Giovanni’s Slow-Cooked Chili
There are evenings when you can tell what kind of dinner the house needs before anyone asks. Shoes have been dropped by the door, somebody is opening the refrigerator hoping dinner might have miraculously made itself, and the weather has finally given you permission to pull out the big Dutch oven. Around here, that is a very good night for Giovanni’s chili.
This is my husband Giovanni’s recipe, and it has been made enough times in our family that I can recognize the smell of it before I walk into the kitchen. Beef browning with onions and garlic, cumin and chili powder hitting the warm pot, tomatoes going in, and finally a bottle of wheat beer poured over the whole thing before it settles in for a long simmer.
Giovanni also happens to make a very good pot of chili. This recipe has gone into chili cook-offs over the years, but its real usefulness has always been much closer to home. It makes a generous amount, feeds eight hungry people, reheats beautifully, and gives you the kind of dinner that can sit on the stove while everyone wanders into the kitchen at a different time asking, “Is it ready yet?”
I recommend making the cornbread.
Chili has a long and colorful place in American cooking, particularly in Texas.
By the late nineteenth century, San Antonio was well known for its open-air chili stands. Women remembered as the Chili Queens served chili con carne along with tamales, enchiladas, and other foods at places including Military Plaza and Market Square. Their stands became part of the city’s nighttime life and introduced travelers as well as local customers to the dish.
Chili then traveled far beyond Texas. The Library of Congress notes that after chili con carne was introduced to crowds at Chicago’s 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition, recipes began appearing in community cookbooks in towns and cities around the country.
That is where American cooking gets especially interesting. Families took an established dish and began making versions suited to their own kitchens. Tomatoes appeared. Beans appeared. Ground beef became common. Seasoning blends changed from household to household. By the twentieth century, a pot of chili could look considerably different depending on where you ate it and who was standing at the stove.
Giovanni’s version belongs to that home-kitchen tradition.
His chili is made with three pounds of ground beef, yellow onion, plenty of garlic, tomatoes, red and white kidney beans, cumin, chili powder, Hungarian paprika, oregano, and a bottle of wheat ale. The beer cooks into the tomato and beef mixture during the long simmer and becomes part of the broth rather than leaving the chili tasting strongly of beer.
There is also an optional seven-ounce can of diced green chiles. We include them when we want a little more pepper flavor without turning dinner into an endurance test.
Before anything goes into the Dutch oven, combine the salt, black pepper, cumin, chili powder, paprika, and oregano in a small bowl.
It takes about thirty seconds, and it makes the cooking easier once the stove is going. You can add the entire seasoning mixture to the pot at once rather than measuring six different things while the onions are cooking and the garlic is threatening to burn.
Use regular Hungarian paprika for a milder pot of chili or a hot Hungarian paprika if your family prefers more heat.
As always, season according to your own table. A tablespoon of kosher salt works for our pot, but canned tomatoes and beans can vary considerably in sodium. You can begin with less salt and add more after the chili has simmered.
Start with the onions. Cook them in a tablespoon of olive oil until they have softened, about five to seven minutes, then add the garlic for another minute or two.
Next comes the ground beef. Break it into smaller pieces with a wooden spoon and brown it thoroughly. If the beef gives off a great deal of fat, spoon off the excess. I like to leave a little in the pot because it carries flavor through the tomatoes and spices.
Then everything starts looking like chili.
Add the tomato sauce, diced tomatoes and their juices, drained beans, and green chiles if you are using them. Stir in the seasoning mixture and pour in the wheat beer.
At this point, the work is essentially finished.
Reduce the heat and let the chili simmer gently for about two hours, partially covered or uncovered depending on how quickly it is reducing. Give it a stir now and then, scraping across the bottom of the pot so nothing catches.
During those two hours, the tomato base thickens, the spices settle into the beef, and the beans absorb some of the seasoned broth.
If your chili becomes thicker than you like, cover the pot. If it needs to reduce further, leave the lid off for part of the cooking time.
This recipe also works well in the slow cooker, especially on a day when dinner needs to take care of itself for a while.
Brown the onions, garlic, and ground beef on the stovetop first. Drain excess fat, then transfer the mixture to the slow cooker.
Add the tomatoes, beans, green chiles, seasoning mixture, and wheat beer. Stir everything together, cover, and cook on LOW for about 6 hours.
Browning the beef before it goes into the slow cooker is worth the extra pan. You get properly browned meat and can remove excess fat before everything cooks together.
