7-10 minutes, stirring to break up the sausage and ground beef, until the meat is no longer pink. Return the cooked vegetables to the pot along with the reserved bacon.
- Add Spices: chili powders, cayenne, coriander, cumin, granulated garlic, granulated onion, paprika, salt and black pepper. Cook, stirring, for 1 minute, until fragrant.
- Add the Rest of the Ingredients: Add the tomato sauce and paste. Cook, stirring, for 2 minutes, to combine. Add beer, chicken stock, kidney beans with their liquid and pinto beans with their liquid. Bring to a boil, lower to a simmer, and cook for 2 hours, uncovered.
- To Serve: Ladle chili into bowls. Top with garnishes or put garnishes into small bowls for self serve.
Keywords: chili con carne, meaty chili, chili with beef and pork
Unbelievably good. Had a lot of fun making it and came out great. Love the recipe and will definitely be making this again.
★★★★★
Hi Brian,
Thanks so much for coming back to leave a comment and a rating. Made my day! So glad this worked out for you.
Made this for a new years eve chili challenge vs my girlfriend. She admitted mine was the winning chili and the best she’s ever had. I would agree! So delicious!!
Hi Lee,
Happy New Year! Congrats on the chili take-down! In a way maybe she won though because won’t you now be making the chili from here on?
Best Chilli I’ve made. Its a lot of work but well worth it. I substituted some crushed and diced tomatoes for half of the beans because I’m not a huge fan of beans and it turned out awsome.
Hey Rob,
Glad to hear it worked out so well for you. Thanks for taking the time to come back and leave a comment!
Absolutely fantastic. Used three different chili powders. Thanks.
★★★★★
Thanks for the comment and the rating, Brenda. Happy New Year!
I looked for a chili recipe to submit for a chili contest at work. I tried to find something that was similar to my grandfather’s recipe. Having researched several recipes this one was the closest I could find that resembled recipe. Now I didn’t follow it step by step since I didn’t want to win using someone else’s recipe, but the core of this recipe was my base recipe. The overall result was a blow out winner unseating the 3 time champion and 3 other multi-year winners. The response I received was unbelievable. I will use this (a modified version) to create a multi-year championship chili.
★★★★★
Hey David – congratulations on your first place finish, hopefully the first of a long running franchise of championships for you! I am glad to hear this reminded you of your grandfather’s recipe so there is a family connection there as well. Here’s to 2021!
I won a couple cookouts with a similar recipe. I used Hungarian paprika. Turmeric, National bohemian beer and Southern Comfort. I like your take ingredients though and am anxious to try it. I will probably still add the SoCo(less a shot!)
Good luck to you Jennifer. Me and Southern Comfort had a falling out some 40 years ago, but I say go for it if it works for you!
I’m going to make this in a few hours and I was wondering if there is any substitute for the beer? My gf hates beer and coffee. Could I just add more liquid with the chicken broth?
Yes, that will work. Sorry I didn’t catch this comment sooner. Hopefully you went with that and it turned out well!
Made this tonight for my husband using our wild game harvest (deer) from this season, it turned out amazing!!!I just substituted the ground beef, for the ground deer/pork fat meat we have on hand. I’ve been looking for an amazing chili recipe, and this was it! As a mom of 3 young boys and a nursing school student, I prefer the “place it and forget it” method, I opted for the slow cooker. I did it on high for 2 hours and low for 3 hours. Thank you for sharing your recipe!
★★★★★
Hi Keri – thanks so much for coming back to let me know. Someone else recently made this recipe with deer and had good things to say about it, so I am glad to hear this confirmed. Mother of three young boys and a nursing student! That will keep you busy. Best wishes in these times.
Eddie, just wanted to thank you for sharing this recipe. My boyfriend and I have been quarantining together and we make this together every month. It’s a great excuse to spend time together, joke around, and feel happy even while it’s been difficult seeing family and friends. It’s been a bright spot in a very dark year. Thank you.
★★★★★
Thanks so much for your comment and star rating, AS. It means a lot to me. This is a great recipe to make with two people as there is a fair amount of chopping and prep and it’s just more fun that way. I am glad this recipe has brought you and your boyfriend some level of joy in a dark year. Next year will be better and hopefully we will all be serving our chilis to larger groups, as it should be.
