3lb ground beef (80/20)
6 strips pepper bacon – chopped into small pieces
28 oz crushed tomatoes (or approx 20 pealed and stemmed garden Romas, crushed)
6 oz tomato paste
1 sweet onion – rough chopped
1 red onion – rough chopped
2 bell peppers – large diced
6 cloves garlic – minced
2 cup red kidney beans
1-1/2 cup black beans
2 Tbsp smoked paprika
2 Tbsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1 Tbsp fresh oregano – chopped
1 Tbsp fresh thyme – chopped
1/2 cup Makers Mark
32 oz beef stock
Salt and pepper to taste
Chili paste
– 5 dried ancho chilis – stem and seeds removed
– 3 dried chili de arbols – stem and seeds removed
– 3 chipotles in adobo sauce
– 2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
– a small portion of the beef broth
– salt, as needed

Background: This is an adaptation of the Texas Style Chili, made for the 2025 neighborhood chili cookoff. This is intended to be a little more crowd friendly / not as “extra”. The changes were made on the fly, but resulted in what might become my go-to chili recipe.

Beans (pre work required)
If the beans are dry, rinse them and add them to hot water for about 1 hour (discard water). If canned, just rinse and use.

Chili paste (good to do as pre work)
Cut the dried chilis into large strips and toast them in a dry pan on high heat. About 2-3 minutes.
Rehydrate the peppers, placing them in a pot, covering them with boiling water for about 10 min.
Let the water cool.
Add the rehydrated chilis, chipotles and vinegar to the blender.
Add enough beef broth allow them to blend.
Blend everything into a nice paste.
Taste and adjust with salt and vinegar as needed.

Bacon
Head a Dutch Oven on low
Add the chopped bacon and let the fat render until all of the bacon bits are crispy.
Remove and save the bacon, leaving the rendered fat.

Veggies
Add the diced white and red onions to the Dutch oven
Salt the onions and pepper the onions.
And…. wait. Let the onions carnalize. About 30-40 minutes. Don’t rush this.
Once the onions are nice and brown and sticky and sweet, add the garlic and cook until fragrant. About 1 in.
Deglaze the Dutch oven (with the onions still in it) with the Makers Mark and allow the alcohol to cook off over high heat.
Add the bell peppers while this is happening and allow them to soften.
Add the garlic to the Dutch oven when the bell peppers are within 1 minute of being done.
Set the veggies aside.

Meat
Now is a good time to start preheating the oven to 275*F.
Set the stove heat up to high.
Cook the beef in 1 lb batches, seasoning with salt, pepper, chili powder and paprika each time.
Once it’s all browned, set the beef aside.

Bring It All Together
Add the tomato paste to the bottom of the now empty Dutch oven, cooking it off for around 30 seconds, or until it turns a darker red.
Add the onions, peppers and garlic, stir to combine with the tomato paste
Add the bacon and beef back to the pan.
Add the tomatoes.
Add the chili paste.
Add the beans.
Add the fresh oregano and thyme to taste.
Add the cumin.
Add the remaining beef broth (you can add water from rinsing out the tomato cans and the blender or anything else as needed to get enough liquid in the Dutch oven).
Stir to combine, taste and adjust as needed.

Let ’em cook!
Put the Dutch oven in the 275°F oven for about 4 hours. Stir occassionally. Add water