Let me start by saying do not let the “beer” turn you away from preparing this delicious chili recipe. The recipe is also just as tasty without the beer, and a little bit healthier as well. Sometimes you need to splurge a bit on the extra calories!

I personally like to make chili for dinner when the weather has turned cold and the family is confined to the home for the most part. It’s an easy dish to prepare when you come home from a long days work or you can prepare ahead of time by placing all the ingredients in a crockpot before your household leaves for work, school, etc.

Things to note while preparing

Now obviously if you are not a fan of ground venison or beer flavors, there are plenty of substitute items to make this recipe.

• Instead of venison, use 90% or higher lean ground beef to avoid excess grease
• Instead of beer, add more water to make the right consistency to your liking
• Instead of ground beef or venison, you could also use ground turkey or ground chicken. I have prepared this recipe with ground turkey and for the most part it turned out well but it did not suit my personal flavor palette.

Ingredients

• 1-2lbs of ground venison (I usually use just 1lb but if you like more meat, add more)
• 1 1/2 packet of low sodium chili seasoning
• 1 can of low sodium canned chili beans or another variety of canned beans
• 14oz of tomato sauce (I personally use spaghetti sauce as it’s already seasoned vs using plain canned tomato sauce).
• 1 can of Yuengling beer (you can use any type of light beer but I prefer a lager or a dark beer). If you are not using beer, fill the canned beans with water and put into your pot to compensate.
• 1 tablespoon of white vinegar
• 1 tablespoon of Worcester sauce
• 1 tablespoon of Italian seasoning (or oregano)
• 1teaspoon of onion powder
• 1 teaspoon of garlic powder

Steps to prepare dish

• Grab a large pot and add your meat, Italian seasoning, onion powder, and on garlic powder . Cook your venison meat on medium heat until it’s well done. There will be no grease to drain out because of how lean the meat is!
• Next, add your vinegar and Worcester sauce to meat and stir well and simmer for about 1 minute.
• Combine tomato or pasta sauce, chili beans, any tomato’s if you would prefer extra additives, 1 can of water, chili seasoning, and 1 can of lager beer. Stir all ingredients together and simmer on medium heat for 5-10 minutes.
• Serve with shredded cheese, crackers, and grilled cheese if desired.