A simple chili recipe that can feed a lot of people.
| Prep Time: | 30 mins |
| Cook Time: | 2 hrs 30 mins |
| Total Time: | 3 hrs |
| Servings: | 20 |
| Yield: | 20 servings |
Ingredients
- 2 (29 ounce) cans tomato sauce
- 2 (28 ounce) cans peeled and diced tomatoes
- 2 cups diced onion
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
- 1 pound bacon, diced
- 2 pounds spicy sausage
- 3 pounds lean ground beef
- 1 (32 ounce) bottle hickory smoke barbeque sauce
- ½ cup chili powder
- 4 (15.25 ounce) cans kidney beans, undrained
- 2 (1 ounce) squares unsweetened chocolate, chopped
Instructions
- In a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat, combine tomato sauce, tomatoes, onion and Italian seasoning.
- In a large skillet over medium heat, cook bacon until slightly crisp. Drain and stir into the pot.
- In the same skillet over medium heat, cook sausage until brown. Drain and stir into the pot.
- In the same skillet over medium heat, cook the beef until brown. Drain and stir into the pot.
- Stir the barbeque sauce and chili powder into the pot; taste and adjust seasonings. Stir in the kidney beans and chocolate and simmer until flavors are well blended. Serve.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 508 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 44 g |
| Cholesterol | 75 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 9 g |
| Protein | 28 g |
| Saturated Fat | 9 g |
| Sodium | 2080 mg |
| Sugars | 22 g |
| Fat | 26 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
Great base for making your own chili. Great smokey favor, plenty of meaty goodness. Did take liberty to change some ingredients (+/-) and amounts of.
I’ve been making this recipe for years and I figured I had to at least recognize it here. I have made this dozens of times (omitting BBQ Sauce) and it’s an all time favorite and a huge hit with friends and family. I have to get extra disposable Tupperware bowls to accommodate requests. Don’t even look any further. This recipe is awesome and feeds a bunch of people. Bravo RICHARDWROSS!
I love this recipe and have made it over a dozen times with minor changes. I like to use 50% chipotle chili powder and double the beacon. (some of it always seems to disappear for some reason 🙂
Made this for our church chili cook off and won. Kids and adults both truly loved it. I used pork and beans but only 2 cans, cut the bbq in half, and add 1 can of fire roasted corn. I used sweet baby Ray’s brown sugar bbq and McCormick chili seasoning 1/2 cup. Great recipe
I make lots of Chili and was excited to try out the recipe, its has some unusual ingredients. It came out very sweet and the flavor of the BBQ sauce was just too overpowering. I made sure to use a lower sugar sauce (Stubbs) as well. If I were to try it again I’d use half or maybe even quarter the the amount if BBQ sauce and go from there.
This is an awesome recipe that I’ll definitely be making over and over! As others had said many times, I reduced the amount of BBQ sauce. I went with a favorite BBQ sauce that I use frequently. Especially since I couldn’t find any Hunt’s brand and also because of the corn syrup that in many sauces. I also used cocoa powder since I didn’t want to buy an entire bar of unsweetened chocolate for only 2 squares. The rest of the bar would end up going old since it’s an item we don’t typically use. But we certainly use a lot of cocoa powder in this houses.
Turned out awesome. Like others, I cut back on the bbq sauce to 12 ounces I also added 2 cans of pinto beans and 2 cans of black beans. It tastes great as it made it but with subsequent bowls I added a dollop of sour cream and some cheddar cheese. I think I’ll add those to the recipe in the future.
Amazing recipe but will cut back on bacon as I thought it was a little overwhelming for my taste and I added 1 c of roasted corn and really loved it.
Best Chili Ever!!!!
Good
I love this chili recipe. Won a chili cook-off with it. I added minced garlic and Trader Joe’s roasted corn. I substituted pork n beans for the kidney beans. As others have said, the right BBQ sauce is a key.
Very good and flavorful. The bbq sauce gives it a great flavor.
I have made this several times and love it. I do switch out the typical BBQ sauce and use Famous Daves Devils Spit. I also use some great northern beans as well as the kidney beans. I love making this recipe.
This is a great award-winning recipe. How can you lose with three meats and chocolate? I personalize mine with a few delicious modifications. First I cook a 3 lb roast in red wine in the slow cooker overnight instead of ground beef. Makes amazing shredded beef for any use. I use chorizo for the sausage and baked bacon ends and pieces, chopped up for more noticeable chunks of bacon. I add a green pepper for color variety and texture and my (no longer) secret is a hint of maple syrup. There you have it. Two first places and one “Maverick” award. Add a good name with the word ‘chocolate’ in it to seal the deal!
I did it without the Chocolate and it was just fine.
I love this recipe! It’s very rich I know I will be making it many times. I didn’t change anything. I just made half the recipe and I have enough for 3 days!
I have never had chili like this it was the best thankyou
I used peppered bacon
I did nothing to change the recipe, it’s FABULOUS. Make this for the potlucks at work and every couple times a year my coworkers have me make this.
This chili is flavorful and easy to make. I think that the best parts of this recipe are the three meats, BBQ sauce and chocolate. I served it to a discriminate group of foodie friends who all said it was really good. Maybe they were just being polite but there was none left at the end of the night. My husband said he wanted it to be saltier.
Best chili ever! Changes I made: 1/2 dark chili beans and half light, and I used 1/2 the barbecue sauce as others recommended. (Sweet Baby Rays) Not the typical chili taste that people expect. Excellent.