Raise your hand if you have a signature chili recipe up your sleeve already?
*raises both hands and both feet*
I love cooking chili during the colder months and I have about four versions I rotate through. I have a skinny chili that uses ground turkey, when I’m in a pinch I’ll buy a boxed chili mix, and then sometimes I’ll dedicate the time to creating this Poblano pepper chili recipe that sets your taste buds on fire in all the right ways. P.S. we’re giving you a glimpse of how this recipe comes together on Darling Eats, subscribe to our channel here.
In college, my sorority would travel to the chapter we had at UGA to participate in their annual chili recipe. Most of the time us younger girls would use it as an excuse as a free ride over to Athens to bar hop, but as we grew older, we became more interested in perfecting our chili recipe than perfecting our eyeliner for going out.
#priorities
This chili recipe won second place our final year of college and we could all graduate happily knowing that “chili master” could be included non-ironically on our resumes. After a few post-collegiate tweaks, I think it’s finally at a place that I love. The spice is tolerable but then may also cause your nose to run a little bit. Isn’t that the point of chili in the winter? To warm you up and to clear out your sinuses?
I’d like to think so.
Check out our new video here and be sure to subscribe for weekly updates!
Don’t forget to serve it with some cornbread! This is my favorite cornbread recipe and I love serving it in little cast irons.
Make sure you have these tools on hand to recreate this at home
- 1 TBSP Olive Oil
- 2 Medium Onions diced
- 4 cloves of garlic minced
- 2 pounds of lean ground beef
- 2 pablano peppers seeded and chopped (reserve seeds if you like it spicier)
- 1 TBSP chili powder
- 1 TBSP smoked paprika
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne
- 2 cups low sodium chicken broth
- 1 cup Belgian wheat ale
- 1 28 ounce can of whole tomatoes and juice
- 1 8 ounce can of tomato paste
- 2 TBSP maple syrup
- 2 bay leaves
- Garnish with Cheddar cheese Avocado, Green Onion, Cilantro or Sour Cream
-
Heat a dutch oven over medium heat and add the olive oil. Add onion and cook for about 5 minutes or until it begins to caramelize around the edges and soften. Stir the garlic in and cook another minute.
-
Add the ground beef in and crumble with the edge of a flattened wooden spoon, and brown for about 8 minutes.
-
Once the beef has browned, add in the pablano pepper (and seeds if you want it spicier), chili powder, smoked paprika, cumin, cinnamon, salt and cayenne. Stir together so that the spices are mixed throughout.
-
Reduce your heat to medium low and add 2 cups of your chicken broth, 1 cup of beer, the tomatoes, tomato paste, maple syrup, and bay leaves. Stir to combine. Cover and simmer on medium low for roughly an hour, tasting as you go and adjusting spices as needed.
-
Remove the bay leaves and ladle the chili into bowls. Top with additional garnishes as desired.
If you find that your chili is either too thick, thin it out with the additional chicken stock until desired thickness is reached. If your chili is too thin, add 1 TBSP of cornstarch to thicken the sauce.
