Mom’s Award-Winning Chili Recipe
Mom’s award-winning chili recipe is an easy, one-pot meal that is perfectly cozy for cold weather months! Make a big batch for dinner, load it up with your favorite toppings, and freeze the leftovers for an easy meal later.
With fall in the air, I’ve got comfort foods on the brain.
We love to make soups, stews, and chilis like tuscan white bean soup, CrockPot green chile chicken, or my mom’s award-winning chili when the weather gets cold. So it’s about that time of year for this chili to go into the regular meal rotation!
My mom has been making this chili for years and years. She has her own way of making it and I’ve made a few tweaks of my own, but the base of the recipe has stayed the same: a classic, thick chili that will warm you up from the inside out.
What makes Mom’s award-winning chili recipe so special?
My mom’s award-winning chili is one of my very favorite recipes. It features a ton of pantry staples, it’s easy to throw together in one pot, and it simmers away on the stove all day (it basically cooks itself!).
AND it has bacon. (You can never go wrong with bacon!)
If you love a super hearty, meaty chili, this is the recipe for you. It’s got a ton of flavor from the bacon, spices, and beer, and it cooks up to be nice and thick.
No watery chili around here!
This is the kind of classic chili recipe that you make over and over again. Which explains why it is on repeat in our house all winter long.
It’s perfect for a cozy weekend dinner or serve it up for your next game-day party or tailgate. This recipe makes a TON, so it easily serves a crowd. (Or you can portion it out and freeze leftovers for easy meals later on!)
What you’ll need to make this recipe
Don’t get intimidated by the ingredients list for this chili. I promise there aren’t as many ingredients as it seems, and a lot of them are things you probably already have in your pantry!
- Bacon: Bacon adds the perfect smoky flavor to Mom’s award-winning chili recipe. If you don’t eat bacon you can absolutely skip it, but give it a try if you can!
- Ground beef: Mom always uses ground beef in her chili. Feel free to use ground turkey if you don’t enjoy red meat, though!
- Aromatic veggies: Onions, bell pepper, and garlic add tons of flavor and make your house smell divine.
- Canned goods: Rotel tomatoes, pinto beans, and canned tomato sauce make up the base of the chili. Mom always uses pinto beans, but you could swap them out for your preferred beans (such as kidney beans).
- Taco/Chili seasoning: Mom likes to use a packet of taco or chili seasoning as a base for the spices.
- More herbs and spices: Remember how the taco or chili seasoning is just a flavor base? We always add more spices and herbs to really amp up the flavor: chili powder, dried thyme, cumin, dried cilantro, dried oregano, and black pepper.
- Beer: A bottle of light beer really rounds out the flavor of this chili. We typically just use whatever we have on hand: Miller High Life, Coors Light, etc. You don’t have to be precious about this, just use what’s available to you!
- Water: Mom uses water in her chili, so that’s what I use, too. You could easily swap this out for beef, chicken, or vegetable stock.
For the full recipe, including ingredient amounts, be sure to check out the recipe card below.
How to make Mom’s award-winning chili
All you need for this recipe is one BIG pot or dutch oven. Remember, this recipe makes a ton, so grab the biggest one you have.
Cut the bacon into pieces and cook this in the pot over medium-high heat. Once that is nearly cooked through, add the ground beef, onions, and bell pepper.
Cook this mixture, stirring regularly, until the meat is browned and the onions are translucent. Toss in the garlic and cook for another minute.
Add in the canned goods (Rotel, drained beans, and tomato sauce) and the spices and herbs. Give everything a good stir to combine.
Now pour in the beer and about 2 cups of water. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and let it simmer for about 3 hours.
If the chili gets too thick, you can add in more water or stock. Add just a bit at a time; you don’t want to accidentally add too much and end up with watery chili!
Before serving, give the chili a taste and add salt or more black pepper as needed.
Serving suggestions
I love loading a bowl of Mom’s award-winning chili up with a ton of toppings. Some of my favorites include:
- Shredded cheese (cheddar or pepper jack)
- Sour cream
- Diced avocado
- Fresh cilantro
- Sliced green onions
- Fresh or pickled red onions
- Tortilla chips
- Fritos
(Mom and Dad are team anti-sour cream when it comes to chili but I am pro, so I say, to each her own!)
