Beer Chili Recipe

Not Too Hot - Not Too Chili Recipe

With Brooklyn IPA

Chili is one of my new favorite meals. You can make a ton of it and serve it a bunch of different ways for days! Over white rice, chips and salsa, French fries, sour cream, cheddar cheese… the deliciously disgusting possibilities are endless!

This was my first time using a beer to make chili instead of beef stock and I will never go back.  I used Brooklyn East India Pale Ale because it’s pretty hoppy which brings out a lot of the spicy-hot flavors from the fresh peppers but it doesn’t add an overwhelming flavor to your chili like a porter or a stout would.  You could use a lager if you don’t want too much heat. If you go with the porter or stout, you can add a little bit of unsweetened cocoa powder to offset the heavy flavors.  I would just use whatever beer you like the flavor of most, but obviously nothing citrus or too sweet.

Serves: 4-6; Cook time: 6-8 hours

Ingredients

  • 1 half poblano pepper
  • 1 red bell pepper
  • 1 half sweet white onion (you could probably use a whole onion, I just don’t like them)
  • 1 half chili pepper
  • 1 cherry pepper
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • 2 Tbs canola oil
  • 1.5 lbs lean ground beef (healthier option: half ground turkey)
  • 14 oz can of kidney beans drained

  • 12 oz Brooklyn IPA (or a brew of your choice)
  • 14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes with juice
  • 2 tsp of garlic powder
  • 2 tsp thyme
  • 2 tsp parsley flakes
  • 2 Tbs cumin
  • 2 Tbs red pepper flakes
  • 2 Tbs chili powder
  • 1 Tbs cayenne pepper
  • Juice of half of a lime
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Sauté diced peppers, onions, and garlic in a pan with canola oil for about 4-5 minutes or until onions are pretty much clear.  You can use EVOO or vegetable oil if you want, but I am pretty sure canola oil is the healthier option.  Set vegetables aside in the crockpot but leave the juices in the pan if you can.

2. Load your lean ground beef (or ground turkey if you’re into that) into the same pan and brown for 5-7 minutes.  Once browned, drain the beef and add it to your crockpot.  You could really do these two steps in the reverse if you want but something about putting the vegetables into beef fat creeps me out.

3. Drain kidney beans and dump those in.

4. Add diced tomatoes with that juice that comes in the can and then add tomato paste.

5. Add spices and mix that shit up.  Use as much or as little of each spice as you’d like really. I don’t love garlic, so the cloves and a little garlic powder are enough for me, but you can really go to town if you want.

6. Before you add the beer, I would taste the whole mixture.  Once you add the beer, it’s hard to tell if you’ve seasoned it enough if the beer hasn’t been cooked down yet.

7. Pour in your beer of choice and stir together.

8. Set your crockpot to low and cook for 6-8 hours. Stir occasionally if you can, but don’t stress if you can’t.

9. Squeeze in the juice of half of a lime and stir before serving! Salt and pepper to taste!

If you give the recipe a try, let us know what you think!

Enjoy!

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