Chili Recipes for Halloween Night

If you grew up around here, you already know that chili comes with a cinnamon roll. Not a side of cornbread, not crackers. A cinnamon roll, on the same tray, and you dip it. Every school cafeteria in Kansas did this and I did not learn it was regional until I was in my twenties and said it out loud to someone from Ohio who looked at me like I had confessed something.

Anyway. Chili is the correct Halloween food and I will not be taking questions. It sits on warm for six hours, it feeds however many people show up, and it is the only thing that makes coming back inside at 8pm with numb hands feel like a plan instead of a retreat.

Heads up, some of these are affiliate links, which just means I get a tiny commission at no cost to you.

The Classic Beef Chili

Brown 2 pounds of ground beef in a heavy pot over medium high heat with 1 diced onion, and actually let it brown. Do not stir it constantly. You want dark bits stuck to the bottom of the pot, because that is where the flavor lives. Drain most of the fat but leave about a tablespoon.

Add 4 cloves of minced garlic and cook 30 seconds. Then add 3 tablespoons chili powder, 1 tablespoon cumin, 2 teaspoons smoked paprika, 1 teaspoon oregano, and half a teaspoon cayenne, and stir it into the hot fat for a full minute before any liquid goes in. This is called blooming and it is the single biggest difference between chili that tastes flat and chili people ask about. Dumping dry spices into liquid gives you dusty chili.

Then 2 tablespoons tomato paste, cooked another minute, followed by a 28 ounce can of crushed tomatoes, a 15 ounce can of diced tomatoes, two 15 ounce cans of kidney or pinto beans drained and rinsed, 2 cups of beef broth, and 1 tablespoon of brown sugar. Simmer uncovered at least 45 minutes, ideally 90. Salt at the end.

The Two Things People Forget

Acid and time. Right before serving, add a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar or a squeeze of lime. You will not taste vinegar, you will taste everything else more clearly. And chili made today and eaten tomorrow is meaningfully better than chili eaten an hour after it was made. If you can, cook it the day before Halloween and just reheat.

White Chicken Chili

For the people who do not want tomatoes, and for the kid who has decided this month that red food is out. Saute 1 diced onion in 2 tablespoons butter, add 4 cloves garlic, two 4 ounce cans of diced green chiles, 1 tablespoon cumin, 2 teaspoons oregano, and 1 teaspoon coriander. Add 4 cups chicken broth, three 15 ounce cans of great northern beans drained, and 3 cups of shredded rotisserie chicken.

Simmer 20 minutes. Then take out about a cup of the beans, mash them, and stir them back in to thicken it. Off the heat, add 4 ounces of cream cheese in cubes and stir until melted, plus half a cup of sour cream. Never let it boil after the dairy goes in or it will curdle and look broken, even though it still tastes fine.

Crockpot Chili for the Day Itself

Brown the meat and bloom the spices on the stove first, then transfer everything to the slow cooker. I know it defeats the one pot dream. Do it anyway. Chili made entirely in a crockpot with raw meat dumped in tastes gray and thin, and the ten minutes on the stove is what fixes it.

Low for 6 to 8 hours, or high for 3 to 4. Use about a cup less liquid than a stovetop recipe calls for, because nothing evaporates in a slow cooker. If it still ends up loose, take the lid off for the last 45 minutes on high.

How to Fix a Watery Pot

• Take the lid off and simmer harder. Free, and usually enough
• Mash a cup of the beans and stir them back in
• Whisk 2 tablespoons of masa harina with a little water and stir it in, then simmer 10 minutes. This is the traditional fix and it adds a corn flavor that belongs there
• Crush a handful of tortilla chips into it. Genuinely works, nobody will know
• Do not use cornstarch. It goes glossy and slick and makes chili taste like gravy

How Much for a Crowd

Plan on 1 and a half cups per adult if chili is the whole meal, and about 1 cup if there is other food. A standard 2 pound beef recipe makes roughly 10 to 12 cups, so it feeds 8 as a meal. For 20 people I make a triple batch in a big stockpot the day before and reheat it in two crockpots, because one crockpot holding that much takes forever to come up to temperature.

The Toppings Bar Is the Whole Point

Chili is a delivery system for toppings and setting them out in small bowls makes it feel like an event instead of leftovers. What I put out:

• Shredded sharp cheddar, more than you think
• Sour cream and sliced green onion
• Fritos, which are the correct chip and I am firm on this
• Diced raw onion and pickled jalapenos
• Hot sauce, two kinds, one mild and one not
• Cinnamon rolls, warmed, because we are in Kansas City and that is simply how it is done

The Vegetarian One That Is Not An Afterthought

Same base method, but instead of beef use 1 pound of chopped mushrooms browned hard until they release their water and then brown again, plus a diced sweet potato and an extra can of black beans. The mushrooms have to actually brown, which takes about 12 minutes and requires you to not crowd the pan. If you rush it they steam and the whole pot tastes watery and vegetal.

Add a chipotle in adobo, minced, for smoke. That one ingredient is what makes a meatless chili taste like it was not made grudgingly.

Freezing and Reheating

Chili freezes better than almost anything. Cool it completely, portion into freezer bags laid flat, and it keeps 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge and reheat gently with a splash of broth, because it thickens in the freezer. Do not freeze it with the dairy already in, so the white chicken chili gets frozen before the cream cheese step.

What I Would Skip

Chili seasoning packets, which are mostly salt and cost more than buying the spices. Beans in the crockpot that are dried and unsoaked, which stay hard forever if there is anything acidic in the pot. And skip arguing about whether chili should have beans. It is Halloween, there are children in costumes in your kitchen, let it go.

Make the Pot, Light the Porch

Make it the day before. Reheat it slow. Put out too many toppings. That is the entire strategy and it has never once let me down on a cold October night.

Tell me in the comments if you are a cinnamon roll person or if you think we are all insane out here. I can take it.

xo, Pam