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Big Pot of Bold Beef Chili in red Dutch Oven Pot with wooden spoon, rid lid in background on wooden board
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4.91 from 10 votes

The Best Bold Beef Chili (Chili Cook Off Winner)

This recipe makes about 10 cups of chili, a nice large pot for a crowd or just a hearty family meal and you can freeze leftovers if there's anything left after a couple days.
Try this chili with my cornbread muffins too!
Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time2 hours
Total Time2 hours 15 minutes
Course: hot side, Main Course
Cuisine: American, comfort food
Keyword: award winning, beef, Chili
Servings: 10
Calories: 361kcal
Author: Katia

Ingredients

  • 1-1 1/2 lb tough beef cut into 1/2" cubes (we use beef brisket, flank or skirt steak)
  • 1 lb grass-fed ground beef
  • 1 1/2 cups white onion diced
  • 1 bell pepper diced (any color)
  • 1 Tbsp worcestershire
  • 1 bottle good strong hoppy beer we use microbrew IPA
  • 1 cup strong coffee cold is fine
  • 2 15- oz. cans fire roasted tomatoes
  • 5 Tbsp tomato paste we use a double concentrated tomato paste
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar packed
  • 2 15- ounce cans dark red kidney beans drained
  • 1 15- ounce can white beans drained (great northern are good)
  • *May substitute the 3 cans of beans for 1 bag of hydrated dried beans
  • 1/2-1 Tbsp Chili powder smoked preferred, reserved for last half hour of cooking

Dry Chili Spice Mixture (mix together ahead of time for ease)

  • 1 Tbsp chili powder I prefer to use smoked chili powder, but it is sometimes hard to find.
  • 1 tsp smoked paprika
  • 1 Tbsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp coriander
  • 1 tsp granulated garlic
  • 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
  • 1.5 tsp sea salt

Instructions

  • Preheat a large Dutch oven (or pot) on medium high heat and grab a wooden spoon.  
  • Once your pot is nice and hot add cubed beef and brown, then remove from pot. (Be sure to drain out liquid from pot so the meat can actually brown well)
  • Brown ground beef now in the same pot and then return the cubed beef, adding the onions, bell pepper and Worcestershire.
  • Cook on medium low for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  • Now add your chili spice mixture and cook about 2 minutes allowing your spices to bloom, stirring constantly.
  • Now add the beer and scrape up all those browned bits on the bottom of the pot. Then add the coffee, brown sugar, tomatoes and tomato paste to the pot with the beef, onion and peppers.
  • Bring pot to a simmer, then cover and simmer on low for 1 hr, stirring occasionally.
  • Then add all the beans, another 1/2 Tbsp of chili powder and simmer for another 30-45 mins covered, stirring occasionally.
  • *Optional-If you have time you can simmer for another 30 minutes uncovered, only if you want to thicken it up a little more.
  • Taste chili and adjust your salt if you feel necessary, your call.

Notes

Serve with your favorite chili toppings and enjoy! Even better the next day as leftovers since the flavors get to meld even more overnight.  It's great on it's own or on baked potato.

Nutrition

Serving: 1cup | Calories: 361kcal | Carbohydrates: 31g | Protein: 30g | Fat: 13g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 6g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 73mg | Sodium: 732mg | Potassium: 913mg | Fiber: 7g | Sugar: 10g | Vitamin A: 1280IU | Vitamin C: 20mg | Calcium: 113mg | Iron: 5mg