Boilermaker Tailgate Chili

SUBMITTED BY: MIGHTYPURDUE22 PHOTO BY: Sean Lemecha

"This is the chili recipe the gang eats at Purdue Boilermaker football games. I always prep and cook the chili the night before and then reheat the next day. This is a combination of many different tomato-based chili recipes. Good luck and enjoy."

PREP TIME	30 Min
COOK TIME	2 Hrs
READY IN	2 Hrs 30 Min

SERVINGS & SCALING

Original recipe yield: 10 Servings

USMETRIC

About scaling and conversions

INGREDIENTS

2 pounds ground beef chuck
1 pound bulk Italian sausage
3 (15 ounce) cans chili beans, drained
1 (15 ounce) can chili beans in spicy sauce
2 (28 ounce) cans diced tomatoes with juice
1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
1 large yellow onion, chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
2 green chile peppers, seeded and chopped
1 tablespoon bacon bits
4 cubes beef bouillon
1/2 cup beer
1/4 cup chili powder
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon dried oregano
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons hot pepper sauce (e.g. Tabasco™)
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon white sugar
1 (10.5 ounce) bag corn chips such as Fritos®
1 (8 ounce) package shredded Cheddar cheese

READ REVIEWS (694)

DIRECTIONS

Heat a large stock pot over medium-high heat. Crumble the ground chuck and sausage into the hot pan, and cook until evenly browned. Drain off excess grease.
Pour in the chili beans, spicy chili beans, diced tomatoes and tomato paste. Add the onion, celery, green and red bell peppers, chile peppers, bacon bits, bouillon, and beer. Season with chili powder, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, oregano, cumin, hot pepper sauce, basil, salt, pepper, cayenne, paprika, and sugar. Stir to blend, then cover and simmer over low heat for at least 2 hours, stirring occasionally.
After 2 hours, taste, and adjust salt, pepper, and chili powder if necessary. The longer the chili simmers, the better it will taste. Remove from heat and serve, or refrigerate, and serve the next day.
To serve, ladle into bowls, and top with corn chips and shredded Cheddar cheese.

Wine Tip

Try with a Syrah .

ADVERTISE WITH US

REVIEWS

MORE MEMBER REVIEWS

Reviewed on Nov. 15, 2005 by Nhi Torres

This recipe was an excellent starter but I modified it to my taste. I was afraid that this recipe was too spicy and reduced some of the spiciness. It still has a kick to it. I made this for a Chili Cookoff and it won 2nd place(pretty good for getting there late). Here are my changes: 1) 3 (15 ounce) cans chili beans in mild sauce, NOT drained. 2) 1 (15 oz) can chili beans in medium sauce, 3) I omitted the celery and tabasco sauce, 4)1 jalapeno instead of chile peppers, 5) 3 tablespoons of bacon bits, 6) 1 cup of beer 7) Instead of using 2 (28oz) cans of diced tomatoes with juice, I used 3 (14 1/2 oz) can of diced tomatoes and 1 (14 1/2 oz) can of diced tomatoes with basil/oregano/garlic. 8) I cooked this in a slow cooker for 8 hours the day before, let it sit overnight and heated it up and served it the next day with cheese on top. I also froze the left overs and it taste even better!!

25 users found this review helpful

Reviewed on Oct. 23, 2006 by VORCHA

I can't praise this chili enough! The meat melted in your mouth, the flavors tingled nicely all the way to your toes. I just won a chili cookoff with it so that might be a large part of the reason. The judges and the crowd loved it. I ran out within 30 minutes of it being opened to the public to taste. I did make a few changes: I used 3 lbs of cubed chuck steak in place of the ground chuck because I really like a meaty chili (obvisously so did the judges), I cooked 4 slices of bacon, then crumbled for the bacon bits and sauted the celery, onion and garlic in the drippings. My biggest piece of advice is prepare it the day before, let cool overnight, degrease really well and then reheat; the chili really developes a great flavor by doing this. I used my crockpot on low to keep it warm the day I served it.

23 users found this review helpful

Reviewed on Jan. 31, 2007 by KATHYLC

My husband loved this chili. I will definitely make again. I used 1 lb ground HOT italian turkey sausage, 1 lb HOT italian pork sausage and 1 lb ground round. It turned out to be a wonderful flavor combination and much more healthy than 3 lbs of beef. Since there were so many spices already in my HOT sausage blends I omitted the extra peppers and tabasco. It was still quite spicy. I cut the chili powder down to 3 Tablespoons. I was worried the full 4 T (=1/4 cup) would be too overpowering and mask the other flavors. I also used a whole can of beer. I didn't have any tomato paste so I used 2 small cans of tomato sauce. For the diced tomatoes I used 4 of the regular 14 oz cans - 1 petite diced and 3 regular size diced with chili spices included. I also added a fifth can of petite diced which had lime juice and cilantro in it. I did not drain any of them. Turned out wonderfully. The flavors were great and the tomatoes of different sizes cooked up for great texture. You can cetainly modify this recipe for your own tastes as far as spiceyness and heat. We like spicey chili but for my 5 year to eat it I have to go a little lighter on the spice. This recipe is difinitely worth the time and trouble. Will make again....and again! Thanks for sharing.

19 users found this review helpful

MORE MEMBER REVIEWS