Your search for the best chili recipe is officially over! This is the Best Darn Chili you will ever eat. Hearty and seasoned to perfection with some seriously delicious ingredients, it’s sure to exceed all your chili expectations.
The Best Chili Recipe
I’ve always been obsessed with chili. Then Brandon created this Best Darn Chili recipe and obsessed is now an understatement. I’m so in love with this chili, I crave it constantly, dream about it in my sleep and beg Brandon to make it pretty much every weekend so I can eat the leftovers all week long.
I could eat it for lunch and dinner every day of the week and it would never get old. So delicious!
Everything a Chili Should Be
We call it BDC because it is without question the Best Darn Chili we personally have ever eaten.
It’s got it all going on, but in such a thoughtful and balanced way. Brandon has tested and retested the amount and combination of each ingredient to insure that they all complement each other perfectly. It’s a recipe you fall in love with at first smell, sight and bite.
Sure it requires more ingredients than your quick-fix powdered packet seasoned chili recipes and might take a little more effort to prepare, but trust me, it’s soooo worth it. The taste and texture are the real deal.
Watch Me Make the Best Darn Chili
Join me in a kitchen to make a pot of this hot, hearty, amazing chili.
What is in Chili, Anyway?
What’s supposed to be in chili always stirs a ton of debate. Get it? Stirs? Generally, chili (or chili con carne) is made up of meat in a tomato-based stew-like sauce. But does chili have beans? Y’all know I live in Texas and the official answer here is…no.
So if that’s how you like it, my Simple No-Bean Chili might be your thing!
But I was born and raised in Oklahoma where the chili rules are less strict. So I haven’t let anything stop me from being creative with chili recipes. Like this Easy Chicken Chili Recipe and my Green Chicken Chili.
Brandon’s Best Darn Chili recipe calls for kidney beans and it really is the best chili I’ve ever eaten.
Comforting and Hearty
This flavorful chili gets its comforting heartiness from ground sirloin, beef chuck and kidney beans.
It’s perfectly seasoned and spiced. Sweetness from brown sugar, a little bitterness from the espresso and unsweetened cocoa, slightly boozy from the beer and optional bourbon, and as much kick as you’d like from the jalapeño pepper seeds.
It truly is a chili eating experience like no other.
More Hot and Hearty Soup Recipes
There’s no better way to warm up on a cold day than with a bowl of soup. My Hot and Hearty Soup Recipes are flavorful, filling and the perfect one-pot dinner everyone will love.
What Do I Need to Make The Best Darn Chili?
(see recipe card for measurements and details)
- Vegetable oil
- Onions
- Minced garlic
- Ground sirloin
- Beef chuck
- Canned peeled and diced tomatoes with juice
- Dark stout beer*
- Espresso (or coffee)*
- Tomato paste
- Low sodium beef broth
- Dark brown sugar
- Chili powder
- Cumin powder
- Unsweetened cocoa powder
- Dried oregano
- Ground cayenne pepper
- Ground coriander
- Salt
- Black pepper
- Canned kidney beans, drained
- Fresh jalapeños peppers
- Bourbon (optional)
- Large pot or Dutch oven
*If you don’t want to use beer or espresso, you can substitute them with equal amounts of more beef broth.
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How to Make The Best Darn Chili
- Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Cook onions and garlic until onions are tender and remove from saucepan.
- Add ground sirloin and cubed beef chuck and cook for 10-20 minutes, or until the meat is well browned and all grease has evaporated. Add onions and garlic back into saucepan with the meats.
- Mix in the diced tomatoes with juice, dark beer, coffee, tomato paste and beef broth.
- Season with brown sugar, chili powder, cumin, cocoa powder, oregano, cayenne pepper, coriander, salt and black pepper.
- Stir in 2 cans of the beans and the chopped jalapeño peppers. Bring to a simmer and then reduce heat to low and let simmer for at least 1 hour and 30 minutes.
- Stir in the remaining 2 cans of beans and simmer for another 30 minutes.
- Stir in the bourbon, if desired, just before serving.
- Salt to taste. The amount of salt you add will depend on the saltiness of the beef broth you use. You’ll want to add quite a bit of salt to bring out all the flavors.
How to Serve Chili
Serve with shredded cheese, sliced green onion, sour cream, and cornbread or corn chips (we love Fritos!).
How to Store Chili
Store leftover chili in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to five days. Reheat on the stove over medium-low heat, stirring often, until heated through. Or reheat in the microwave until heated through.
To freeze leftover chili, let cool completely and then place in a freezer-safe container in the freezer for up to 3 months. Let defrost in the refrigerator overnight before reheating and enjoying!
We hope it becomes as much of a family favorite for you as it is for us. Be it for comfort on a cold winter night, for a crowd-pleasing meal during the big football game, or for that neighborhood potluck supper, it’s a guaranteed winner!
