Boilermaker Chili
13. Jan, 2010 
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A few weeks ago I wanted to make chili, and I’m always struggling to find a good chili recipe. I’d seen this one on allrecipes.com before, but for some reason had never used it. If you want to see the original, with comments, you can find it here, but I adapted it to suit my family, so my recipe is quite different from the original. That’s how I roll 
It turned out to be the best chili I’ve ever made, and since I actually had Fritos in the house, I served it with those. I may never eat chili without Fritos again. Yum! I also served it with cornbread on the side.
Boilermaker Chili (adapted from allrecipes.com)
Ingredients
* 2 pounds ground beef chuck
* 1 pound bulk Italian sausage
* 3 (15 ounce) cans chili beans, drained (chili beans = pinto. You can sub kidney if you like)
* 1 (28 ounce) cans diced tomatoes with juice
* 2 (15 oz) cans Rotel tomatoes
* 1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
* 1 large yellow onion, chopped
* 2 green chile peppers, seeded and chopped (optional, I didn’t use these but I would for variation)
* 4 tablespoons real bacon bits (Sam’s Club sells a huge bag for $6 that’s awesome to use in recipes)
* 4 tsp beef base (different and so much better than bouillon!)
* 1 cup beer (the darker the better, don’t leave the beer out)
* 1/4 cup chili powder (more to taste, once it’s had a while to cook and blend)
* 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
* 1 tablespoon minced garlic
* 1 tablespoon dried oregano
* 2 teaspoons ground cumin
* 2 teaspoons hot pepper sauce (e.g. Tabasco™)
* 1 teaspoon dried basil
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
* 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
* 1 teaspoon paprika
* 1 teaspoon white sugar
*1/4 cup bittersweet chocolate (or 1-2 Tbsp unsweet cocoa powder)
* 1 (10.5 ounce) bag corn chips such as Fritos®
* 1 (8 ounce) package shredded Cheddar cheese
Directions
*The directions are for stovetop but you could easily make this in the crockpot. I was short on time, so did stovetop, but next time if I plan ahead right, I’ll do crockpot chili.
1. Heat a large stock pot over medium-high heat. Crumble the ground chuck and sausage into the hot pan, and cook until evenly browned. Drain off excess grease.
2. Pour in the chili beans, tomatoes and tomato paste. Add the onion, celery, bacon bits, bouillon, and beer. Season with chili powder, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, oregano, cumin, hot pepper sauce, basil, salt, pepper, cayenne, paprika, and sugar. Stir to blend, then cover and simmer over low heat for at least 2 hours, stirring occasionally.
3. After 2 hours, taste, and adjust salt, pepper, and chili powder if necessary. The longer the chili simmers, the better it will taste. Remove from heat and serve, or refrigerate, and serve the next day.
4. To serve, ladle into bowls, and top with corn chips and shredded Cheddar cheese.
Author Info
I usually cook dried pintos in a separate pot from the one the chili (meat) cooks in. I can’t cook w/beer because it has gluten in it and the fella’s not allowed. The rest of it sounds great, though… Does the cocoa/chocolate go in with the sugar? Are these green chiles the New Mexico Hatch-style greens? Love the flavor of those…
Yeah. I tend to go more basic, but this sounds good.
This sounds cook. I was hankering for another try at my crockpot.
What was the spicy hot level as I see Tabasco was added? I really don’t like spicy hot. I like mild chili.
@Gail: No beer? How sad
I can’t comment on the chiles because I didn’t use them. I don’t think the recipe demands a certain kind.
@Jusy: I actually used Frank’s Red Hot, which is I think a little more mild. I like milder chili too, though my brother and husband prefer spicier. If you want more mild, leave out the green chile, use only one can of Rotel and use a can of plain diced tomatoes in its place.
Angie – Question. We’ve got relatively wimpy mouths in our family, but love chili. Other than the chilies, this doesn’t look too spicy. How would you rate the heat level on a scale from 1-10, 10 being very spicy?
Thanks!
Hm. 5 or less. If you leave out the chiles (which I did) and do what I suggested for Jusy, with the Rotels (which add heat) then you’ll have even less heat than I did. Don’t be afraid of the chili powder, as that doesn’t really add much heat, so don’t try to control it there. Control it with the other ingredients. You could also cut the cayenne in half.
I was raised believing kidney beans were used for chili. No wonder I can’t cook.
This looks good, but I can’t figure out how to substitute all the tomato stuff. I can’t have lumps. I can use sauce and/or paste, but no diced/chopped/otherwise made lumpy tomatoes.
Also, no onions or peppers.
What’s left? Beer and Fritos! My kind of recipe.
I’ve been looking for a good chili recipe. This sounds good.
Shannon–when I was a kid my dad wouldn’t eat “lumpy” tomatoes, onions, peppers, garlic (the list goes on and on) so my mom would through everything into a blender and liquify it, if you can’t see it–it’s not there.
That was going to be my suggestion as well. Puree everything in a blender/food processor. Well,not the meat or beans, but the veggie part.
Angie – One more question…the directions mention celery, but I don’t see it in the ingredients list. Celery yes? Or no?
Ew. Definitely no on my end. That’s why it’s missing from the list of ingredients, lol. I put celery in nothing though. I think cooked celery is gross. I’ll have to fix the recipe, thanks for pointing it out!
I love chili! We use Carroll Shelby’s Original Texas Chili seasoning mix and really love it. It has just the right amount of heat for our tender Midwestern tastebuds, but isn’t bland at all.
We have always used Fritos and cheese in our chili. Lately, I have been taking a shortcut and using crushed Doritos for a cheesy crunch…
Chili and baked ziti are my goto meals in the winter.
Oh good! I don’t like celery either! Thank you!
I love chili, cheese and Fritos.