Game Day Beer Chili.
Who wants to have a cannonball competition right into this bowl of chili?!
It might be a bit warm but we can sit on an avocado raft and eat tortilla chips until we make our way to the edge. I’m all for this idea. Chili swim.
Especially THIS chili swim. It is so freaking delicious.
This chili comes from Ayesha Curry’s new cookbook, The Seasoned Life, and it is seriously FANTASTIC. Like, unexpectedly fantastic. We loved it so, so much.
It’s no secret that over the last seven years I’ve made (and shared) tons of chili. Really. A TON. And it’s also no secret that every single time I make chili, I never follow a recipe. Never. Not even with my own. (Okay wait I’m lying – always with this smoky chicken chili.) But I really love to make and taste and season as I go with chili. It depends on the day, my mood, what we’re making it for, what I have on hand and what we feel like using.
Yes, making chili in this house may just be a wildly dramatic event.
So it came as a surprise to even me that I followed the recipe. I almost followed it to a T. Just a few easy changes (I used beef instead of lamb and decreased the amount of cinnamon) and guess what? I might be using this chili recipe for the rest of my life.
GUYS.
It was that good. Holy cow.
Here’s what drew me to it:
I was looking through Ayesha’s book trying to decide on a recipe to make and I quickly scanned the chili. I loved that her version used tons of beans (especially pinto! major bean fan here), included sausage in the recipe (yes, I know, I don’t even like sausage!), included an entire bottle of beer (oh yes) and get this – included MAPLE SYRUP!!
Yep. Maple syrup. The moment I saw that, I was like… it’s happening. I have to make this right now. And that’s what I did.
Eddie and I both loved that this chili is hearty and not very saucy or soupy. That makes it an excellent chili topping for things like burgers or hot dogs or nachos (I may have had the latter last night… oops) and makes it super easy to scoop up with a tortilla chip. Priorities, man.
Aside from those obvious wins, it tasted really freaking good. I’ll be honest. I was hesitant to use the maple syrup, even though I was excited and intrigued about the addition. I thought it might be way too sweet or take away from some of the smoky flavor.
It didn’t do that at all. It was the perfect accompaniment to the beef, sausage, beer and crushed tomatoes.
So that there is my chili story for your Monday morning. Ayesha calls this her Game Day Chili and I have to agree that it’s ideal for that given it’s dipping capabilities. It can totally be made in the crockpot too. I might call it life-
changing chili since it’s some of the best I’ve had AND the recipe that made me use a recipe. I don’t even know who I am anymore.
Not complaining one leeeeettle bit.
Game Day Beer Chili
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2 teaspoons coarse salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 pound ground italian sausage, or links, just removed from casing
- 1 red onion, diced
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 1 orange bell pepper, diced
- 1 yellow bell pepper, diced
- 1 jalapeno pepper, diced
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste
- 1/4 cup chili powder
- 1 tablespoon cumin
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon dried chili flakes
- 1 (12-ounce) bottle of your favorite beer
- 1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
- 1 (14 ounce) can fire roasted tomatoes
- 1 (15-ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 (15-ounce) can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 (15-ounce) can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
- 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
- for topping: freshly grated cheese, sour cream, avocado, tortilla chips, chives, cilantro, red onion
Instructions
- Heat a large pot over medium heat and add the olive oil. Season the beef and sausage with a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Add the beef and sausage and cook, stirring often, until browned and golden, about 8 to 10 minutes. Remove the meat with a slotted spoon and place it on a plate. Set aside.
- Reduce the heat to medium-low. Add the onions, peppers, and garlic, stirring well to coat. Add a pinch of salt. Cook until softened, about 5 to 6 minutes. Add the tomato paste, chili powder, cumin, oregano, paprika, cinnamon and chili flakes and stir and mash it into the pepper and onions. Cook, stirring often, as the tomato paste begins to get darker in color – about 5 minutes. Add the beef back into the mixture. Pour in the bottle of beer to deglaze the pan, using a wooden spoon to stir any browned bits off the bottom.
- Add the crushed tomatoes, fire roasted tomatoes, beans and maple syrup. Bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce it to a simmer and cook for at least one hour, or until it’s thickened to your liking and the flavor has developed.
