We’re having a chilli cook off at work and I really want to win. However, I have never made chilli and Ive only eaten it like once or twice in my life. Meanwhile my coworkers have passed-down recipes and interesting flavor innovations, like pumpkin.

America, I need help. What kind of recipe will make me a winner chilli?

33 comments

  1. Don’t do anything weird, make a completely middle of the road recipe that appeals to the most people. Your coworkers do not care if you added fish sauce or ground your own rehydrated chiles, they want familiar and cozy. Unless you’re in Texas.

  5. Last year I took 2nd place (about of about 12 entries) in our work chili cook off.

    Recipe:

    -3 big cans of store-brand chili w/beans (Vons Signature Select).

    -1 14 oz(?) can of fire roasted diced tomatoes (Vons again).

    -1 or 2 tablespoons of bacon bits. (I think I had a small plastic container leftover from a salad)

    Dump it all in a crock pot on low. Season to taste with pepper, white pepper, garlic powder, and some type of hamburger seasoning.

    chef’s kiss.

    All of those secret family recipes went and cried in the corner.

  6. Brown some beef chuck cubes, set aside and sauté onions and garlic in the same pan with some butter, add in some tomato paste and cook until it starts to caramelize, then add in some oregano powder, chili powder, ancho chili powder, cayenne pepper, paprika, hot sauce, salt, pepper, and cumin. Add beef chuck and some liquid (chicken, beef, or vegetable stock or beer) and let it simmer for a couple hours.

    Or just sauté some onions and garlic, then brown some ground meat in the onion and garlic mixture, add a chili seasoning packet and some salt & pepper, add some Rotel and some diced tomatoes. If you like beans, add them. If not, don’t. Like it more soupy, add some water. Like it thicker, don’t add water. Add a bit of chocolate bark or dark chocolate for some extra awesomeness.

  7. I have chili going on the stove right now.

    Take an onion and a pepper and chop up. With olive oil, cook in BIG pan. Dont let them get brown. Add finely chopped garlic about a minute before you take off the stove. Put aside in bowl.

    Brown about 3 pounds of 85% ground beef, with generous amounts of chili powder and cumin. Pour off fat. Add onions and peppers back in. Add 4 cans of diced tomatoes, 4 cans of kidney beans. Some pepper, some red pepper flakes, a can of tomato paste and a teaspoon of cocoa (not sweetened).

    Keep simmering on low and add more cumin and chili powder. A bit of salt and pepper.

    Keep tasting, keep simmering, keep adding for about 7 hours. You need way more chili powder and cumin than you think. Like way more.

    I put a bag of corn in at the end but that is controversial. It’s awesome and adds a bit of sweet to the acid and fat and awesome.

    Serve with a side of sour cream, a bit of chopped cilantro, some grated cheese and warm buttery corn bread.

  8. I like to add a little adobo sauce (the delicious spicy stuff they package chipotle peppers in) and a little bit of unsweetened baker’s chocolate.

    If the recipe calls for water, substitute beer (but nothing too dark, no Guinness or anything).

    This is a tad blasphemous, but for the meat, I like to do ½ ground beef and ½ breakfast sausage.

  9. Three ingredients: medium salsa, ground and drained ground beef, one can of kidney beans (drained from can). MUST ALSO BRING sides and toppings: salsa, sour cream, shredded cheddar cheese, and tortilla chips. I had chili contest at work. I tasted all of them. Mine was the best. The person who won BROUGHT THE ABOVE MENTIONED SIDES! I was told by my coworkers that is why she won. 😑😕😖

  10. A former co-worker used to win the chili cook off at work every year. Her secret ingredient was a bottle of lager. Other than the beer it was completely normal chili.

  11. People get weird about chili. It’s virtually impossible to give a recipe that will guarantee you’ll win, because your coworkers might each have a strange hang-up about how they like chili. I’ll just echo the comment about making it at least 24 hours in advance. If you *want* to put unusual stuff in it, just do that. If you like the result, that’s all that really matters.

  12. I went to a chili competition at work some years back. Someone brought Wendys chili put it in a crock pot and took 3rd place. My point here is don’t overthink it.

    I won a competition not at work but I used smoked brisket and grape jelly as my “special” ingredients.

  13. My husband won $50 in a chili cook off at work. When I asked him how much he spent on the ingredients, he said that wasn’t the point🙄

  14. Make a simple recipe. Trivially easy to find one you can make on the interweb.

    Make a sign that says, “My family recipe with ***two*** secret ingredients. You’ll never guess what they are!”, and tape it to the crock on the day of.

    Whenever someone makes a guess, smile great big and say, “Oooh, interesting guess, but, no.”

  15. I like this take on the age old question of who makes the best chili.

    So, if you want to make an award-winning chili, the key is starting from scratch. No premade powder. No pre-ground beef.

    What I do is steep chili pepper skins, blend them into a puree, dice up a slab of beef, marinate the beef in the steeping juice, throw it all into a crockpot, pour in half a beer and drink the other half, let it cook for like 10 hours on low. If it’s not enough beer, pour another half beer and drink the other half

  19. Hydrate some beans or buy canned

    Sautee a good chunk Jalapenos and some other chilli.

    Cook your ground beef in the jalapeno juices

    Add Tomato, Jalapeno, Ground Beef, and beef stock to cover beans

    Let simmer for at least 4 hours, but as long as is feasible

    Basic starter chilli

  20. Confirm whether all the judges like fresh cilantro. If so, add some at the last minute. But if any don’t like it (whether or not they have the soapy cilantro gene), don’t.

  24. Go heavy on the beef, light on the kidney beans and add a reasonable amount of paprika, garlic powder and LSD

  26. Good chilli is like a good cocktail, a bunch of contrasting flavors that are in tension with each other but create a balanced whole. Sweet, savory, acid, sour. People are telling you to go with basic recipes because it’s easier to make something decent. If you go for complex flavors it’s much easier to mess up but also will be way better if you succeed. Stuff like fish sauce and chocolate can provide really great subtle undertones as long as you can’t pick them out individually. My wife’s chilli is really complicated and she’s won a few competitions.

    Whatever you do, one solid tip is to start with dried chilli’s. Soak them and blend them. Use that as your base instead of premade chilli powder.

  27. MSG and good quality meat with a high meat ratio (e.g. grass fed beef makes it very beefy tasting).

  28. I have been in 2 chili cook offs. I won 1st in one and 2nd in the other. I made Chili Mac both times.

    Kraft Mac and cheese, Nalley (or whatever canned chili). You can throw in an extra can of pinto beans and/or some shredded cheese at the end to help with any guilt you feel.

    I can’t guarantee you will win, but people will enjoy it. Making people happy is the key to winning. Keeping yourself stress free is important 🙂

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