This chili recipe has been a huge hit since we first shared it. We've been blown away by all the positive feedback and love hearing about your chili cook-off wins!
Hi, this is Lisa's husband Eddie, guest blogging my award winning chili recipe based on popular demand (mostly from my wife).
I'll never forget the first chili cook-off I ever attended. It was an office event and it hadn't even occurred to me to submit my own entry. There were about a dozen chilis to choose from ranging from incredible to inedible (the latter being heat related - it was called "The Five Alarmer" and it passed its time at the cook-off largely undisturbed).
The ultimate winner, whose chili I had voted for, was a young woman just starting her career. I was an executive at the time, which I mention only to emphasize how awkward it was when I asked her if she would share her recipe with me and she just looked at me and shook her head.
I suddenly understood the competitiveness involved in these things - there would be another chili cook-off at some point and she wasn't giving away any secrets. Thus began my personal quest to win a chili contest!
Quest for the best chili
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 recipe, 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.
Award Winning Chili Recipe
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).
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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, seeding and chopping the chiles. Keep a close eye on them while they are roasting - things can escalate quickly.
Peel off the skin. Use a small knife to scrape the seeds out. Then dice the flesh.
In the meantime, while the chilies are in the oven, 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 or this Turkey 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.
Some of your questions answered
Over the years, we have gotten lots of questions from our readers, in the comments. Here are the answers to a few of the most frequently asked questions:
If the concern is alcohol, you can use a non-alcoholic beer. There are even non-alcoholic IPAs. If the concern is gluten, you can use a gluten-free beer. Whatever the reason is, if you don't want to use beer at all, you can substitute an equal amount of chicken stock.
We have had this issue and have doubled up on the poblano peppers, with great success!
Yes absolutely. Just make sure you turn the crockpot on high heat for a bit to be sure the chili gets up to temp. Then, once it's hot you can put it on the "warm" setting.
Cut the cayenne in half or eliminate it completely. Cayenne doesn't add much in the way of flavor but it does add a substantial amount of heat. Also, be sure to remove all the seeds and white pith from the jalapeños. For an even milder chili, stick to a mild chili powder, such as ancho or Mexican Guajillo Chili Powder.
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.
PrintRecipe
Eddie's Award Winning Chili
- Total Time: 3 hours 45 mins
- Yield: 10-12 servings 1x
Description
A fantastic award winning chili con carne with a robust meaty flavor, the perfect amount of heat, beef, pork, beans, fresh chile peppers, awesome spices, onions, garlic, tomatoes and beer.
Ingredients
- 3 Anaheim chiles, roasted, peeled, chopped
- 3 poblano chiles, roasted, peeled, chopped
- 12 ounces of bacon, cut crosswise into ¼-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 ½-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 (passata, not ketchup for those in the UK)
- 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
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Instructions
- To 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.
- To 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.
- To 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, stirring occasionally.
- To Serve, ladle chili into bowls. Top with garnishes or put garnishes into small bowls for self serve.
Notes
Should you drain and rinse the beans? In my experience draining and rinsing the beans is not required. If you're someone who feels otherwise, by all means drain and rinse - the outcome will still be terrific!
- Prep Time: 1 hour 45 mins
- Cook Time: 2 hours
- Category: Main Dish
- Method: simmer
- Cuisine: Tex-Mex
This recipe post was first published on October 23, 2017. It has been updated with new photos to show the cooking steps, a video so you can watch how to make it, and an added FAQ section that answer some of the most frequently asked questions from our followers. We haven't touched the recipe because, by all accounts, it's great just the way it is!
Jonna Kelleher
This chili was amazing! My husband used to call my chili bland and “tasted like it was from a can.” This recipe, however, he loved!!!! I made some adjustments, I added a sprinkle of cinnamon, worstshire sauce and a bay leaf. I omitted the beans since we’re not huge bean fans and it turned out great. We’re low carb so we used Michalob ultra for our beer and it was great!!!! Thank you!
Eddie
Hi Jonna - yes, this recipe is unlikely to be considered bland with so much going on. Glad it worked out for you and your husband.
Joe
Just wanted to say thanks Eddie! I entered my first chili cookoff today, did a little tweaking for the region I was in, AND TOOK FIRST PLACE! This is an awesome recipe and fun to make. Thanks for the info bud!!!
Eddie
Congrats, Joe - first time winner!
