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.
I’ve always been obsessed with chili and then Brandon created this 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!
We call it BDC because it is without question the Best [email protected] 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 compliment 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.
It 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.
A chili eating experience like none other.
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!
Enjoy!
xoxo,
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2 medium onions, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 pound ground sirloin
- 1.5 pounds beef chuck, trimmed of fat & cubed
- 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 beef broth
- ½ cup packed dark brown sugar
- 3½ 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
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 4 (15 ounce) cans kidney beans, drained
- 4 fresh jalapeños peppers, seeded and chopped (we put in ½ the seeds for spice)
- 1 tablespoon bourbon (optional)
- 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 minutes, or until the meat is well browned. 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. Reduce heat to low and 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.
I’ve been wanting to try new chili recipe! Thank you for posting. Silly question, sorry, but when you say hot chili peppers are you talking jalapeños? I would also love to know which beer he liked the best.
Hi Morgan! You’re sure to love this chili! We most often use jalapeño peppers, but red chile peppers work great too. And he uses whatever dark stour beer we have on hand. Usually something local, like Revolver. Enjoy! 🙂
I made this today! It was so good and so easy! Thanks for the recipe! Best dang chili!
Yay, Stephanie! Brandon will love hearing that you made and enjoyed it. Thanks for sharing! xoxo
Made this tonight for dinner. I am from Texas, so I have a pretty high standard for chili. I have to say that this is one of the best chili recipes I have ever had. It is soooo good!
This chili is absolutely delicious…….and I didn’t put in the jalapenos! The color also, is rich and luscious!
Can you make this in the crock pot?
Hi Kelly! I would recommend doing the first step in a saucepan and then you can certainly transfer it to the crockpot to finish it off. Enjoy!
can you use this recipe and cook it long and slow in a slow cooker and how long do you cook it in a crock pot
Hi David! I would recommend doing the first step in a saucepan and then you can certainly transfer it to the slow cooker to finish it off for at least an hour and a half. Enjoy!
I know we all have different taste preferences, but this chili did not do it for me. It has some adventurous ingredients, which I have no issues with … but, I found this recipe to be cloyingly sweet … and, frankly, lacking in a depth of flavor. I’d certainly suggest cutting back the brown sugar by at least half … I’ve spent the last half hour trying to counter the sweetness and add some flavor depth. As it was, it was like if I ordered a mocha and they decided to toss in some meat and beans. I appreciate that many apparently like this, but it wasn’t my cup of meaty mocha. But, this won’t stop me from trying other recipes on here!
Thanks for your feedback, Jerry! We definitely all have different tastes, but I’m wondering why yours turned out so sweet. A very slight sweetness should come through but nothing too noticeable. The 1/2 cup dark brown sugar and 1 tablespoon cocoa are there to add depth and richness with all of the other savory and spiced ingredients. Did you follow all of the ingredients and measurements exactly?