This chili has a unique flavor from the wine and is just a little bit sweet and spicy. This chili is a family favorite in my household. With this recipe, I have won a few chili cook-offs at work and performed well in several bigger competitions as well.
| Prep Time: | 40 mins |
| Cook Time: | 1 hr 50 mins |
| Total Time: | 2 hrs 30 mins |
| Servings: | 20 |
| Yield: | 20 servings |
Ingredients
- 2 pounds hot Italian sausage
- 2 pounds ground sirloin
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 1 red bell pepper, chopped
- 1 yellow bell pepper, chopped
- 1 green bell pepper, chopped
- 8 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 jalapeno peppers, finely chopped
- 3 tablespoons chili powder
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 cups Merlot or other dry red wine
- 2 (28 ounce) cans whole tomatoes, undrained and chopped
- 2 (15 ounce) cans dark red kidney beans, drained
- 1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce
- 3 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, chopped
Instructions
- Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and stir in Italian sausage and ground sirloin. Cook and stir until meat is crumbly, evenly browned, and no longer pink. Drain and discard any excess grease.
- Transfer meat to a large Dutch oven; place over medium-high heat. Stir in chopped onion; add red, yellow, and green bell peppers, garlic, and jalapeno peppers. Cook and stir until onion is translucent, about 5 minutes.
- Mix in chili powder, brown sugar, cumin, tomato paste, oregano, salt, black pepper, and bay leaves. Cook and stir until fragrant, about 3 minutes more.
- Stirring constantly, pour in wine, chopped tomatoes and their juice, kidney beans, tomato sauce, and chopped chipotle chiles in sauce. Bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 1 hour.
- Uncover and simmer, stirring occasionally, until thickened, about 30 minutes. Discard bay leaves before serving.
- You may use sweet Italian sausage and reduce the amount of chiles to 1 jalapeno and 2 chipotle chiles, if desired.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 282 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 18 g |
| Cholesterol | 52 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 5 g |
| Protein | 19 g |
| Saturated Fat | 5 g |
| Sodium | 746 mg |
| Sugars | 6 g |
| Fat | 14 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
This turned out great. Just the right consistency. I added a little Valentina mexican hot sauce because I like my chili on the spicy side.
Great Chili recipe. I’ve made this 3 times over the past year(2022) and passed on the recipe to relatives back east. Husband of my cousin entered this chili in a chili cook off and won 1st prize.
I followed this recipe exactly (but used Impossible sausage instead of animal meats) and entered it into a friends’ annual Chili Cook off…of 16 total entries this won! The first time a vegetarian chili has ever won… so thanks Chuck!!
I was looking for just any chili recipe and my wife said, “This looks like it might be good.” Wow it is good! I made it a few days ago and it is so tasty! I will be making it again very soon. Thanks Chuck!!!
Didn’t have any brown sugar so I subbed w Maple syrup
Best Chili Recipe! My entire family loved it!!!
Excellent chili! We didn’t have any red wine on hand so we omitted that but, the flavor was good without it! I can’t wait to make it again so that we can try it with all the ingredients
I had to make some hot pepper substitutes but tried to follow the recipe as close as possible. Came out delicious.
Loved it – adjusted the chilis to taste
Super duper! Left out the jalapeños so my family would eat it. Great chili!
Fabulous!
Great flavor the red wine adds an awesome extra layer of flavor
I love the flavor of this chili. The red wine adds an interesting flavor and the chipotle peppers in adobo sauce make it awesome! And hot…but they are hard to find at the store. When you do find them, use only part of the can (the recipe calls for 3 chilis and there are usually double that in a can) and freeze the rest in a container for your next batch of chili because you will be making this again. I made 1 change to the recipe: I only used 1 pound each of the Italian sausage and the ground beef. I serve it with grated cheddar on top.