I usually put the toppings on the table and let everyone finish his or her own bowl.
Shredded cheddar is practically mandatory in our house. Add sour cream, sliced scallions, chopped jalapeños, or a bottle of hot sauce for anyone who wants more heat.
And then there is cornbread.
My Honey Cornbread is exactly what I want alongside this chili. A warm square can be split and buttered or crumbled right into the bowl, which may offend somebody somewhere but has never stopped me.
A pot this size is also useful when people are coming over. Put the Dutch oven on the stove, set out bowls and toppings, make a pan of cornbread, and dinner can serve itself without a lot of last-minute kitchen work.
Chili may be even better after spending a night in the refrigerator.
Once it has cooled, refrigerate it in a covered container and reheat gently on the stovetop. The seasonings continue to mingle as it sits, and the chili usually becomes thicker overnight.
It freezes well, too. Freeze cooled chili in portions that make sense for your household, leaving a little room in the container for expansion. Thaw it safely in the refrigerator before reheating.
I especially like having a container tucked away for one of those evenings when nobody planned dinner and suddenly everybody wants dinner.
Giovanni already did the cooking for you.
And around here, that earns a man a great deal of goodwill.
Until next time, thank you for spending a little time with me. I hope you'll find a recipe to make, a story to enjoy, and maybe learn something new along the way. ♥️
Recipe for: Homestyle Honey Cornbread
Giovanni’s Slow-Cooked Chili
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 2 hours
Servings: 8
Slow Cooker: 6 hours on LOW
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/2 large yellow onions, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, finely minced
3 pounds ground beef
2 (15.5-ounce) cans tomato sauce
2 (14.5-ounce) cans diced tomatoes, with juices
2 (15.5-ounce) cans white kidney beans, drained and rinsed
2 (15.5-ounce) cans red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 (7-ounce) can diced green chiles, optional
1 tablespoon kosher salt, or to taste
1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon Hungarian paprika, regular or hot
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 (12-ounce) bottle wheat beer or wheat ale
For Serving
Shredded cheddar cheese
Sour cream
Sliced scallions
Diced jalapeños, optional
Hot sauce, optional
Honey Cornbread, for serving
Instructions:
- Make the seasoning mixture. In a small bowl, combine the kosher salt, black pepper, cumin, chili powder, paprika, and oregano. Set aside.
- Cook the onions and garlic. Heat the olive oil in a large Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed stockpot over medium heat. Add the onions and cook for 5 to 7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until softened and translucent. Add the garlic and cook for 1 to 2 minutes, stirring so it does not burn.
- Brown the beef. Add the ground beef and break it into smaller pieces with a wooden spoon. Cook until the beef is fully browned. Spoon off excess fat, leaving a small amount in the pot for flavor.
- Add the tomatoes and beans. Stir in the tomato sauce, diced tomatoes with their juices, white kidney beans, red kidney beans, and green chiles, if using.
- Season the chili. Add the prepared seasoning mixture and stir thoroughly so the spices are evenly distributed.
- Add the beer. Pour in the wheat beer and stir to combine.
- Simmer. Reduce the heat to low and gently simmer for about 2 hours, uncovered or partially covered, stirring occasionally and scraping the bottom of the pot. If the chili becomes too thick, cover the pot for part of the remaining cooking time.
- Taste before serving. Adjust the salt, pepper, chili powder, or other seasonings to suit your taste.
- Serve. Ladle the chili into bowls and set out shredded cheddar, sour cream, scallions, jalapeños, and hot sauce for topping. Serve with warm Homestyle Honey Cornbread.
Slow-Cooker Instructions
- Prepare the onions, garlic, and ground beef through Step 3. Drain excess fat and transfer the mixture to a slow cooker. Add the tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, beans, green chiles, seasoning mixture, and wheat beer. Stir well.
- Cover and cook on LOW for approximately 6 hours. Stir, taste, and adjust the seasonings before serving.
Storing and Freezing
- Allow leftover chili to cool, then refrigerate it in a covered container. For longer storage, portion the cooled chili into freezer-safe containers, leaving room for expansion. Thaw frozen chili in the refrigerator and reheat thoroughly on the stovetop.
Hi Stasia! I just made this for the family & they loved it! Thanks for a good recipe that wasn’t difficult!!
October 1, 2017 at 7:47 pm ★★★★★
Xo, Dana G.
