Update! Need chili recipe for church cook off

[ktgrok]

The church is having a chili cook off at the fall family night and I am not very good at chili. In fact I barely like it and don’t do spicy stuff. But I want to bring something, and figured the hive could help! Anyone have a favorite? Something different? Would love something chunky. 

 

Update: I won first prize! I made a buffalo chicken chili - it was a last minute decision and I combined about 3 recipes but it was pretty tasty! 

Edited November 9, 2019 by Ktgrok

[Katy]

I have the perfect, easiest recipe for you.  I won a church cook off in the alternative category with it. It's sweet, mild, and has chocolate and bourbon.

Go to Aldi.  Get their store brand mild salsa.  Get a few jars of it, so you can multiply the recipe if it doesn't make enough.  Also get a few cans of diced tomatoes. It's worth the extra trip for their brand, the aldi salsa makes the best chili.

Brown your burger, a pound or two.  You can use an Italian blend of sausage, pork, and beef if you'd rather something subtle.  But plain ground beef works great if you'd rather make it as cheaply as possible.  Brown it, drain it.  Dump it in a crock pot with a jar of aldi salsa and a can of diced tomatoes. Then add spices.  Cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, and SMOKED paprika.  At least a tablespoon each. I use much more cumin, garlic, and paprika than chili powder, but stir, taste, and adjust to your taste.  At this point I add a couple tablespoons of brown sugar, a tablespoon or two of extra dark cocoa powder, and then for the really interesting part: bourbon.  I think it tastes best with just a bit.  It adds a complexity of taste that's lovely.  But the year I won a kid fell into me right as I was pouring it and I accidentally dumped in MUCH more than a few tablespoons.  It might have been closer to a cup.  The judges loved it, my family did not.

I always have to remind everyone that between the chocolate and onions they are absolutely not to give this to the dog. The alcohol will cook off in just a few minutes so you don't have to worry about that with kiddos.

I find this mixes best with finely shredded mild cheddar.  Sharp cheddar competes with it.  I also mix in a bit of parsley at the end, and serve chopped cilantro on the side.

ETA: This is best if you make and cool it the night before, or 24 hours before, and re-heat it the next day rather than letting it simmer in the slow cooker all night.  If you do, the sugar and the smoked paprika and cocoa start to taste a bit burned.

Edited November 3, 2019 by Katy

[Soror]

I've got a meeting Tuesday that I've found out is supposed to be a chili cook-off. UGH. I usually modify the one from The New Best Recipe to suite our tastes but really don't want to mess with making chili and then to have it judged, not my idea of a good time, I'm not sure if I want to mess with it. I prefer chili with beans, along with chunks of tomatoes, peppers, and onions. The family doesn't like as much veggies as I do.

[Selkie]

These are my two favorites:

https://www.healthylittlevittles.com/vegan-pumpkin-chili-with-wild-rice-kale/

https://monkeyandmekitchenadventures.com/five-bean-chili/

[PeterPan]

1 hour ago, Ktgrok said:

In fact I barely like it and don’t do spicy stuff.

This is with ground turkey (in case they have a "healthy" category!) and NOT SPICY. 

https://www.pierrefraney.com/recipes/poultry_and_game/turkey_chili.html

And remember, chili gets even better made ahead. I made mine in the instant pot, but do it however you want. It's just a really simple, really delish recipe. My ds will eat bowls of it and he won't touch anything spicy. My dh likes it as well. I originally found it through the NYT site, but you know how they are locking  you down with #hits. So this is the recipe directly from the chef's blog. Here's the original if you want it https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/7985-turkey-chili

Oh caveat! I'm looking at it, and I did *not* use the jalapeno. I have some home canned mild banana peppers to throw in. You could use green chilis, green bell peppers, anything mild you have lying around. And the red bell pepper (vs. gr) is nice to have where the recipe says it. 

Edited November 3, 2019 by PeterPan

[ScoutTN]

My family loves white bean and chx chili. Not spicy, just tasty. Some of us like it clear,  other with cream or sour cream added to make it richer. I like to take this bc not everyone eats or likes the red meat chilis. 

Saute some onions. Add a quart of chx stock, and some water, a rotisserie chx, 2 cans of navy or other small, while beans, 2 cans (7-8  oz) of green chiles, some cumin and oregano. A little coriander, or a shake of poultry seasoning. if you have it. Heat through, add S &P to taste. Serve with tortilla chips or cornbread and chopped cilantro.

[Momto6inIN]

I like Pioneer Woman's recipe. The masa flour is what makes it perfect.

https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ree-drummond/simple-perfect-chili-recipe-2107099

[Storygirl]

https://www.melskitchencafe.com/creamy-white-chili/

This is delicious. And, while still chili, a white chicken version will set it apart from the rest. And it's not spicy (I don't like spice -- or salsa).

When I make it, I puree one of the cans of beans in my blender before adding it; it makes the body of the soup thicker and creamier. We add an additional dollop of sour cream to each bowl; for a crowd, I would probably just increase the sour cream by an extra 1/4 or 1/2 cup for the whole batch.

We also add some shredded cheese to each bowl. You could add a cup of shredded cheese to the batch, if you want it to be cheesy. Or place a separate bowl of cheese next to it, so that people can add their own, if they want. It would still be delicious without, but we are cheesy people.

Edited November 3, 2019 by Storygirl

[Emba]

Someone at church made Kent Rollins’s Cowboy Chili a few weeks ago and it was really good.

https://kentrollins.com/cowboy-chili/

A little spicy, but if you replaced the Rotel  tomatoes with plain canned tomatoes that would help a lot. The adobo chiles gave it a really interesting flavor.

