If you want the perfect food for the big game (or any winter night), then scroll no farther! This big batch chili, alog with instructions on how to serve it as a chili bar, is a winner at any gathering!! Let’s do it!!

So, how many football fans do I have out there in the cyber-universe?

I have a secret to share with all of you…I love football.

I know…that’s just so weird, right?

I mean, I love American football.

It’s not that I don’t like the CFL (Canadian Football League for those of you that don’t know), it’s just that I spent my early married life watching NFL and never learned the rules of the CFL (and for those that don’t know, yes, they’re different).

I was even given a skill testing question on my wedding day (who was special teams # 11 on the Miami Dolphins? I said Jim Jensen…of course I was right!).  I had my own jersey that I wore.

Every.

Single.

Sunday.

Ahhh but that was pre-kiddies…then life changed a wee bit and it became more about the snacks.

I learned quickly that if we ever had people over for football Sunday (or bigger games like the the Superbowl), I had to have an easy recipe up my sleeve that would serve itself when a big group was around.

Hence, my gameday, big batch chili was born.

Everyone needs a good chili recipe up their sleeve.  Use this as a template and make it your own.

Want it lighter? Use ground chicken.

Want it less spicy?  Turn down the spicy heat and add in some sweetness in the form of diced carrots.

Want it vegetarian? In the place of meat, cook up a mixture of diced mushrooms, diced eggplant and minced walnuts and then throw in lentils at the end (nobody will know the difference!!).

And then, however you make your chili, it’s all about the self-serve bar! Put the chili in a crock pot to keep warm and make a chili “bar”…You can put up your feet and ACTUALLY watch the game (or just the commercials, if you roll like that!).

What You’ll Need for This Big Batch Chili and all the fixins’:

• onion
• ground beef *
• roasted or fresh garlic cloves
• tomato passata or whole tomatoes
• tomato paste
• chicken stock or beer (or combo of both)
• salsa
• chili powder
• cumin
• oregano
• pickled jalapenos (optional if you want a tanginess and more heat)
• red kidney beans
• To serve: large tortillas for this recipe, use soft, flour tortillas like Casa Mendosa), guacamole, salsa, grated cheddar cheese, sour cream

How To Make a Batch of this Big Batch Chili:

• You’ll need to cook up some onion.

• Add some bacon fat if you have some (it’s my secret ingredient…learn why you should save bacon fat here!)

• Add some roasted garlic, which also gives a lovely flavour and a more mellow taste than fresh garlic. If you want to make your own roasted garlic but hate the thought of peeling your garlic, learn how to peel it fast here!

• Add add your beef and your tomato paste (oh, and do you want to know a cool hack for dealing with leftover tomato paste? Look here for a mind blowing hack!)

• Now you can add your tomatoes (if you hate chunky tomato bits in your chili, use passata…if you don’t mind the bits, use whole tomatoes and crush them as they cook!)
• You can use only stock here but I suggest using some beer …it adds a layer of flavour that you won’t get with the stock alone (and the alcohol will burn off)….just measure it in the jar or can that your tomatoes came out of!!
• Another way to add chunkiness is to add a bit of salsa…

• Add your spices…I like lots of chili…

• And for more, heat (and a bit of tang!), add some pickled jalapenos…

• And, obvs, add your beans!

• Don’t forget, season to taste…

• If you want to make this serve-yourself chili, make some “wee” cups by cutting circles with a cookie cutter (save the scraps, dry them out and then pulverize them ito breadcrumbs!!)

• Press them into mini muffin tins…
• Spray with cooking spray…

• And bake until golden!  Isn’t this just too pretty???

Big Batch Game Day Serve Yourself Chili Bar

This is the most epic way to share a meal on game day!!! Make some up today!!

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 40 minutes mins

Cook Time 30 minutes mins

Course Main Course

Cuisine Mexican

Servings 12 people

Ingredients

  

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 large onion diced
• 1.3 kg 3 lbs ground beef *
• 1 tbsp bacon fat optional
• 3 roasted garlic cloves or 2 small fresh cloves, minced
• 796 ml 28 oz can tomato passata or whole tomatoes, crushed
• 2 small 156 ml cans tomato paste
• 4 cups 28 oz chicken stock or beer (or combo of both)
• 1 cup salsa
• 3 tbsp chili powder
• 2 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp oregano
• 2 tbsp chopped pickled jalapenos optional if you want a tanginess and more heat
• 1-2 tsp salt or to taste
• 1 large 796 ml/28 oz can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• To serve: large tortillas guacamole, salsa, grated cheddar cheese, sour cream

Instructions

 

• In a very large pot or pan, heat olive oil and cook onion for a few minutes until soften; add bacon fat, if using, and stir until melted.
• Place ground beef into pan with onions and cook, breaking up, until all signs of pink are gone.
• Add garlic and tomato passata/whole tomatoes and stir again.
• Add tomato paste, stock/beer, and salsa and stir again to combine.
• Add all spices (chili powder, oregano, cumin and salt) and stir to mix well.
• Add beans and stir well; simmer for about 10-15 minutes on low.
• If serving with tortilla cups, cut smaller round circles and press circles into a mini-muffin tin, spray with cooking spray and bake at 375 until golden (about 5-7 minutes).
• Serve warm chili with cups on the side and offer guests sides to add to their chili cups (alternatively, serve tortillas soft to use as a wrap for all of the fixings – just remember to keep soft tortillas wrapped so they stay soft).

Notes

You can use ground beef, ground pork, ground veal or ground chicken in this recipe (or any combo).

You can make the small cups into mini taco shells by folding them between the spaces of a mini muffin tin (turned upsdie down).

You can use baked filo (four layers) cups in place of the baked tortilla cups.