Seen you sat was a play on guy Fiero’s recipes but to me when compared one against the other was exactly same recipe so guess is Guy’s award winning chilli that you won with or I missed something…
Hi Larry,
I appreciate your comment. If you read through my blog post you will see where I credit Guy Fieri for this recipe and then am very explicit about the several adaptations I made in ingredients, most notably the inclusion of bacon which is really a game changer, as well as process.
Hey Eddie this is world class chili recipe it was a hit at our church fall festival… BTW I did substitute beef burger and steaks for deer burger and steaks which turned out awesome actually making it again tonight for my family for after Thanksgiving meal!!! Thanks again pal
★★★★★
Hi thank you for that clarity as I guess I need my glasses more than thought lol as thought bacon was in both but yes this is an addition to yours and it definite will change the complexity of the recipe as well as taste.So sorry for the misread…
We love this chili! Best I have ever made. I did add a little more heat to it, we like really hot and spicy food. I don’t advise anyone give it more heat until they try the recipe as is. I love eating those Chinese hot red peppers(the ones that go in Mongolian beef), I saw someone actually almost choke to death when he tried to eat on, it was too much for his palette. The point is when I say we like hot and spicy, we really like it hot and spicy. Thank you Eddie for sharing this recipe. 5 star recipe.
Thanks Mindy, I appreciate the feedback and I am glad that the heat level works for you!
I gave 4 stars because the spice level was way higher than expected. I couldn’t find Hot paprika so I used only 1 teaspoon of regular. I couldn’t find Anaheim peppers so I used green peppers instead of those. Otherwise I followed this recipe to the T and I could barely eat a whole bowl it was so spicy. My fiancé LOVES hot sauce and spice and he even said it was a little too much.
It’s tasty, but I’d eliminate the cayenne completely.
★★★★
Hi SJ,
Thanks for the feedback. Spice level is definitely a matter of personal taste. Eliminating the cayenne pepper is the easiest way to take down the heat and you will sacrifice none of the flavor.
I used this for our staff chili cook-off and won. it was delicious. I used coffee instead of beer as one commenter mentioned, and I also halved the amount of Cheyenne pepper. It was delicious. Thank you for sharing!
★★★★★
Congratulations on your first place finish Jason! Ok, I will definitely be trying out this coffee idea…
Thanks so much for coming back to let me know and for the rating.
This looks like a very good recipe. What do you do with the vegetable oil? It’s in the ingredient list but I don’t see where you use it. My only comment is that I wouldn’t use the bacon because the chili might be too busy for me, and I normally have bacon fat in my fridge.
Hi Jay – the vegetable oil gets used in step 2 where it says “Add the bacon grease and oil to a large heavy pot or Dutch oven (6-quart), over medium-high heat.” I am sure it would be fine without the bacon, but don’t feel the bacon adds any busy-ness. You will find it all incorporates very nicely into a beautiful blended texture and you probably would not be able to single out the bacon.
Eddie,
Wanting to try this recipe. Do you thinking doubling it would feed 26?
I have made this chilli numerous times and every time to rave reviews
What I like about it is that it is so versatile. It can take a lot of ommissions and/or additions, and will still give 1st class results every time – we have even adapted it to a non-meat version using Quorn
The one replacement I would recommend is the use of coffee over beer. It is an old Jamie Oliver idea from his American TV series but it gives such a wonderful roundness to the overall flavour of the chilli
Hi Lee – thanks for your comment and thanks for the suggestion. I will have to give it a try!
I made this for my work Chili Cook Off and got first! I was lazy so i did a few things differently. I didn’t roast the chiles, i just chopped them and put them in the pot. I also couldn’t find the right meat so i just got boneless beef spare ribs. I didn’t use beer because my wife can’t do wheat. Honestly i’m not a huge fan of the chili, but everyone else loved it! I guess my palate is different, but thanks for the recipe!
Hi Grant – congratulations on your first place finish! Now your challenge is to adapt this recipe to something you can enjoy along with everyone else. The cook gets to have a say!