This is the perfect Beer Chili recipe. Packed with vegetables, hearty beans, rich beer, and ground meat – it’s comfort food at it’s finest.
Recently, on Instagram, I was talking about beer chili. I was surprised at the number of messages I got regarding what it was!
When making chili, I almost always use beer with or instead of stock/broth for the liquid. To some people, I know this may seem confusing so…
Why do you use beer in chili?
For flavor, of course! The rich and buttery flavor of beer adds so much to chili. When it’s added to the meat and vegetables as they’re sauteeing, it deglazes the pan and as it simmers, most to all of the alcohol cooks out.
When I use beer in my chili, it has a more robust, cozy taste that just kicks everything up to the next level. The nest question I’m sure you have is…
What kind of beer is best in chili?
I almost always use a lager, porter or stout beer. These three types of beers tend to be a little lower on the hop scale and they have a more rich and frothy feel, which in turn makes the chili nice and hearty.
I love using seasonal beers – like pumpkin, coffee, chocolate – most of the time, bold flavors like that really work well with chili powder and cumin, the main spices in this recipe.
Steer clear of very hoppy IPAs and sours, unless you’re doing like a white chicken chili, which is much different from the recipe below.
What else is in this recipe?
The usual suspects 🙂 I like to keep chili simple. We’ve just got a combination of meat (you can use beef, venison, turkey, bison – just see the directions for details), onion, peppers, tomatoes, beans, and spices.
I like to keep all of the ingredients on hand so whenever I feel like it, I can whip up a pot on a lazy Sunday for the week.
How do you make beer chili?
This is the best part. It’s a one-pot recipe! You start by sauteeing the onions and peppers, brown the meat, deglaze with the beer, and everything else goes in the pot!
Don’t you love a fabulous meal with almost no cleanup? Check out this Stuffed Pepper Soup, too!
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Best Beer Chili
This is the perfect Beer Chili recipe. Packed with vegetables, hearty beans, rich beer, and ground meat – it’s comfort food at it’s finest.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 40 minutes
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: about 6-8 1x
- Category: Soup/Stew
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp. olive oil
- 1 onion, diced
- 2 green bell peppers, diced
- 1 lb. ground meat (beef, venison, turkey, elk*)
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 Tbsp. chili powder
- 2 Tbsp. cumin
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1/2 tsp. pepper
- *1 and 1/2 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar* – for wild game meat ONLY
- 12 oz. beer (I like lagers, porters, or stouts)
- 2 (15 oz.) cans of diced tomatoes
- 1 (6 oz.) can tomato paste
- 1 (15oz.) can pinto beans
- 1 (15oz.) can black beans
- 1 (15oz.) can kidney beans
Instructions
- Start by heating the olive oil in a large pot. Add the onions and peppers and saute for about 5 minutes until they start to soften.
- Add the ground meat and allow it to brown, about 8 minutes. Then add the garlic, chili powder, cumin, salt and pepper and cook for 2 additional minutes.
- Then, add the beer and allow it to deglaze the pan while you scrape up the bits off the bottom of the pan. Let this cook for 5 minutes while the alcohol cooks out of the beer.
- Then add all of the remaining ingredients and stir. Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce it to a simmer, and cover.
- Cook for at least 20 minutes, but the longer the better! When you’re ready to serve, remove it from the heat and top how you like!
Nutrition
- Calories: 432
- Sugar: 7 g
- Sodium: 742 mg
- Fat: 9 g
- Saturated Fat: 2 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 4 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 59 g
- Fiber: 16 g
- Protein: 29 g
- Cholesterol: 40 mg
Made this chili and loved it! Topped with some cheese and sour cream!
Sour cream is my favorite on chili! Glad you enjoyed 🙂
Loved this chili so much! It was easy to make and had tons of flavor. Will definitely make again!
This was so good!! I made it with ground venison. I also added a bit of Adobo Chili powder in addition to my own homemade chili seasoning. I topped mine with sour cream and Mexican shredded 4-cheese blend…so yummy and my hubby ate it plain. He gave it a “fantastic” rating! Served with cornbread on the side …was a great meal on a very cold day here in Minnesota!! Thanks for your great venison recipes.
Hey Paula! Thanks so much for your comment, this means so much 🙂
Hi! I have bud light in my fridge. Would this work in the chili recipe? Thanks!
You bet!!
I used venison. I rinsed off the meat and placed it on a dish. When it came time to add it, more blood came out. I didn’t rinse it but put it in the pan without the blood. Blood remained in the dish. Here are the changes I made: put in one can of pinto beans, that’s it. Topped with fresh avocado. If I put in two more cans of beans, I didn’t have a large enough pan!!! Preparation time is exaggerated for cutting vegetables. Will I make it again? YES!!!
I am so glad you enjoyed this recipe, Mary! Thanks so much for sharing your adaptions to the recipe, glad it turned out great for you!
This recipe looks delicious. Can I simply omit the beans or will I have to make other adjustments to the recipe?
You can, however, I would recommend adding 1/2 lb additional meat.
Going to try it tonight
I can’t wait to hear how it turns out for you, Peter! Enjoy!
At what point do you add the apple cider vinegar for wild game? I have made this a few times and it is delicious.
I’m not a beer person, but I’ll make an exception for this recipe and bratwurst! It’s that time of year, and we are looking forward to dinner! Standard toppings (cheddar cheese and sour cream). I just feel bad that I don’t have any veggies sides, because I don’t think that green bell peppers count (LOL).
Even using half the cumin was still too much. Gave a funky, overpowering flavor. My usual chili recipe doesn’t use cumin. I had to add a lot of spices to hide the taste. I also didn’t find the beer enhanced the flavor. I should’ve just drunk the beer.
So sorry this recipe wasn’t a win for you, Alexa.