Chili Cook Off Winning Recipe

Participating in a Company Chili Cook Off

I love all shapes and forms of cooking contests at work, so naturally a chili cook off is right up my alley.

Chili makes for a great office cooking contest because there’s so my variety and individuality when it comes to chili. There’s so much room to play with different spices, meats, vegetables, etc. Recipes tend to passed down as a family tradition or fine-tuned by repeated experimentation over the years and served with pride. It’s also not that challenging to cook – you can still get passable results by throwing everything, including a pre-made chili seasoning packet, into a crockpot.

But What is Chili, Really?

It’s hard to say what “chili” is definitively. Some may argue that it needs to have beans. Some may argue that it should have meat, or shouldn’t. It’s extremely regional and even personal at times.

If I were to try to pin it down, I would say the defining ingredient would be powdered chilis, but then again, I’ve seen a lot of white-bean-and-kale “chilis” that don’t have any chili peppers at all.

My Winning Chili Recipe

My definition of chili does include chili powder and lots of hearty meat, but no beans. I’ve won a few company chili contests with this recipe, so I must be doing something right!

I use bison to make it more exotic, but feel free to use ground beef if you can’t find it. I’ve also scoured winning recipes World Champion Chili Cook Off (yes, they post all the winning recipes going way back!) and discovered fun flavor enhancers like beer, coffee, and chocolate. I also pay homage to my Asian American heritage by including soy sauce and fish sauce (like I do in pretty much everything) and then…the toppings…

My Ultimate Chili Toppings

• shredded cheese
• sour cream
• avocado
• cilantro
• jalapenos
• red radish
• chives
• smoked salt – like Smoked Alderwood Salt from the San Francisco Salt Company

Hope you enjoy this delicious chili recipe with all the fixings!