Featured Recipe: Fire Roasted Three-Meat Game Day Chili

Game Day Chili

With football season getting underway and cooler fall weather (hopefully) around the corner, there aren’t many meals better suited for a weekend at home or at the tailgate than a big pot of chili. This is my take on a traditional tailgate-style chili, perfect for feeding a crowd. The best part is that you can use what you have on hand and make it your own!

As the name suggests, this recipe uses three different meats: ground chuck, mild Italian sausage, and beef tips, which I sourced from my local butcher. The beef tips give a great, hearty texture, and the Italian sausage brings a layer of flavor you can’t get with beef alone.

What really sets it apart is fire-roasting the peppers directly over an open flame before adding them to the pot. The combination of red and green bell peppers, poblanos, and jalapeños adds another layer of roasted, smoky flavor to the chili.

Give it some time to simmer, pile on your favorite toppings, and you’ve got an easy fall meal that’s perfect for feeding a crowd on game day.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 lb 80/20 ground chuck
• 1 lb mild ground Italian sausage
• 1 lb beef tips
• 1 large white onion, finely diced
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 large red bell pepper
• 1 large green bell pepper
• 3–4 small poblano peppers
• 2 small jalapeño peppers
• 1 (15 oz.) can dark red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 (15 oz.) can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 (10 oz.) cans fire-roasted Rotel diced tomatoes and green chilies
• 1 (28 oz.) can crushed tomatoes
• 2–3 tbsp tomato paste
• 3 tbsp chili powder
• 1 tbsp smoked paprika
• 1½ tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• Approximately 1½ cups beef bone broth, divided
• Olive oil
• Kosher salt, to taste
• Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

For Serving (Optional)

• Sour cream
• Freshly shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• Fresh chives, chopped
• Fritos

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Fire-roast the peppers. Place the red bell pepper, green bell pepper, poblanos, and jalapeños directly over the flame of a gas stove (or grill). Turn the peppers occasionally with tongs until the skins are blistered and blackened on all sides. Transfer the charred peppers to a paper bag, seal the bag, and let them steam for approximately 10 minutes.
2. Brown the meats. While the peppers are steaming, heat a small amount of olive oil in a large stockpot over high heat. Add the ground chuck, Italian sausage, and beef tips. Break apart the ground meats and cook until everything is well browned, allowing the beef tips to develop a good sear.
3. Drain and set aside. Remove the browned meat from the pot and drain off most of the excess drippings. Don’t clean the pot! You want to keep the browned bits on the bottom and a small amount of rendered fat for the next step.
4. Prepare the vegetables. Remove the peppers from the paper bag (consider wearing gloves to handle the jalapeños). Scrape away the blackened skins and remove the stems and seeds. Finely dice the roasted peppers, white onion and garlic.
5. Cook the vegetables. Add the onion, garlic, and roasted peppers to the same pot used to brown the meat. Cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally and scraping up some of the browned bits, until the onion is soft and translucent.
6. Build the chili base. Add the chili powder, smoked paprika, and tomato paste. Stir everything together and let the spices and tomato paste cook for a few minutes until fragrant.
7. Deglaze the pot. Pour in approximately ½ cup of the beef bone broth. Scrape the bottom of the pot thoroughly to loosen any remaining browned bits and incorporate them into the chili.
8. Bring everything together. Return the browned meats to the pot. Add the drained and rinsed kidney and black beans, both cans of fire-roasted Rotel, the crushed tomatoes, and approximately 1 additional cup of beef bone broth. Stir thoroughly to combine.
9. Simmer. Bring the chili to a gentle simmer, cover, and cook for approximately 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Check the consistency during the second half of cooking. If the chili is thinner than you’d like, remove the lid and allow it to reduce until it reaches your preferred consistency. If needed, continue simmering until the beef tips are tender.
10. Finish and season. Stir in 1½ tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce. Taste the chili and season generously with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper as needed.
11. Serve. Ladle into bowls and top with sour cream, shredded sharp cheddar, chopped fresh chives, and a handful of Fritos.
12.  

YIELD & TIMING

Serves: 8–10
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 1½ hours
Total Time: 2 hours