If you make the Best Darn Chili and post a pic to social, be sure to tag me on Instagram @thebakermama so I can see! 😍 I just love seeing how inspired and creative y’all get with the ideas I share. Enjoy!
xoxo,
Best Darn Chili
- Prep Time: 30 mins
- Cook Time: 2 hours
- Total Time: 2 hours 30 mins
- Yield: 8-10
- Category: Meals
Description
Your search for the best chili recipe is officially over! This is the Best Darn Chili you will ever eat. Hearty and seasoned to perfection with some seriously delicious ingredients, it’s sure to exceed all your chili expectations.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2 medium onions, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 pound ground sirloin
- 1.5 pounds beef chuck, trimmed of fat & cut into cubes (about 1/2 inch size cubes)
- 1 (14.5 ounce) can peeled and diced tomatoes with juice
- 1 (12 fluid ounce) can or bottle dark stout beer
- 1 cup strong brewed espresso (or coffee)
- 2 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste
- 1 (14 ounce) can low sodium beef broth
- 1/4 cup dark brown sugar
- 3 and 1/2 tablespoons chili powder
- 1 tablespoon cumin powder
- 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 4 (15 ounce) cans kidney beans, drained
- 4 fresh jalapeños peppers, seeded and chopped (we put in 1/2 the seeds for spice)
- 1 tablespoon bourbon (optional)
Instructions
- Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Cook onions and garlic until onions are tender and remove from saucepan. Add ground sirloin and cubed beef chuck and cook for 10-20 minutes, or until the meat is well browned and all of the grease has evaporated. Add onions and garlic back into saucepan with the meats.
- Mix in the diced tomatoes with juice, dark beer, coffee, tomato paste and beef broth. Season with brown sugar, chili powder, cumin, cocoa powder, oregano, cayenne pepper, coriander, salt and black pepper. Stir in 2 cans of the beans and the chopped jalapeño peppers. Bring to a simmer and reduce heat to low and let simmer for at least 1 hour and 30 minutes.
- Stir in the remaining 2 cans of beans and simmer for another 30 minutes.
- Stir in the bourbon just before serving.
- Salt to taste. The amount of salt you add will depend on the saltiness of the beef broth you use. You’ll want to add quite a bit of salt to bring out all the flavors.
Notes
If you don’t want to use beer or espresso, you can substitute them with equal amounts of more beef broth.
Hello Maegan!
Your dad recommended I try your Best Darn Chili recipe, and he was right! It has a lot of flavor, and a nice texture with the chunks of steak. It’s definitely a “keeper”!
After I told him that we enjoyed the chili, he said we’d have to try the Tuscan Tortellini Soup!
So…it’s been added to my “To Make” list!
Enjoying your recipes!
Joanne
Hi Joanne! Awww, thank you so much for sharing! That is so sweet of my dad to recommend some of his favorite recipes to you. I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed the chili and that you’re going to make the Tuscan Tortellini Soup next. Both are such great recipes that everyone loves! I hope you continue to enjoy! xoxo, Maegan
I love the spices in this chilie, I have made it a couple times.
Wauwww.
Just made your chili Into a Spicy lasagne.
Im in heaven…
Hi, Tanja! I’m so glad you enjoyed it. And I MUST hear more about this spicy lasagna!
Hi! I live in Texas and its finally cold enough for this delicious recipe! I only have 2 cans of beans though. Would you recommend more meat or any adjustments if Im not using 4 cans of kidney beans?
Hi Jen! Me too! So excited Texas is finally cold enough for blankets, sweaters and chili! You can leave the 2 cans of kidney beans out and it will still taste great. It will just be a little more liquidy which if you continue to simmer, it will continue to thicken. Enjoy!
This is the best chili I’ve ever made. Ever! So darn good! I did make some changes but not much! But I will say this. I read almost everyone’s comments. This is neither too sweet not too chocolaty. (Yes people have said that. Personally I think they didn’t measure right.) This was heavenly! First what I did different. And it wasn’t much! I bought a 4 pound roast so I ended up doubling it. Instead of 2 cans doubled of tomato paste, I just used 3 cans total. I don’t like too much tomato paste in my chili so I added it after the meats were cooked and just stirred enough paste in it to cover the meat. I was concerned about the spicy of the chili. So I didn’t double the cayenne and I only left 1 jalapeño unseeded. I also added another 1/4 cup brown sugar. (I didn’t have dark so it was all light.) I shouldn’t have been concerned with the heat. It was plenty warm with all of the samples (and there were a lot!) I ate while it was cooking. Not only that, but after adding the sour cream, cheese, and Fritos, I didn’t detect any heat. So next time I will add more seeds from the jalapeño and/or cayenne pepper. I also added a variety of beans instead of just kidney beans. It was so so yummy! And for the doubling of this recipe? I got 6 quart jars filled for freezing, and a smaller pot set aside for another meal. It made tons but I’m going to love the leftovers! Thanks so much for the delish chili!