And we always serve this chili with cornbread on the side. It’s a must!
In fact, Mom’s award-winning chili recipe was featured in the As Country as Cornbread e-book as a fundraiser following Hurricane Florence in 2018. You can still grab a copy of the e-book (which features cornbread recipes and recipes to serve with cornbread) and benefits the North Carolina Community Foundation.
Storage and freezing tips
This recipe makes a huge batch, and while we eat a lot of it as leftovers or repurpose it as something else later in the week (loaded baked potatoes with chili are my fave), we always have way more than we can eat.
Leftovers can be stored in airtight containers in the fridge for up to 3 days. But freezing also comes in handy, and luckily Mom’s award wining chili freezes beautifully.
Let your chili batch cool down to room temperature and then spoon into freezer-safe zip-top bags. I like to portion it out, so I usually freeze 2-3 bags of chili.
Press out all of the air and store flat in the freezer for 2-3 months.
(PS: Zip-top bags are the best way for freezing recipes because they are such a space saver in your freezer!)
When you’re ready to eat, defrost overnight in your fridge and then heat up the chili in a saucepan or in a microwave-safe bowl!
More cozy dinner recipes
If you love my mom’s award-winning chili recipe, you may also like:
- Beef Brisket Bolognese
- Baba’s Easy Homemade Spaghetti Sauce
- May Williams’ Swedish Meatballs
- Sheet Pan Chicken with Fall Veggies
Mom’s Award-Winning Chili
Equipment
- Large heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven
Ingredients
- 1/2 to 3/4 pound uncooked bacon
- 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 pounds ground beef
- 2 white or yellow onions diced
- 1 green bell pepper diced
- 2 to 4 cloves garlic minced
- 2 cans Rotel diced tomatoes & green chilies 10 ounces each
- 2 cans pinto beans 15.5 ounces each, drained
- 1 can tomato sauce 15 ounces
- 1 packet taco or chili seasoning 1 ounce (or 2-3 tablespoons homemade taco/chili seasoning)
- 4 to 6 tablespoons chili powder
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 tablespoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon dried cilantro
- 1 pinch dried oregano
- 1 pinch black pepper
- 12 ounces light beer
- 2 cups water
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Cut the bacon into pieces and add to a large heavy-bottomed pot or dutch oven over medium-high heat.1/2 to 3/4 pound uncooked bacon
- Cook, stirring occasionally, until the bacon is just about done. Add the ground beef, breaking it up, along with the onions and bell pepper and cook until the beef is browned and the onions are translucent, about 7 minutes.3 1/2 to 4 1/2 pounds ground beef, 2 white or yellow onions, 1 green bell pepper
- Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute.2 to 4 cloves garlic
- Add the Rotel, drained beans, tomato sauce, and the spices. Stir to combine.2 cans Rotel diced tomatoes & green chilies, 2 cans pinto beans, 1 can tomato sauce, 1 packet taco or chili seasoning, 4 to 6 tablespoons chili powder, 1 teaspoon dried thyme, 1 tablespoon cumin, 1 teaspoon dried cilantro, 1 pinch dried oregano, 1 pinch black pepper
- Pour in the beer and the water. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer, uncovered, for about 3 hours. If the chili is getting too thick, feel free to add a bit more water.12 ounces light beer, 2 cups water
- Taste and add salt or additional pepper as desired.Salt to taste
- Serve with chopped onions, sour cream, or shredded cheese on top. Accompany with a mean mess o' corn bread, if desired.
Notes
- For even more flavor, try swapping the water with beef, chicken, or vegetable sock.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3-4 days.
- This chili freezes beautifully, so it’s perfect for meal prepping. Freeze in freezer-safe containers for up to 3 months. Allow to thaw in the refrigerator overnight.
Did I make a mistake and not drain the meat? Was I supposed to? It’s a greasy mess in the pot at 2 hours of simmering already. It doesn’t have the thick chilliness that chilli has. Did I not do enough tomato sauce? Seems something is wrong.