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
Be sure to follow @howsweeteats on instagram and tag #howsweeteats. You can also post a photo of your recipe to our facebook page.
I appreciate you so much!
p.s. I like a bit of chili with my chips.
154 Comments on “Game Day Beer Chili.”
This has, no lie, become my go to chili recipe. It is SO GOOD. Only change was do just under 1/4 cup maple syrup like comments suggested and it’s perfect. No other changes! Made it for Halloween and my family all requested I send them the recipe. Unbeatable!
My kids hated chili until they tried this. They like it sweeter so used 3/4 c maple syrup. Not too spicy either.
Pingback: Turkey Chili Recipe With Beer - 30-Minute Turkey Chili Recipe | Food Network Kitchen | Food ...
Very good chili.. everybody liked it… sweet with a touch of spice..
Only recommendation would be use only 1/2 of the syrup…..
I cut the maple syrup in half and only use 1 can of kidney beans and love it.
I like to make bread bowls to serve it in.
I don’t like sweet chili so I’m wondering if you think this will work just omitting the maple syrup but not changing anything else. Thanks!
I’ve made this recipe several times – full amount of syrup, less syrup, all the beans, one can of beans, different beers – and have finally decided that the original recipe with all beans, all the peppers, and all the syrup is the best! I use Shiner Bock and yes, it makes a difference!
The ONLY thing I add is 1/8 tsp of cayenne pepper because I’m in Texas, y’all. Beans in chili is a sacrilege here but I guess I’m a rebel…
This chili was amazing!!! Made a double batch with the intention of freezing some….but, not much made it to the freezer! Delicious!!Thank you!!:)
This is 100% my go-to chili recipe of all time. I’m a Texan and you know what that means…we don’t put beans in our chili EVER. But let me just say, I might have ‘disgraced’ my roots because this recipe had an amazing flavor and texture with all of those different beans in there. It’s honestly what makes the dish!
I don’t like sausage, so I omitted that with no sacrifice to heartiness or texture. like that I can control the sweetness and spiciness here. I tend to like a spicier, heartier chili, so the 1/2 cup of maple syrup was WAY too sweet, so I only do about 2-3 TBLS. I also add cayenne pepper to kick up the heat (only need a little, even for a large portion like this!).
I’ve made this with a dark beer, but honestly liked it better with a standard Shiner Bock pilsner (had to at least sprinkle SOME Texan back in there ;) ). Run, don’t walk, to make this recipe!!
Made this for a party. Yum! I threw everything in my crockpot after browning and saute-ing. I only used 1\4 cup of maple syrup and that was perfect. For meat I used ground beef, chorizo and cubes of pork … because I had defrosted all of them before I came across your recipe. I did add an extra 14 oz. can of tomatoes to fill up the crockpot, and then 2tbs. cornmeal and 1 tbs. cocoa, because I always do that with my chili. I don’t usually like it when folks rave about a recipe and then list all these changes, but our spice mix was so on point I had to applaud.
*** oops*** your spice mix. Sorry!
This recipe is outstanding. It is now the only recipe I use when I make Chili. My boyfriend is a vegetarian, so I make it with beyond meat ground and it turns out delicious every time. I am drooling just thinking about it. It is the perfect combination of sweet and spicy.
Is the 1/2 c of maple syrup a mistake? Or it’s supposed to be sweet? I can tell I would love this if I had halved the syrup. I wish I woulda read the comments! I normally do.
Can you do this in the crock pot? Can you make it without the beans?
Love this chili recipe! I substituted brown sugar for the maple syrup and only added 2 tbls. I also added some stock to make it more soupy because that’s how I like it. I dissolved 1 beef and 1 tomato chicken bullion in 2 cups of water. Made it perfect for me!
What are your recommendations for how to cook this in a crockpot? Thank you!!
I rarely leave reviews but I have to say, this is my FAVORITE chili recipe! I come back to it every year and am excited to make it again now that we’re getting into sweater weather! Like others, I do a touch less maple syrup than called for. SO good.
