Award-Winning Chili Recipes – Secure your Chili Cookoff Win

With fall ushering in changing leaves, pumpkin patches, and cooler weather, it means it’s about time to break out those chili recipes. Chili is the perfect meal to share with friends or enjoy by yourself, which means you should have a great chili recipe in your back pocket. So, whether you need a recipe to impress your friends and family or to win your workplace cookoff, here are three award-winning recipes that you should try to bring home that blue ribbon.

No Tomato Chili (Texas-Style)

Who says you need tomatoes for a tasty chili? This No Tomato Chili recipe won the Texas Chili Cook-Off, and it may secure your own win, too. Some of the best chili recipes were created in the great state of Texas. However, unlike most chilis, Texas-style chili doesn’t include beans or tomatoes. It is still packed with flavor and absolutely worth a try!

Ingredients:

  • 2-3 tablespoons butter
  • 3 lb boneless chuck roast trimmed and cut into ½ inch cubes
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • ⅓ cup finely chopped Spice World Fresh Shallots
  • 2 teaspoon Spice World Ready-to-Use Organic Minced Garlic
  • 4 cups broth or stock (can be chicken, beef, or vegetable)
  • 1 ½ tablespoon chili powder
  • 1 teaspoon paprika (you can use ½ teaspoon regular and ½ teaspoon smoked paprika, if you’d like)
  • ½ teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon cumin

Directions: 

  • Trim the fat from your chuck roast and cut into ½ inch cubes.
  • Heat 1-2 tablespoons of butter on medium-high in a large Dutch oven. Toss the meat in. Cook the meat until browned on both sides.
  • Salt the meat with 1 teaspoon of kosher salt.
  • Add chopped shallots and Spice World Ready-to-Use Organic Minced Garlic. Stir for about a minute.
  • Pour in all 4 cups of vegetable broth. Your meat should be barely covered by the broth. 
  • Add chili powder, paprika, and cinnamon and stir to combine. Bring all ingredients to a boil, cover, and turn down the heat to simmer on low.
  • Simmer for 1 hour and check. If it looks like there’s still too much liquid, remove the cover and allow it to simmer for an extra 30 minutes uncovered. If there’s not enough, you can add more broth. Mix in the cumin and simmer for another 30 minutes.
  • Add salt, pepper, or any additional spices as needed. Serve warm or cool, and add to zip-lock bags to freeze and reheat at a later date.

Award-Winning Southern Soul Chili

This Award-Winning Southern Soul Chili will absolutely warm you both inside and out on a fall day. The recipe was made and perfected by Donya Mullins from A Southern Soul to win her local Farmers Market Chili Challenge. So believe us when we say that the other contestants and judges will surely be jealous of your amazing recipe.

Ingredients:

  • 1 lb ground beef
  • 1 lb hot breakfast sausage
  • 3 tablespoons chili powder
  • ½ poblano pepper, chopped 
  • 2 celery stalks 
  • ½ cup Spice World Ready-to-Use Chopped Easy Onion
  • 2 teaspoons Spice World Ready-to-Use Minced Garlic
  • 2 teaspoons of kosher salt 
  • 1 teaspoon ground pepper
  • 4 oz tomato paste
  • 16 oz can crushed tomatoes
  • 1 cup BBQ sauce
  • ½ cup spicy BBQ sauce
  • 12 oz lager beer 
  • 1 cup beef stock
  • 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon honey
  • 2 cans dark red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
  • 1 can black beans, rinsed and drained

Directions: 

  • In a cast iron skillet, brown ground beef and sausage.
  • Add chopped vegetables, except garlic, and cook until meats are cooked through and vegetables are tender.
  • Set the heat to medium.
  • Add the chili powder, tomatoes, tomato paste, and BBQ sauces to the pot, mixing well. Scrape any bits from the bottom of the pot. Cook for about 15 minutes, stirring often.
  • Stir in beer, beef broth, Spice World Ready-to-Use Minced Garlic, Worcestershire sauce, vinegar, and honey. Stir until the ingredients are blended.
  • Simmer for about 1.5 hours, stirring frequently, allowing chili flavors to marry. If the sauce gets too thick, add water in ¼ cup amounts.
  • Add the beans and cook for another 30 minutes, stirring frequently. Taste for seasoning and adjust as needed.
  • Serve with any extras or toppings you want.

Crock-Pot Crazy Pineapple Chili

You might be on the fence about whether pineapple belongs on pizza, but this Crock-Pot Crazy Pineapple Chili recipe will absolutely convince you that pineapple belongs in chili. This award-winning sweet and savory chili will shock your friends and chili-cookoff-contest judges alike.

Ingredients:

Directions: 

  • Using a non-stick skillet over medium heat, cook the sausage and onions, stirring to crumble the sausage. 
  • Once the sausage is cooked through, drain off any fat and transfer the sausage and onions to your slow cooker.
  • Drain the pineapple and keep both the juice and the fruit in separate containers. 
  • Add the juice to the slow cooker. Cover and store the fruit in the refrigerator.
  • Add tomatoes, black beans, tomato paste, chili powder, cumin, and garlic to the slow cooker.
  • Stir everything to combine.
  • Cook on low (6-8 hours), adding reserved pineapple during the last hour or two of cooking, or on high (4-5 hours), adding pineapple during the last 1/2 hour – hour of cooking.
  • Serve topped with cheese, sour cream, and hot sauce, if desired.

If you are looking for more recipes to try out this fall, try out some Spice World fall favorites like our Creamy Mushroom Soup. These dishes will fill your house with warmth, but more importantly, they will give you a good chance at bringing home the chili cookoff win. Just be sure to use Spice World and check out our site for more tasty recipes.