[MrsMommy]

I think the secret to any good chili is adding a bottle of beer to it.

The recipe I make always receives tons of compliments,,,it's pretty amazing, if I do say so myself! 🙂

[ktgrok]

These all look yummy! And some are making me feel better about my normal chili "recipe" which is just ground beef, canned chili beans, and a jar of salsa, lol. 

I'm now torn between the bourbon one or a white one with cheese..yummy!

[Katy]

4 hours ago, Ktgrok said:

These all look yummy! And some are making me feel better about my normal chili "recipe" which is just ground beef, canned chili beans, and a jar of salsa, lol. 

I'm now torn between the bourbon one or a white one with cheese..yummy!

 

They're not hard.  Make a small batch of each tomorrow and let your family decide.  If you're worried about the fat, I've made the bourbon one with ground turkey before too and the only one that noticed was DH, and that was because of the color, not the taste.

[ktgrok]

Update: I won first prize! I made a buffalo chicken chili - it was a last minute decision and I combined about 3 recipes but it was pretty tasty! 

Ingredients included bacon, a packet of ranch seasoning, Frank's wing sauce, blue cheese, and cream cheese. Oh, and chicken and pinto beans. 

 

[matrips]

On 11/3/2019 at 12:11 PM, Ktgrok said:

Update: I won first prize! I made a buffalo chicken chili - it was a last minute decision and I combined about 3 recipes but it was pretty tasty! 

Congratulations!  Oh yum!  If you remember how you did it please post!  I love anything buffalo sauce tasting 😃

[alisoncooks]

Sounds yummy! I'd love specifics on the recipe, too!

[ktgrok]

Ok, so...not quite specific, but best I can do!

Buffalo Bacon Chicken Chili - Instant Pot (Or would be even better in crockpot I bet)

4 strips (maybe?) thick cut bacon, cut into pieces

6 Chicken breasts cut into about 1 inch pieces (I think, it was one of those family packs from walmart, lol)

1 onion (this one I know for sure!!!)

1 package cream cheese - 8oz

Blue cheese crumbles - no idea how much, most of a round tub of it....I guess a cup? Use the rest for people to use as garnish

Frank's Wing Sauce - about 3/4 cup?

Frank's Hot Sauce - about a tablespoon or so - adjust to taste- mine was very mild because I'm a wuss

1 package Hidden Valley Ranch mix - the salad dressing packet  

Chicken broth - I used Better Than Bouillon Chicken in about 1 cup water 

Pinto Beans - 2 of the big 27oz cans ( had to dig through the trash to find the size, lol)

Chili Powder - to taste...I probably did 1 tbls

Smoked Paprika - maybe a teaspoon

General idea of how I made it:

Saute the bacon using the saute function of the Instantpot. As it cooks add in the onion and cook until soft. I added my chili powder and paprika then to bloom the flavor - no idea if that actually makes a difference. Add chicken broth to deglaze the pot. Add everything else except the cream cheese, blue cheese, and regular hot sauce (not the wing sauce - wing sauce goes in now). Stir. 

Cook on manual for about 15 minutes - If you have time to simmer it afterward I might do less time. I felt some of the chicken was a bit overcooked. Natural Pressure release. 

Remove a bit of the soup using a slotted spoon - maybe 1/3 of the total - and use a food processor to pulse it down into shreds. This makes it more chili thickness instead of soup. Add back to pot and stir in.

Add blue cheese and cream cheese. Stir until the cream cheese melts. Add however much regular hot sauce you need to make it as spicy as you want. Serve with blue cheese crumbles for topping. 

[matrips]

13 hours ago, Ktgrok said:

Ok, so...not quite specific, but best I can do!

Buffalo Bacon Chicken Chili - Instant Pot (Or would be even better in crockpot I bet)

4 strips (maybe?) thick cut bacon, cut into pieces

6 Chicken breasts cut into about 1 inch pieces (I think, it was one of those family packs from walmart, lol)

1 onion (this one I know for sure!!!)

1 package cream cheese - 8oz

Blue cheese crumbles - no idea how much, most of a round tub of it....I guess a cup? Use the rest for people to use as garnish

Frank's Wing Sauce - about 3/4 cup?

Frank's Hot Sauce - about a tablespoon or so - adjust to taste- mine was very mild because I'm a wuss

1 package Hidden Valley Ranch mix - the salad dressing packet  

Chicken broth - I used Better Than Bouillon Chicken in about 1 cup water 

Pinto Beans - 2 of the big 27oz cans ( had to dig through the trash to find the size, lol)

Chili Powder - to taste...I probably did 1 tbls

Smoked Paprika - maybe a teaspoon

General idea of how I made it:

Saute the bacon using the saute function of the Instantpot. As it cooks add in the onion and cook until soft. I added my chili powder and paprika then to bloom the flavor - no idea if that actually makes a difference. Add chicken broth to deglaze the pot. Add everything else except the cream cheese, blue cheese, and regular hot sauce (not the wing sauce - wing sauce goes in now). Stir. 

Cook on manual for about 15 minutes - If you have time to simmer it afterward I might do less time. I felt some of the chicken was a bit overcooked. Natural Pressure release. 

Remove a bit of the soup using a slotted spoon - maybe 1/3 of the total - and use a food processor to pulse it down into shreds. This makes it more chili thickness instead of soup. Add back to pot and stir in.

Add blue cheese and cream cheese. Stir until the cream cheese melts. Add however much regular hot sauce you need to make it as spicy as you want. Serve with blue cheese crumbles for topping. 

I appreciate this!  Awesome details!  I can’t wait to try it this winter 🙂