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We love hearing from our readers, and last week we received a request from a reader asking about a recipe for chili. Our reader, Clare, was about to attend a chili cook-off and she wondered if we had a good recipe that we could share. So – always happy to oblige – here is Jack’s Chili recipe!
Over the years, Jack attended several chili cook-offs, and he’s worked to recreate some of the best of the winning recipes. (Interestingly, the most memorable of the winning recipes that Jack tasted had armadillo and snake meat in the chili – but given that neither of those ingredients are very readily available to the average home cook, he’s uses beef and pork in this recipe.)
Jack’s chili recipe is a combination of meats, vegetables, seasonings and other ingredients such as beer, cocoa powder and brown sugar – all combined to give this chili a deliciously, complex flavor. Some of the winning chili aficionado’s also argue against putting beans in their chili – so including them is optional – but we like our chili with some added beans.
You can also adjust the heat level of this chili by adding more chili powder, cumin and diced, hot fresh peppers. This recipe is medium in heat – so feel free to adjust the spiciness up or down based on how you like your chili.
Serve Jack’s Chili with our delicious cornbread, and top with shredded cheese, sour cream, or your own preferred topping.
We love seeing what you made! Tag us on Instagram at @afamilyfeast or hashtag #afamilyfeast so we can see your creations!
Jack’s Chili
Ingredients
- 1 pound boneless chuck or sirloin or venison if available, cut into cubes
- 1 tablespoon Tabasco sauce
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- ½ teaspoon liquid smoke
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 pound ground chuck
- 1 pound ground pork (not sausage meat)
- 1 teaspoon paprika (smoked if available)
- 2 cups chopped onions
- ½ cup chopped celery
- 2 cups chopped green bell peppers
- 3 jalapenos chopped, seeds removed (or hotter peppers like cayenne or habanero, if you desire)
- 3 large garlic cloves, diced
- 1 bottle of dark beer or ale
- 2 tablespoons chili powder
- 2 tablespoons cumin
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon coriander
- 1 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 can (28oz) crushed Pomodoro San Marzano tomatoes such as Cento or Pastene
- 1 can (28oz) diced Pomodoro San Marzano tomatoes such as Cento or Pastene (if you use whole canned tomatoes, just crush with your hand as you put them in)
- 1 can (14.5oz) diced tomato
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 1 can (15 oz.) beef broth
- 1 can (14oz) kidney beans drained and rinsed (optional)
- 1 can (14oz) black beans drained and rinsed (optional)
- For serving: cornbread, shredded cheddar cheese, sour cream, or chopped scallions.
Instructions
- Place cubed meat, Tabasco, vinegar, liquid smoke and garlic powder in zip lock bag and marinate four hours or overnight. Drain and discard marinade. Pat beef dry with paper towels.
- In a 10-quart heavy bottomed Dutch oven, heat olive oil over medium high heat. Brown beef cubes on all sides and remove from pan.
- In same pan, brown ground beef and pork and remove from pan.
- Add paprika, onions, celery, both peppers and garlic. Cook for 2 minutes and add beef cubes, ground beef and ground pork back in.
- Add in beer and stir to remove any brown bits from bottom.
- Add in all other ingredients except kidney and black beans. Place a heat diffuser between the pot and stovetop heat. (Using a heat diffuser
will help prevent any burning on the bottom of the pot.) Stir to combine and simmer for 1 hour. - Add in both beans and simmer for an additional hour.
- Check seasoning and adjust with more salt, pepper, chili powder or cumin. Cook five more minutes to blend flavors.
- Serve with shredded cheddar cheese over top and cornbread. Or, serve with sour cream dobbed on top with chopped scallions.
will help prevent any burning on the bottom of the pot.) Stir to combine and simmer for 1 hour.Last Step! Please leave a review and rating letting us know how you liked this recipe! This helps our business thrive & continue providing free recipes.
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I love chili! It is one of my favorite fall and winter comfort foods. That being said, I still haven’t found a favorite chili recipe. This has everything I love in a recipe so I can’t wait to try it!!! Thanks for sharing with us!
You’re welcome Stephanie – hope you enjoy the chili!
Hi there. Your recipe looks amazing! Mine is similar but I’ve bern looking for one that is slightly different and I think I’ve found it! Yay! Can’t wait to try it. One question though. Would you say it’s better the day of or the next day? I wanna take it to a bday party but am trying to figure out when to make it. Thanks!
Hi Kim – You can definitely make this ahead of time (the day before). This is definitely one of those chili recipes where the flavors are even better the day after. Enjoy!
Why so many ingredients to much work even to read all this crap chilli is supposed to be quick and easy. Not recommended.
Hi David – We hope you’ll actually give Jack’s Chili recipe a try – all of those ingredients add a wonderful complexity of flavor which many of our readers have loved. But – if it’s too much work for you, you may enjoy our Quick and Easy Chili recipe that you can see here: https://www.afamilyfeast.com/quick-and-easy-chili/ Have a great day!
WOW TYSVM THIS SOUNDS AWESOME GOTTA MAKE THIS LOOKS SO GOOD TOO.
★★★★★
Hope you love the chili Tara!
Hi! This recipe looks fantastic! Making my shopping list now and excited to cook this later this week. Question – Can I use wine in place of beer?
Hi Victoria – Sure – it will lend a slightly different flavor to the chili, but it should work just fine. Enjoy!
About how many quarts does this make?
Hi Lucas – This makes about 4+ quarts of chili.
Really liked this recipe. Made this yesterday during the snow storm here in Oregon. Great day for Chili. Playoff football, snow falling and great Chili. Next time I plan to cut back on the brown sugar. But overall it was great Chili. On a whim I decided to make some poached eggs with my Sous Vide for those who wanted to try it, and that was a hit. The Chili was excellent by it’s self. But the egg really took it to the next level. We will most definitely be doing this again. Probably for the Super Bowl.
Thanks for posting this recipe!
Andrew
Thanks Andrew! Love the idea of adding an egg to the top of this chili!
I make mine with strip steak (or pulled pork), yams, beans, hamburger , onions, beer (and sometimes substitute with a sweeter wine), celery, spices and a couple of secret ingredients that make it very yummy.
Sounds delicious!
Since I avoid alcohol, what can I use in place of the beer or ale in the chili recipe. I know that the alcohol cooks out, it’s just I avoid all appearance of it. Looks like a great recipe. Thank you Joseph
Hi Joseph – you could add a cola soda instead. It won’t be exactly the same but it will still add some additional flavor and depth to the chili.
How much beef broth do you use? Recipe calls for “one can” but is that a 15 oz can or am I using the big 32 ounce can? Looks great, can’t wait to try it!
Hi Linda – Thank you so much for your question (I’m not sure why we left out the ounces on that ingredient!). I would be the 15 ounce can – not the bigger 32 ounce can. We will update the recipe as soon as possible! Thanks for letting us know of the error!