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A mild chili recipe

Last year in January, I made a chili recipe that my sister had recommended. She said it was the best chili she had ever had. It’s the AllRecipes version of Boilermaker Tailgate Chili.

It has A LOT of ingredients (some of which I decided to substitute, but more on that later) but what I found the most strange were the recipe instructions.

• Step 1: Gather ingredients

• Step 2: Brown the meat

• Step 3: Dump everything else in the pot, and simmer for 2+ hours

• Step 4: Season to taste and serve

I was shocked. It went against every instinct I had as a cook. Thankfully, I filmed this for a video, so I have the footage to figure out what I did. I browned the meat first, then added the veggies and tried to saute those a bit before adding in the liquid ingredients. But it still felt wrong somehow.

And then there was my other mistake: instead of using 1/4 cup of chili powder that the recipe called for, I substituted that for Chipotle Chili powder. Now I was today years old when I learned that chili powder is actually a spice blend. (at least what is sold as chili powder largely in the US). So, depending on what you buy, it could really change the way the end result tastes.

Chipotle Chili powder, on the other hand, is just dried and ground chipotle peppers. Much spicier than most chili powder blends. So, putting a 1/4 cup of it in the bit pot of chili was a big change to the flavor profile. I gave some away to our friends and put about 4 cups in the freezer, which took us a whole year to eat through. It was so spicy and not our favorite, so we didn’t reach for it automatically.

But now that I have used the last of it, I was determined to work through this recipe and adapt it to work better for the mild tastes of our household. This recipe yields about 16 cups of chili, so it’s great for a batch cook but it’s A LOT if you have a tiny freezer. Don’t be afraid to cut this in half if needed. Or make it for a party and then freeze the rest.

Sarah Hart’s Mild Beef Chili

• 4-6 strips of bacon

• 2 cups diced onion

• 1 cup diced celery

• 1 cup diced bell peppers

• 6 cloves minced garlic

• 1 6 oz can of tomato paste

• 1 lb sweet italian sausage

• 2 lbs ground beef (I used 85/15)

• 3 tbsp chili powder

• 1 tbsp dried oregano

• 2 tsp ground cumin

• 2 tsp smoked paprika

• 2 tsp salt (or more to taste)

• 1 tsp ground black pepper

• 1 tbsp better than bouillon beef base

• 56 oz crushed tomatoes and their juice (two 28 oz cans)

• 3 15 oz cans chili beans with mild sauce

• 2 4 oz cans diced green chilis

• 1 tsp fish sauce (can sub worcestershire sauce)

• 1 tsp hot sauce (or more to taste)

Chop the bacon into small pieces and saute until the fat has rendered and the bacon is crispy. Remove the bacon bits from the pot and set aside.

In the remaining bacon fat, saute the onion, celery, and bell peppers until they have softened. Add the minced garlic and saute for an additional minute.

Add the whole can of tomato paste and saute with the veggies for a few minutes until the color of the tomato paste darkens slightly.

Then add in all the meat and brown until mostly cooked through. You will need to stir and break up the meat as you go.

Once the meat is browned, add the dried spices, bouillon paste, and cooked bacon and stir to combine.

Next, add the crushed tomatoes, chili beans, and diced chilis.

Bring this up to a boil and season with fish sauce, hot sauce, and salt and pepper to taste.

Allow to simmer for 2-3 hours before serving or freezing.