Jamie Reza
I was so nervous to try this recipe but seeing all the comments of all the winners, I just had to give it a try. Anyways, I just did some minor tweaks but followed everything to the T. Rinsed the beans, did not do the Anaheim peppers and added an extra poblano pepper, added an extra half a cup of stock, added about 8 dashes of Worcestershire sauce, and added hotter than hot texas pete. I WON FIRST PLACE!! First time entering a chili contest and judges said it was an automatic first place. Thank you so much for the recipe!
Eddie
Congrats on your first time win, Jamie! Automatic first place - love that.
Suzanne
Took first place in my workplace chili cookoff today! Thanks for sharing! I did back off the cayenne pepper to appeal to a wider audience, but the next time I make it think I will try it as is.
Eddie
Congratulations Suzanne! Good move adjusting the heat for your audience.
David
I made Guy's Dragon Breath chili recently and I have to say, it is hands down the best chili I've ever eaten. I consider myself a very good cook and I can usually tell how good something is going to be by the ingredient list. Most chili recipes on the internet are.... blah, that can't win anything... This one hit the "this is gonna be good" mark. I made several minor tweaks as you did... It was amazing and I can't wait to win the office chili cook-off with it next year. Cheers to Guy and cheers to you Eddie!
p.s. I'm making it again this weekend for a northern Wisconsin excursion...
Matt from Canada
Eddie, you rock! I just won a chili cook-off at my work with this recipe!
I can't say enough about how good this recipe is as a guideline. I had to play with the measurements a bit (because we have different regulations on can sizes in Canada), but it had great flavours.
I added a teaspoon of cinnamon, some bay leaves, a dash of Worcestershire sauce and used half of the Cayenne powder and it turned out amazing -- just the right amount of heat.
You've got yourself a winner here.
Cheers!
Eddie
Hey Matt - congratulations on your winning entry! Glad to know this recipe works even in Canada with a couple of tweaks. Enjoy your blue ribbon.
Sandy Rubio
Super excited to make this recipe for my husband's cook off. My only question is, how should I store it if I plan on making it Thursday night so he can take it Friday morning to work? I would like to put it in a crock pot for him but I'm not 100% on it. What would be the best way to store, present it and reheat it for his job?
Eddie
Hi Sandy - when I've done this before, I let it cool down and then put it in the fridge overnight. Most chili contests are at lunchtime so I bring the chili in an electric crockpot and plug it in the minute I get to the office. (So critical that the chili is fully hot by the time of the contest.) I will usually put it on high, stirring occasionally until it is fully simmering then can turn down to low/medium until a half hour or so before the contest when I turn it back up to medium/high. Good luck!
Jim Rosenbaum
Eddie & Lisa,
I am a huge Chili aficionado and have made many award winning chili's - especially some from the Terlinqua Chili Cookoffs over the years. I was intrigued by your recipe and decided to make it for our group of 12-14 people for the Super Bowl. WOW - was it awesome! I'm not normally a 'bean' person with my chili's, but in this case the combination of peppers, spices, meats (including bacon - sorry Lisa) - and other 'special ingredients' - the chili was definitely among the best - if not the best - that I have ever made. (I did use IPA).
While the prep time was a bit longer than advertised, I can see having a sous chef to assist the preparation would cut the time immensely - and will do so next time. So now you have my answer that there will indeed be a follow-up date with your delicious chili in our future.
Thank you for sharing it - along with some of your 'secrets' - and I have already been asked for copies of it from our friends. Well done!
Lisa
Thanks for the comment, Jim, and we are glad you enjoyed the recipe!.Coming from you, given your experience in making award winning chilis, it's great to hear you put this one at or near the top!
Ron
I'm a little surprised that you use the juice in the bean cans. I know it's pretty much salt, water, and starch, but to me it adds an uncontrollable element of salt. I normally DON'T use the juice and monitor the amount of salt pretty closely. But I'm throwing this out there to get your thoughts in case I'm missing some key benefit about the bean juice.
Eddie
Hi Ron - personally I haven't found using the juice to introduce an element of uncertainty around the salt level as the results have always been consistent for me. It sounds like you have an approach that works for you though and if so, I don't see a problem going that route and seasoning to taste. I haven't tried this recipe without the juice in the bean cans so I can't say for sure.
