This chili recipe is fantastic with game meats. Buffalo or boar can also be used in place of venison without much difficulty.
| Prep Time: | 20 mins |
| Cook Time: | 1 hr |
| Additional Time: | 10 mins |
| Total Time: | 1 hr 30 mins |
| Servings: | 7 |
| Yield: | 6 to 8 servings |
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 red onion, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 4 tablespoons dark brown sugar
- 3 cups red wine
- 4 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 4 tablespoons tomato paste
- 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- ½ teaspoon chili powder
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
- salt to taste
- 4 tablespoons canola oil
- 10 slices cooked bacon, diced
- 2 pounds venison stew meat, trimmed and finely diced
- 2 cups black beans, cooked and drained
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat. Stir in the onion and garlic, and saute for 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in the brown sugar and saute for 2 to 3 more minutes. Then stir in the red wine, vinegar, tomato paste, chicken stock, cumin, cayenne pepper, chili powder, cilantro and salt. Simmer for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the mixture is reduced by about half.
- Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Stir in the bacon and fry for 3 to 4 minutes, or until the bacon is browned. Move the bacon to one side of the skillet and add the venison to the empty side of the skillet. Season the meat with salt to taste and saute the meat for 15 minutes, or until well browned. Stir in the beans and toss all together. Transfer this mixture to the simmering pot.
- Mix everything together thoroughly and let simmer for about 20 more minutes.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 802 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 50 g |
| Cholesterol | 157 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 9 g |
| Protein | 49 g |
| Saturated Fat | 13 g |
| Sodium | 552 mg |
| Sugars | 12 g |
| Fat | 37 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
Delicious and a new favorite ❤️
This was an excellent recipe. It is definitely not your “traditional” chili, but it was very tasty. The only modification I made was using tomota sauce (5 tbsp) instead of tomato paste because I left my tomato paste at the self-checkout at the grocery store! 🙂 🙂 🙂 My husband did use the word “sweet,” which I know others have disagreed with, but I would say that in the world of “regular” chili, sweet is a good adjective to describe this chili. I did let the red wine mixture simmer quite a while, which I think is an essential step.
My family and I loved this recipe! Very flavorful and won our Christmas dinner chili cook off! 🙂 Highly recommend to give it a try. Due to dietary restrictions, I used fresh chives instead of onions and no garlic or beans.
I adjusted the recipe a bit by adding 1 can of red beans and 2 cans of fire roasted tomatoes. I think I should have only done one can of tomatoes, or I put too much tomato paste in it, because it came out a bit tomatoey. But actually still very good.
Added a whole jalapeño, not for the faint of heart, but very delicious! Probably the best chili I’ve ever made
Only change to the recipe was the addition of chopped de Arbol peppers. Chili ain’t chili without some natural heat. Bring it!
The best chili recipe we have found, and now house favorite!
I was surprised to find this recipe here, it’s been in my binder for quite some time. Because it comes out with no gamey taste and has the most wonderful, deep flavors, this is the only way I make it. The note I have on my recipe states that it comes from “Chef David Burke of the Park Avenue Cafe”.
Whole family loves this chili, even the “I don’t like venison “ folks. Thanks for the great recipe. Making it into a pot pie tonight.
It was a hit! We didn’t have any bacon, but we didn’t miss what we didn’t know??. I added some chopped jalapeños and red peppers. I used 4 cups of black beans and added some ready made salsa. Next time I may put in a can of tomatoes.
Definitely would make it again!! My wife (even though she is not impressed with wild meat) thoroughly enjoyed. A keeper!
This is the absolute BEST venison chili recipe ever. I substituted with ground venison, and i did not have any cilatro. I also added a can of corn. I did have to thicken it up a bit with flour but the basis is Perfect!!
It was absolutely delicious, and will definitely be making this again. The red wine reduction was a very tasty way to prepare the ground venison I had. I also threw in some deer ham steaks for extra texture.
Good stuff! I did tweak slightly by using a cornstarch slurry to thicken it a bit. More a personal preference than anything. Used half burger and half stew meat to provide different textures.
Very Delicious!!!
Love it! I add diced smoked chipotle peppers and crushed red pepper. That makes for a sweet smokey spice. I also use 3lbs of ground vension mixed 50/50 with pork.
Not chili. Too sweet.
Phenomenal! I’ll use this recipe every time I make chili regardless of whether it includes venison or not. An awesome dish!
This chili is so good. I used 1.5 lb of ground and 1 lb of cubed venison. I decreased the brown sugar to 3 tbl, used white wine vinegar because I didn’t have red and a full can of paste. I used a can of kidney, pinto and black beans., doubled the chili powder which gave it a little kick and it was only slightly sweet. No cilantro. I will definitely make this again.
This is a very good recipe. We did cut the chicken stock down and only added 2 cups.
Loved this recipe with a few alterations. I followed other reviewer’s advice and cut the wine to 1.5 cups plus some for deglazing, doubled chili powder, but instead of doubling cayenne, I added 1/2 tsp black pepper. I did not add cilantro. I didn’t have black beans so I used 16 Oz dried red kidney beans. I soaked them and cooked them separately with a little bit of salt and a bay leaf. I did not drain it before adding it to the pot. I also just used the bacon fat instead of using canola oil to cook the venison. I am not sure how much venison I had. It maybe somewhere between 1 and 2lbs. I think next time we might add a little bit of chopped tomatoes. Oh, I also just used the whole 6oz can of tomato paste.