This is the exact Chili recipe I used for the Fall 2017 Chili Cook Off in my neighborhood. While I lost to a fetching lamb / sausage chili, I still liked this best. Keep in mind that this is a very classical chili in flavor and composition.

Ingredients

  • 3 pounds 80 / 20 ground beef
  • 1/4 cup chili powder (I prefer Tones from Sams Club)
  • 3 tbsp chili powder (this is added last)
  • 2 tbsp garlic powder
  • 3 tbsp salt (or to taste; this isn’t a hard and fast role)
  • 6 onions diced
  • 6 cloves garlic minced
  • 3 Poblano peppers diced
  • 3 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 1 16 oz can whole peeled tomatoes fed thru food processor and converted to sauce
  • 3 cans assorted tomatoes (I used 1 can Sriracha flavored, 1 can rotel with green chiles and 1 can fire roasted)
  • 32 ounces beef stock

Accessories

Serve this with the normal complement of chili sides:

  • Sour Cream
  • Shredded Cheese
  • Green Onions
  • Crumbled Tortilla Chips

Steps

  1. Heat the vegetable oil in a large stock pot until shimmering.
  2. Add the 1/4 cup chili powder to the oil and saute for 30 seconds. Bear in mind that this will be hot and the oil can splatter and burn you.
  3. Add the onions and peppers and saute for 4 minutes.
  4. Add the ground beef and saute for 5 minutes.
  5. Add the beef stock, canned tomatoes and tomato sauce from the food processor.
  6. Saute the garlic in a small frying pan for 30 seconds keeping it in constant motion (burned garlic tastes bitter so you want to avoid that at all costs).
  7. Add the garlic, the additional chili power, garlic power and salt.
  8. Simmer for an hour, stirring occasionally. Adjust salt as needed.