Smoked Chili
This is the best smoked chili recipe you’ll ever have! Try it, and you won’t regret it.
Equipment
- Z Grills Pellet Smoker
Ingredients
For the chili base
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 large yellow onions, diced
- 3 large green bell peppers, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 1/2 tbsp chili powder
- 1 tbsp garlic powder
- 1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes
- 1 (28 oz) can petite diced tomatoes
- 1 (15.5 oz) can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
For the smoked ground beef loaf
- 2 ½ pounds (85/15) or (80/20) ground beef (lean beef/percent fat)
- 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tsp kosher salt
- ½ tsp fresh cracked pepper
- 1 tsp Montreal steak seasoning
- 1 tsp cocoa powder, optional
Instructions
- Prepare the chili base by heating olive oil over medium-high heat in a cast-iron Dutch oven. Sauté onions and bell peppers until translucent. Add garlic and sauté for 1-2 minutes more, until garlic is fragrant but not browned.
- Add chili powder, garlic powder, crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes, and kidney beans. Stir and set aside.
- Combine ground beef, Worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper, and Montreal steak seasoning in a large mixing bowl.
- Gently form the ground beef mixture into a loaf. You want it to be solid but not packed.
- Preheat your Z Grills pellet smoker to 300°F.
- Once the grill is preheated, place the Dutch oven (with the chili base inside of it) uncovered directly on the grill grate.
- Place a grill rack over the Dutch oven.
- Place the seasoned ground beef loaf on top of the grill rack, so that the juices from the beef drip into the Dutch oven as it cooks.
- Cook until the internal temperature of the ground beef loaf reaches 145°F, about 2 hours.
- Break up the beef with tongs, allowing it to fall through the grate into the chili base.
- When all of the beef is crumbled into the chili, cook for an additional 2 hours.
- Remove chili from heat and stir in the cocoa powder. This is optional to bring out the flavors of the chili.