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What’s better than some chili on a fall afternoon? Over the Top Beer Chili! For this recipe I incorporated a smoking technique making an over the top beef chili and used my secret ingredient beer. 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 savory flavor from the beer make this the must have fall recipe!
For a lighter chili recipe, check out my smoked white chicken chili. Similar flavors, leaner protein, this is a winner! Use the leftovers from this recipe and made a fully loaded chili baked potato for dinner.
Table of Contents
Ingredients needed for the Over the Top Beer Chili.
- Ground beef: key savory protein used to make a patty that will smoke over the chili broth..
- Italian sausage: another protein used in the patty to add flavor.
- Beer: use a lager style beer for the subtle, mild hoppy flavor.
- Yellow onion: savory flavor and crunchy texture for the chili mix.
- Bell Pepper: ads a nice savory crunch to the mix.
- Beef broth: savory flavorful beefy liquid base for the chili mix.
- Tomato paste: tomato base for the chili mix.
- Seasonings: for the perfect homemade chili mix, you will need: cumin, chili powder, salt, pepper, cayenne pepper.
- Beans: use both kidney and pinto beans. Without the beans, this chili is basically a beef soup.
Step 1: Prepare the over the top beer 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, diced tomatoes with green chili and a can of beer. 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 more 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.
Chili Tip
- A great way to simplify the seasoning process is to get a pre-measured chili mix. It’s simple, convenient and takes out all the measuring steps. I used a mix by Hardcore carnivore and it was delicious.
- Adjust heat levels to your liking. Use mild Italian sausage instead of hot, skip cayenne pepper or add more.
Dad’s Seasonings
Must have grillin seasonings!
Step 2: Time to grill the Over the Top Beer 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.
Step 3: Time to add the meat to the beer chili..
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 the over the top beer 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:
If you tried this Over the Top Beer Chili or any other recipe on my blog, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the📝 comments. I love hearing from you!
Over the top Beer Chili
Ingredients
- 1.5 lbs Ground Beef Chuck 80%/20% blend
- 3 links Hot Italian sausage
- 1 Yellow onion
- 1 Red bell pepper
- 1 can Samual Adams beer
- 2 tbsp Cumin
- 2 tbsp Chili powder
- 1 tbsp Olive oil
- 1 tbsp Salt
- 1 tbsp Pepper
- 1/2 tbsp Cayenne 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.
- Mix a small container, add the seasonings: cumin, chili powder, cayenne pepper, salt, pepper. Blend them together.
- In a dutch oven add the diced onion, bell pepper, tomato sauce, tomato paste, diced tomatoes with green chili, beer and half of the season mix. Mix together.
- Separately, mixed ground beef chuck (80%/20%mix) with 3 hot Italian sausage links. Remove the casing from the sausage.
- Add the remaining half of the mixed seasoning 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!
Notes
- A great way to simplify the seasoning process is to get a pre-measured chili mix. It’s simple, convenient and takes out all the measuring steps. I used a mix by Hardcore carnivore and it was delicious.
- Adjust heat levels to your liking. Use mild Italian sausage instead of hot, skip cayenne pepper or add more.
Nutrition
Check out the Recipes Page for other tasty ideas!
This chili is so fun to make and extremely delicious.
I made this Chili a month ago,best chili I’ve ever made,even my wife loved it and she is not a big chili fan. Thanks for the recipe
Sort of revolutionized chili with this recipe. Infinitely customizable, and I think this was what got me to follow GWD! Thanks!
The best Chili I’ve ever made! Absolutely delicious & so easy to make! Never thought of cooking chili in the smoker but it turned out amazing!
Made this chili, only I made it in the oven. It is now one of our favorite chilies. I didn’t have the beer so I used beef broth instead Looking forward to making it again!