My Award-Winning Southern Soul Chili recipe starts with beef and beans in a rich sauce loaded with amazing flavor! That’s perfect for tailgating, game day, or when you’re feeding a crowd. Simmered for hours, it is comfort food at its BEST.
Make a meal that everyone will love when you serve chili Southern style with Creamed Corn Cornbread Muffins, and a fresh Chopped Salad.
In This Post
Last weekend, I felt like I was on a roller coaster ride! I had chopped, cooked, and tasted chili for several days. The reason? I’d entered a Chili Challenge sponsored by our local Farmers Market. It’s a great event that brings together vendors with community partners and all money raised benefits the market. And had two great partners, Charles Sheppard from Sir Charles Gourmet BBQ Sauces and Tommy Neese from Neese’s Country Sausage so I was feeling pretty good about going up against some formidable competitors.
During my prep week, I’d made several different batches of chili and called on a few special taste testers to weigh in on my recipe, and thank goodness, they knew what they were doing! The days were flying by and then, finally, on Thursday night, everything came together and I had the recipe perfected. Friends…all that hard work paid off – we WON!
I am thrilled to share this award-winning recipe with you! It might look complicated but I can assure you it’s not.
Ingredients For The Best Southern Chili Recipe
- Ground Beef
- Hot Breakfast Sausage
- Chili Powder
- Poblano Pepper
- Celery
- Onion
- Garlic
- Salt and Pepper
- Concentrated Tomato Paste
- Crushed Tomatoes
- BBQ Sauce
- Spicy (Hot) BBQ Sauce
- Beer
- Beef Stock
- Worcestershire Sauce
- Balsamic Vinegar
- Honey
- Dark Red Kidney Beans
- Black Beans
5-Star Reader Comments
“I made your chili last Saturday and WON THE CHILI COOK OFF in our mountain village of Northern California! Best chili ever!”
Leslie
“Oh my. Where do I start. This is the most outrageous chili I know that I have ever made much less tasted. All the flavors just work magic together. Truly a great recipe Donya!!!!”
Janet
Don’t Forget The Toppings!
This hearty chili is excellent with all kinds of extra toppings. Here are a few of my favorites:
- Shredded Cheddar or Pepper Jack Cheese
- Sour Cream
- Fresh or Pickled Japapeños
- Hot Sauce
- Chopped Green Onions
- Tortilla Strips
- Chopped Red Onion
Can You Freeze This Chili?
You sure can! Like my Creamy White Chicken Chili, this recipe is easy to freeze. After making the chili, let it cool then place it in a freezer-safe container with a lid. You can also put it in freezer-safe bags. Fill the bag, seal, and lay flat on a baking sheet. Once the chili freezes in the bag, it can be stored upright to save space in the freezer.
What To Serve With Award-Winning Southern Soul Chili
- Sour Cream Corn Bread
- Smoked Gouda Cheese Grits
- Garlic Knots
- Quick And Easy Beer Bread
- Cheese Grits Casserole
- Instant Pot Garlic Herb Rice
If you tried this Award Winning Southern Soul Chili Recipe or any other recipe, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below. Thanks!
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 lb hot sausage
- 3 tablespoons chili powder
- ½ poblano pepper – chopped
- 2 stalks celery – chopped
- 1 medium onion – minced
- 2 tablespoons garlic – minced
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon ground pepper
- 4 oz tomato paste – canned or from tube
- 1 16 oz can crushed tomatoes
- 1 cup your favorite BBQ Sauce
- ½ cup your favorite Hot/Spicy BBQ sauce
- 12 oz lager Beer
- 1 cup beef stock
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 1 tablespoon honey or sugar
- 2 cans (15oz) dark red kidney beans rinsed and drained
- 1 can black beans rinsed and drained
Instructions
- In an extra-large stockpot or cast iron skillet, brown ground beef and sausage.
- Add chopped vegetables, except garlic, and cook until meats are cooked through and vegetables are tender.
