Fall is such a wonderful time for chili. It brings back memories of being a student at Michigan State University and hardly being able to contain my excitement of returning home during holiday break and having real, home cooked meals. I can’t remember if my mom would ask me what I wanted her to make or if I requested my favorites before I even arrived home. Either way, chili was always one of those meals.
My mom’s chili was always good but eventually my husband (boyfriend at the time) and I created our own. After trying a few chili recipes we had an idea of what we liked and began to write down everything we added to the pot. We got a little crazy as this recipe serves a lot of people. We even managed to overflow my husbands crock-pot one time. That’s when I became wise and bought my own LARGE crock-pot that holds this recipe perfectly.
We started our own tradition of making chili for the Detroit Lion’s first football game of the season. We were so excited to watch the game (well maybe Ryan was a little more than me) that it helped to keep ourselves occupied beforehand. And when the game finally started we had warm chili to cuddle up with on the coach and eat while watching the game. Heaven.
Trust me, we become more and more creative each year. The recipe below is just a snapshot of how we currently make our chili. It seems like a new ingredient is always entering our crock-pot. One year it was brown sugar, another year it was honey, and then roasted peppers. Each new ingredient worked quite well and we kept adding them onto our base recipe. Have fun when putting this dish together. This recipe suits our tastes, but what do you like that’s missing? Don’t be afraid to add different ingredients. It’s pretty hard to ruin chili. A few years ago I went to a hunting lodge that was hosting a chili cook off and I have never seen so many different kinds of chili! There was cherry chili, catfish chili (yes it was even in a camouflage hunting crock-pot!) and many more. You name it, they had it. So be creative.
When the chili is ready have a variety of toppings to enhance your experience. Many people like to serve cornbread with their chili. My husband and I like to crumble it over the top of our chili. Add a dollop of cold sour cream to cool down your first few bites while adding a bit of creaminess. Perhaps my favorite…French’s fried onions for some texture. And last, but not least, some freshly shredded cheddar cheese.
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| Some of our favorite toppings |
If you’re wondering why the chili is called Snebert’s chili, no it’s not because you’ll find it in the Lemony Snicket’s series, it’s actually made from a combination of my maiden name and my husband’s last name (now mine as well) since we were only dating at the time. I hope you’ll enjoy this chili as much as we do!
Snebert’s Chili
Original recipe by Alissa & Ryan Hebert
Serves: 10-12 people
Prep time: 20 mins.
Total time: 5 hours
Ingredients:
- 2 lbs ground beef
- 1 (29 oz.) can tomato sauce
- 1 (15.5 oz.) can kidney beans (with liquid)
- 1 (15 oz.) can black beans (with liquid)
- 1 (30.5 oz) can mild chili beans in chili sauce
- 1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes w/ green chilies
- 1/2 of medium Vidalia onion, chopped
- 1/2 of medium red onion, chopped
- 2 stalks celery, chopped
- 2 teaspoons cumin powder
- 3 tablespoons chili powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons black pepper
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 3/4 cup water
- 1 roasted red pepper, chopped (include half of the liquid from the 12 oz. jar)
- 3 heaping teaspoons brown sugar
- Honey
Directions:
- Cook the ground beef and drain the fat.
- In a large crock-pot add ground beef and all of the remaining ingredients. When adding the honey drizzle 1 to 2 drizzles over the top of the chili; stir well to combine.
- Turn crock-pot on to high heat and cover with lid, making sure to stir every so often. Cook on high for approximately 4 hours, then remove lid and cook on low for 1 hour.
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