Ben
Just made this tonight and it was pretty good. I was also skeptical with the beans. I rinsed the pinto beans and used the kidney beans all in. Came out fine. Fair tradeoff I guess. Great flavor. Wegmans in NY has chuck already cut into cubes so that made it even easier. Also used Hungarian Hot Paprika. This is a good chili recipe. I would recommend.
Jeff Lebowski
Hi Eddie,
I actually won our office chili contest with this recipe this afternoon ????????...with a couple minor mods...
1. I added a few delicate dashes of Worcestershire and then a couple of cinnamon sticks and some bay leaves, and let them simmer in for a couple hours.
2. I added diced carrots and chopped celery in with the veg
3. I cubed the chuck into ~3/4" cubes and after browning slightly I doused them with Don Julio Tequila and cooked that off before adding the mince and sausage meat.
4. I did not add as much of the bean juice... I'd recommend no more than half. I added some crushed Italian skinless tomatoes to regain the lost liquid. I normally rince my beans and not add the juice; it avoids the intestinal discomfort and evening of butt cannons going off.
5. I also added an extra can of beans (white Kidney) and substituted one pinto for black (I like a colorful chili; hence the carrot and celery)
6. Finally, serve with lime wedges and let your guests (and yourself) add an ever so slight spritz of lime to tickle that Tequila!
Ohhh... I also always sweat my tomato paste a good deal in the hot part of the pan and bring the neighboring ingredients gradually to it. Remember, if you have a hot pan going...use it!
Don't just throw your guest into the party...invite them in and walk them around the room with your arm around their shoulder...take time to introduce them to the others; they'll open up and have a better time!
Thanks for the excellent and detailed recipe!
Eddie
Congratulations Jeff! I will have to learn from your ingredient hosting skills!
Paul G
This is always such an exciting meal to eat
Alex G
Since I made this/ ate this I've been subtly suggesting my office start a chili contest. I highly recommend this to anyone who likes winning.
Sandy Cuttone
My family LOVED it!!!
Betsy
I am entering a chili cook-off and plan on using your recipe. The competition requires 2 gallons of chili. How much (in gallons) does your recipe make? Trying to figure out what to multiply it buy. Thanks in advance!
Eddie
Hi Betsy. First of all best of luck for the competition. I would estimate my recipe produces about 5 quarts so I usually double it up for a cook-off. Anything over 2 gallons you can keep for yourself and if you win, you can have a nice literal victory lap bowl back at home!
Danny
Hi Eddie I live in an RV resort and they have an annual chili cook off that is judged by peoples choice. I have entered the last 4 years and have finished in the top 5 but not a first place. I decided to try and up my game this year and fine a new base recipe. I found your recipe on line and decided to give it a tri. .I followed the recipe except for a few modifications to the recipe. I didn't have time to do the fire roasted chilies per the recipe.so i used poblano fire roasted chilies in the can used 5 in the recipe'. I added 1 table spoon of Mexican oregano, I used 1 tsp of season salt instead of salt, 1/4 cup molasses, I did 1 red and 1 orange bell pepper, only 1 tsp cayanne pepper to cut the heat glad I did the heat was just right. There were 22 entties over 100 tasters and I won 1 place. Thank you for sharing your recipe.
Eddie
Hey Danny - so great to learn of your first place finish in a large and highly contested field of entrants! Sounds like your modifications worked out very well. Nothing like a blue ribbon for your efforts at the end of the day. Props!
Jeff Stack
So this recipe is simmering right now and upon initial tastings, my first impression is, "WoW, what a complex chili!" There are sooo many flavors going on and they all seem to hit at different times. EVERYTHING complimented each other well and each bite brought new sensations! It's like a kaleidoscope of flavors.
I'm hoping for good things tomorrow for the Bears/Eagles Chili-Cookoff! I have to admit, it was as fun a chili to make as it is to taste. I can't wait for the finished product.
Side Note: I DO NOT put beans (or pasta) in my Chili, so I deviated from the recipe and substituted stewed tomatoes in place of the beans AND I also used Dr. Pepper instead of the beer. Which I do all the time. However, I intend to remake this recipe another time and use beer (still no beans lol).
Thanks for sharing this!
Eddie
Hi Jeff - good luck on your cook-off tomorrow and I am glad you like the recipe. As you point out, this chili has so many interesting flavors and textures you can tweak it to suit your style and still get a winner out of it.