- Lower heat to medium.
- Add chili powder, tomatoes, tomato paste, and BBQ sauces to the pot, mixing well. Scrape any bits from the bottom of the pot. Cook for about 15 minutes stirring often.
- Stir in beer, beef broth, minced garlic, Worcestershire, vinegar, and honey. Stir to blend ingredients.
- Simmer for about 1.5 hours stirring frequently allowing chili flavors to marry. If sauce gets too thick, add water in ¼ cup amounts.
- Add beans and cook another 30 minutes, stirring frequently. Taste for seasoning and adjust.
- Serve with garnishes and extras – sour cream, scallions, grated cheese, hot sauce, jalapeños, hot cornbread.
Notes
- This recipe can be finished in the crock pot. Make chili sauce and put mixture in crock pot . Add beans and cook on low for 4 hours.
- Chili freezes well. Allow to cool, put in zip lock bags and lay flat in freezer for storage.
- You may purchase Sir Charles Gourmet BBQ Sauce from The Extra Ingredient in Greensboro, NC by calling toll free ~ 800-528-3618.
Nutrition
Donya's Top Ten Summer Recipes!
Steal my favorites for a done-for-you menu that packs in the flavor
Haven’t tried it yet looks and sounds good
Thanks! ~Donya
Due to religious restrictions, I can’t have pork or beer. Is there anything I can substitute for the two? This recipe sounds wonderful!
When it comes to ingredients, it really depends on your personal tastes.Feel free to substitute the pork and beer with alternatives that align with your preferences or what you enjoy most. This recipe is flexible, so you can make it your own.
~Donya
Hi Amani! I use impossible pork- it’s literally 100% equivalent to the way animal pork tastes, but completely pork free 🙂
What kind of hot sausage did you use.
Neese’s. It’s a regional brand. You can use whatever you like.
~Donya
Recipe sounds good.
excellent flavor… added one cup of low carb beer in place of half cup of barbecue sauce, used poblano in adobo sauce with small amount extra adobo sauce
I’m super excited about this as I’m making it for a work chili cook off! My only question is, do you drain the grease from your meat? The recipe didn’t call for it; but as it’s simmering, there’s a lot of grease at the top. Thanks!!
It’s personal preference. Sometimes I drain it and something I don’t
Enjoy the chili!
~Donya
I won a 12 person Chili Cook off with this recipe!
Only caution I would add is when choosing your favorite BBQ sauce, don’t add sugar or honey if your BBQ sauce is any bit sweet. I made the chili the night before to allow all the flavors to marry and it was too sweet in the morning. I offset it with a half tablespoon of apple cider vinegar and still won but I thought it was a bit sweet for my taste.
Great recipe!
I made this tonight for dinner but I did do a few changes as I was worried about the spice level, but it turned out spicy anyways. I did just 1 cup BBQ, I did a green pepper instead of the poblano pepper, I added 2 extra tablespoons of chilli powder, and I added extra beef broth instead of the beer as we didn’t have any. I found this to be surprisingly good! I was sceptical about all the ingredients as I’ve never made a chilli with some of them before, but it was sweet with an undertone of spicy. And the flavour was wonderful! 10/10 would recommend! Thank you so much!
FYI, poblanos are NOT spicy.
They measure between 1,000–2,000 Scoville Heat Units (SHU) on the Scoville scale, which is used to measure the spiciness of chili peppers. This makes them milder than jalapeños, serranos, and habaneros, but spicier than bell peppers.
I made this for my church chili competition. There was 32 contenders. I won FIRST place! lol I have never competed in a food competition and was so pumped! I won $100 prize and bragging rights for life! 😁
Wonderful! Thanks so much.
~Donya
I made this recipe and won my chili cookoff at work! The pot was licked clean!! Sooo good and full of flavor! Added hot honey instead of regular and WOWIE! Delicious!
Wonderful! Thanks so much.
~Donya