Being an Iowian, born and raised, I love the Iowa Hawkeyes. Now I know that you care less about that and more about the food, but my family has gone to the University of Iowa, and I am in fact the only one born in Iowa out of our bunch.

Don’t get me wrong, just because I am an Iowian and say “Ope” twenty times a day, does not make me like pork or beef any better than anything else. I love seafood, BUT I love a good hearty chili. I always add raw onions on top with shredded cheese and sour cream. OoOhH…I’m excited that it’s football season. I’m also very excited that it’s crockpot season as well. (Less work for people who have mouths to feed). Throw everything into a crockpot and TADA! You’re set to go about your day.

Ingredients

• 1 lb of beef
• 2 T olive oil
• 1 ~ 2 jalapeños
• 1 medium onion ( yellow is more sweet, red is more meaty)
• 2 cloves of garlic ~ 1 teaspoon
• 15 oz of tomato sauce
• 14.5 oz of diced tomatoes
• 6 oz of tomato paste
• 40 oz Chili beans or Kidney beans
• *2 Teaspoons of Beef Bouillon
• OR 2 Tablespoons of Gravy powder*
• 1 T of Cumin
• 1 T of Chili Powder
• 2 teaspoon of oregano
• Salt and pepper to taste

Recipe

1. On the stove, cook the ground beef and allow to brown, cooking the majority of the juices out. Drain beef and set aside.
2. Next, sauté the onion, garlic, and jalapeños with olive oil. Wait till they are softened and have some good browning action going on.
3. Add the can of tomato paste. *The whole thing*
4. Stir well.
5. Add the cooked ingredients into the crockpot.
6. Add everything else (hold off on the bouillon)
7. *My mother uses gravy powder to thicken the chili, but I use the bouillon because I like my chili a little less thick then she does. Either way is really good.
8. Allow to cook for 4 hours on high or 6 on low until the flavors have mingled well together.

This recipe is deliciously belly filling. You can also use this chili for chili cheese dogs or make a dirty sloppy joe by adding chili to the mix. There are so many possibilities! If you don’t want to make it spicy just leave out the jalapeños. I top mine with a lot of cheese, raw onions, avocado, sour cream and more hot sauce.

Tell us what kind of chili do you make? Does your game day chili differ from your holiday chili? We love hearing what you guys think.

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