My Award-Winning Chili Recipe

Get my award-winning chili recipe right here. It is meaty and slightly spicy! My tasty homemade chili recipe took first place in a chili cook-off that was held in Jacksonville, Florida. The chili cook-off pitted about one dozen local chefs against each other in a friendly food competition. The points were tabulated, and my chili recipe won the bragging rights of the best award-winning chili ever! Hey! Who doesn't like this comfort food? Hey; I love chili!!

I am sharing with you today, the secret ingredient(s) to make my award-winning chili. If you are a great chef, you already know that it is OK to vary your personal recipe according to your audience's tastes!

So, you may opt to not include that one special ingredient; or you may opt to use more of certain spices.

After all, experimenting and customizing is the mark of a great chef!!! Great chefs know how to customize recipes to create their own delicious recipes for the best-ever chili recipe! I like to add a little extra zing with cayenne pepper, the chili spice barometer!

Come on in and sample some of my award-winning chili please. It is one of my spicy comfort foods that tastes oh so good! It is perfect for a Super Bowl chili cookoff!

Photo Credit: My award-winning chili made and photographed by JaguarJulie.

How Hot Do You Like Award-Winning Chili?
Please answer or spicy poll question! Do you like it mild, medium or hot?

1. Please make my chili as mild as you can!
2. Oh, I am a middle of the road.
3. Sock it to me spicy! Yeah man!

My Confession : I Truly Love This Comfort Food.
Call me a cayenne pepper enthusiast : I like it spicy!

"I sure do love making My Award-Winning Chili for friends and family. This is a recipe that is fun to make and fun to dress up with toppings of onions and cheese!"

My confession? Well, first of all cayenne pepper is that spice ingredient that can monitor the spicy level of your award-winning chili. Next, well I do have another special secret ingredient ... come on in and find out!

You know, there are so many different variables with the delicious ingredients that you put into award-winning chili! I can't think of another type of comfort food that can be so customized as this comfort food. Try a little bit of this, and a lot of that, and presto! You have your own award-winning chili recipe!

Chili is a great food for dressing up with toppings too to customize to your tastes. Chopped onions, cheese, jalapeno peppers -- you name it! Bring it along in a crock pot for tailgating, picnics, camping and other outings! And, why not consider some award-winning chili as an alternative food for the Holidays such as Thanksgiving and Christmas. You don't always want turkey and ham, you know? Make your chili the best ever with your delicious "secret" ingredients and toppings.

More and more, when we speak of toppings, it isn't just what you can put ON TOP of CHILI ... it is more and more what chili goes on top of as a hearty addition. For example, spaghetti or noodles or macaroni. People are substituting chili for their spaghetti sauces! For years, we've heard of chili as a hot dog additive ... now it is much more. What do you put it on top of?

Hope you get to try some award-winning chili -- yours! ;) And, what a perfect time for a chili cookoff > Super Bowl Sunday! Get a heads up on your Super Bowl chili recipes right here! --The Brand Ambassador JaguarJulie!

My Award-Winning Chili Recipe
This Batch Will Feed a Small Army! - You too can earn awards for competing in Chili Cookoffs!

Ladies and gentlemen, I just want to tell you that you can scale my award-winning recipe down in size as this particular batch was made to feed a small army! Usually chili is good for feeding armies or lots of people at work. My hubby mentioned that we were up as the chef of the week to feed the office staff on Friday. So, figuring out what to feed 10-12 people, I opted to prepare my award-winning chili along with a mixed green salad!

Ingredients for My Award-Winning Chili Recipe
Revealing that secret ingredient right here.

6.75 lbs. Ground Chuck - 80/20
2 - 28 oz. cans DelMonte Diced Tomatoes Garlic/Onion
3 - 15 oz. cans Joan of Arc Spicy Chili Beans
3 - 15 oz. cans Hunt Tomato Sauce
3 - Medium Vidalia Onions
2 pkgs. Lawry Chili Seasoning
1 pkg. Publix Sharp Cheddar Cheese Shredded
1 - 12 oz. can Budweiser Select Beer *
Spice Islands Cayenne Pepper
Salt and Pepper -- season to taste
Lawry Garlic Salt -- season to taste
1 cup of water

*The secret ingredient!

First Step: Browning the Ground Meat for This Spicy Dish!
This is probably the most labor-intensive part!

This one frying pan held half of the ground chuck -- about 3.3 pounds. I had two frying pans going at one time to brown the ground chuck over a medium heat. You want to fry the meat until it loses its reddish pink color, being sure to stir the meat to help break up the pieces. After it is a uniform brownish-color, you will remove it from the heat and drain the oil from the pan.

You can make this as hot or as mild as you
like it by adding more or less cayenne pepper!

Preparation of the Ingredients for My Award-Winning Chili

While your ground chuck is browning, you can chop two of the onions [one of the onions will be saved for the topping] and add to your crockpot along with the diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, chili beans, and spices. Since I was using two different crockpots, I divided up the ingredients proportionately between the two crockpots.

Once you have drained the ground chuck, you will add that on top of the other ingredients. I usually pour the beer on top and mix in as the final step to covering the crockpots, setting it to high. Once it starts to bubble, I turn in down a notch and let it simmer for a couple of hours.

Slow Cooking My Award-Winning Chili
In a Large Rival Crockpot - Can you smell my award-winning chili cooking?

Slow Cooking My Award-Winning Chili -- In Another Crockpot
There Was an Overflow! This is a good portion of award-winning chili for a family of 4

The Cost to Make My Award-Winning Chili Recipe
These ingredients were purchased from Publix

Serving up a Bowl of My Award-Winning Chili
I serve it with chopped onions and shredded cheddar cheese.

The cost per person is approximately $4.00
which allows for the guys to have seconds!

Get a Start on Your Chili

Start with McCormick Chili Seasoning Mix. This handy little packet helps. Over the years, I've relied on McCormick Seasoning for a little help. Until you become a professional chef, try the chili seasoning in a packet!

There is everything right about using a little spice helper in a package. These are the primary spices and seasonings that I add to my chili. You can feel free to substitute your favorite brand of cayenne pepper -- which is the one ingredient that you can control to make a spicy chili recipe that will knock their socks off! Normally, I make mine about a 7.5 on the Richter Scale!

Get a Portable Crockpot!
Consider the Crock-Pot SCCPVL600S 6-Quart Oval Manual Portable Slow Stainless Steel Cooker. It is very handy to have a portable crockpot to take with you to tailgating or to that chili cookoff!

I appreciate the oval shape of the 6-quart oval stoneware. You can really see your chili cooking. You also have the high, low, and warm settings to control the cooking process.

The lid-mounted locking system is a must have for transporting your chili to the cookoff! It secures to keep your recipe sealed until you are ready to unveil. This measures 15 by 10 by 15 inches. What a great size!

Thanks for visiting!
So, what do you think of my recipe? Have you got a secret ingredient for your chili recipe -- oh? You don't want to share it. Well, that's OK! Go ahead and tell me about it anyhow. I love to share recipes and food tips!

History: My Award-Winning Chili Recipe was originally created on Squidoo by JaguarJulie on July 28, 2009. On December 12, 2010 this lens earned the Purple Star Award for quality content. Highest lensrank ever achieved: #28 overall. This was a top lens with 39 days on the Top 100 list. Lens #466 in the quest for Giant Squid 500 Club.