Crock-Pot Smoky Chili

The perfect comfort food on a cold chilly day is a delicious bowl of Smoky Chili to warm you up! Frank enjoys chili so I decided to make him some. I've never made chili before and it isn't hard, it is time consuming though. Even though I used a crock-pot for this recipe, I actually had to do some prep before putting the ingredients in the crock-pot. I worked off a few recipes to create my own and this is the result of that.

This is what I refer to as a Chili Makeover because I tried to take out the high sodium contents and fatty stuff. As reference, I used this recipe as a foundation for my chili. I was inspired by this Springfield chili makeover to cut the sodium and fat as well.

The recipe that I came up with uses beer instead of chicken broth. This is healthier because you cut down on the sodium.

Ingredients:

5 strips of Applewood Smoked Bacon, chopped

1/2 pound ground beef 85/15 (you can use any variety, the sirloin is leaner though)

2 Spicy Chicken Sausage, cut into 1/2-inch pieces (I got mine from Trader Joe's)

1 1/2 chopped onion

1/2 garlic minced

16oz Budweiser

6oz tomato paste

2 cans (14.5oz) of Stewed Tomatoes, chopped

3 tablespoons chili powder (I made my own without oregano, but added other herbs I had on hand)

1 tablespoon ground cumin

3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

3 bay leaves

3 cups pinto beans (canned or prep your own)

1 1/2 tablespoons sugar

1/2 cup finely chopped green onions

2 ounces any cheese you like (about 1/2 cup)

1 tbsp olive oil

Preparation:

1. In a Dutch oven on medium-high heat, cook the Applewood Smoked Bacon until slightly browned. This is going to be the oil base. Add the onions and garlic until onions are almost translucent. Then add the Spicy Italian Sausage. Let cook until the sausage plums up. Then add in the beer and let simmer on medium heat. Transfer into Crock-pot.

2. In the same pan, add a little bit of oil and cook ground beef on medium heat. Once beef is cooked, transfer onto the crock-pot.

3. Add the cooked pinto beans onto the Crock-pot as well. I didn't used a can because of the sodium content. Instead, I soaked my pinto beans overnight and cooked them on low for 2 hours with 3 cups of water until they were soft, drained them and rinsed them. As it cooks in the slow cooker, it will get softer.

4. Add tomato paste, chopped stewed tomatoes, chili powder, ground cumin, black pepper, sugar and stir to combine. I made my own chili powder (1/8 cup sweet paprika, 1/2 tablespoon garlic powder, 1/2 tablespoon cayenne pepper, 1/2 tablespoon onion powder, 1 teaspoons ground cumin, 1/2 tsp herbs mixture).

5. Add bay leaves and let cook on high in slow cooker for 6-8 hours.

6. Garnish with cheese and green onions, serve with bread.

I enjoyed the paprika flavor it really brings out that smoky taste. Next time, I will prep the pinto beans in advance because those took a while to cook. Overall, I hope you try this recipe. Bon appetit!!!