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With the weather quickly turning, all I can think about are warm hearty meals. What’s better than some chili on a fall afternoon! For this recipe I incorporated a smoking technique making an over the top beef chili. By smoking the ground beef above the chili mix, it brings a new twist to a traditional recipe. The combined taste of smoked meat and enhanced chili flavor from the meat drippings make for an over the top beef chili recipe!
Table of Contents
Prepare the beef chili mix.
As any traditional chili mix, in a dutch oven add the basic ingredients. This includes diced onion and a red bell pepper, olive oil, cumin, chili powder, cayenne, salt, pepper, tomato paste, tomato sauce, chicken stock and diced tomatoes with green chili. I picked the green chili diced tomatoes to give this recipe some extra heat.
Mix all the ingredient together and get started on mixing the meat.
For the beef, I used ground beef chuck (80%/20% mix) and hot Italian sausage meat. The Italian sausage will elevate this recipe with additional spicy and savory flavors. For the seasoning add cumin, chili, powder, cayenne and salt. Mix the beefs together and form a round flat ball.
Place the formed beef patty onto a wire rack and place it on top of the filled dutch oven.
Dad’s Seasonings
Must have grillin seasonings!
Grill the over the top beef chili.
Set up the grill for indirect heat at 250 degrees. Slowly smoke the chili and meat for 2 hours or until the meat reaches 150 degrees internally. The beef drippings from the meat above will add another layer of amazing beefy goodness that you cannot replicate if cooked directly in the chili.
Time to add the meat.
It’s time to add meat into the chili! Remove the wire rack from the grill and crumble up the beef. Next, place the crumbles into the chili along with pinto and kidney beans and let it continue to cook for another hour or until the beans are soft. The smokiness of the beef with the spiciness from the hot sausage, cayenne pepper and green chilis make for one over the top beef chili!
To serve, add a few scoops of chili in a bowl, Frito chips, sour cream, green onions, cheese and enjoy!
Frequently Asked Questions:
Beans are probably the most controversial ingredient in my chili recipes. The country is definitely split in half here. I say, do what you want. I always include beans. It adds texture, flavor and substance to the chili. If you are going to use beans, use both kidney and pinto beans.
The most common protein in chili is ground beef. However there are so many other alternative options. You can use such as a ground pork and beef blend, mix beef with Italian sausage or chorizo, left over brisket is another great option. For vegetarians, beans is a great protein option.
Similar Recipe Ideas:
Printer friendly recipe below:
Over the top beef chili
Ingredients
- 1.5 lbs Ground Beef Chuck 80%/20% blend
- 3 Links of hot Italian Sausage
- 1 Onion
- 1 Red bell pepper
- 1 cup Chicken stock
- 1 tbsp Olive oil
- 2 tbsp Cumin
- 2 tbsp Chili powder
- 1 tbsp Cayenne pepper
- 1 tbsp Salt
- 1 tbsp Pepper
- 15 oz Tomato sauce
- 15 oz Diced tomatoes with green chili
- 6 oz Tomato paste
- 15.5 oz Kidney beans
- 15.5 oz Pinto beans
Instructions
- Dice up the onion and a red bell pepper.
- In a dutch oven add the diced onion, bell pepper, and 1 tbsp of each: olive oil, cumin, chili powder. Add 1/2 tbsp of cayenne, salt, pepperAdd the tomato sauce, tomato paste, chicken stock and diced tomatoes with green chili. Mix all together.
- Separately, mixed ground beef chuck (80%/20%mix) with 3 hot Italian sausage links. Remove the casing from the sausage.
- Add 1 tbsp of cumin, chili, powder and 1/2 tbsp cayenne, salt and pepper to the ground beef mixture and mix it into the meat.
- Form the beef mixture into a round flat ball and place it on a wire rack above the dutch oven.
- Set up the grill for indirect heat at 250 degrees.
- Slowly smoke for 2 hours or until the meat reached 150 degrees internally.
- Remove the wire rack from the grill and crumbled up the beef. Place the crumbles into the chili along with pinto and kidney beans and let if continue to cook for about an hour or until the beans are soft.
- Serve with your favorite toppings and enjoy!
Nutrition
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The only Chili recipe that I do. The whole family love it. It is a little bit spicy for the kids so I put less cayenne. In the video you put garlic in the sauce but it is not in the ingredients. Unfortunately I have not found the diced tomatoes with green Chili here in Quebec so i just put ordinary diced tomatoes. (I smoke on the Weber performer with hickory). Keep the good work! I watch all you instagram posts!