I’ve made this about 5 times and LOVE it! That’s saying a lot because I’m not usually a fan of chili. I’ve tried it without the spice, without the sweet and both awesome any way. I use sugar free maple syrup. And I only use a dark beer my go to is Guinness. Chef’s kiss good!
Great base for a unconventional chili. Used half the amount of maple syrup but added garlic powder, more salt and chili powder( yes more chili powder). Turned out amazing. Definitely needed it to cook for a long period of time. It was also way better the next day.
Made this last night. Have been working on finding a good chili seasoning recipe without using a seasoning packet. This is a good base recipe. I was impressed. But I did make some changes…… I know right, one of “them” lol. So here are my changes. First of all I had a chef tell me once u have to use as much if not more cumin then chili powder. Cumin is what gives it the chili flavor. Most recipes don’t call for the correct amount of cumin for some odd reason. So I used equal amounts of cumin and chili powder so increased the cumin to 1/4 cup. 2 pounds of gr. Turkey instead of beef/sausage to make it healthier. Added a green bell pepper to the mix cuz who makes chili without green bell peppers?? 2 jalapeños instead of 1. Up the smoked paprika to 1 T. Up the cinnamon to 2 T, added 2 T cocoa powder (it’s a Cincinnati thing), added 2 T pb2 powder, instead of the tomatoes called for I did 2 cans of chili ready diced tomatoes and a can of tomato sauce, instead of the beans called for I did 2 cans of bush’s vegetarian baked beans (veg. to make it healthier), added a can of sweet corn, honey instead of maple syrup, for the cheese I used a bag of low fat Mexican blend shredded cheese and some hand crumbled queso fresco. Also used a bit more beer than called for. Now, some things I added that aren’t in the recipe: juice from 2 small limes, Worcestershire sauce about 1 T, liquid smoke about 4 t, zatarains creole seasoning about 1 T, Adobo brand seasoning the kind with the green lid and I just sprinkled some in not sure how much, garlic salt to taste, also a yellow sweet onion instead of red but that’s just my preference. Cayenne pepper to taste to make it hotter if need be. Hot sauce to taste in your bowl. Yum 😋
Girl, you just went ahead and made a who different recipe. What’s the point of reviewing this one? lol
Hey! You made the reddit sub r/ididnthaveeggs !
https://www.reddit.com/r/ididnthaveeggs/comments/12o9qs6/amanda_has_never_heard_the_phrase_less_is_more/
“…cuz who makes chili without green bell peppers??”
Most people, that’s who. It seems like you use chili as an excuse to clean out your pantry, which isn’t really that similar to chili at all.
Amanda.
Amanda.
Peanut butter powder?
“Healthy” canned baked beans?
Creole seasoning and Adobo seasoning?
Did you just decide to empty your pantry into a pot and call it chili? Are you mad at your guests and wanted to serve them this?
I did as others suggested and only used half the maple syrup. Only other thing I did was leave the juice in from the beans and keep it covered while simmering so it would be more juicy. This way I can make cornbread to go with it. Next time I’ll try the half cup maple syrup though. Its a new winner.
Given all of the varying opinions on the maple syrup in the comments, I stuck with the original recipe for my first try…and can confirm it is WAY too sweet. Everything else about the flavour balance is great but I’d probably stick to a minimum of 2-3 tablespoons of syrup next time. Adding some lime juice and a spoonful of vinegar helped bring the sweetness down to a better level.
This is our all time favorite chili. I have been making it for a few years now, and it is tried and true. It even won a family cook off chili contest!
Have been making this since 2018 and it’s our all-time fav. Unfortunately, I’ve been diagnosed with alpha-gal syndrome which means I cannot eat any beef, pork or lamb. I’d like to make this for an upcoming gathering, but need to make substitutions for the beef and italian sausage – your suggestions, please!!!
Did you make it with different meat? I love this recipe but can no longer eat beef. I’m wondering if you found a good sub
I used venison, and it was delicious.
This will now be my go-to chili recipe! I substituted ground turkey and Italian turkey sausage for beef. I used a pabalano versus jalepeno. I used 1/4 cup pure maple syrup. It was phenomenal! Everyone, including a few picky eaters, loved it!