I love chili. I love chili with fritos, I love chili with crackers, and I especially love chili with cornbread. So what better chili vessel than a thick crispy cornbread waffle???? There is nothing better. I am not going to sit here and tell you that this is the best chili you will ever make, because there are so many variations and preferences that I cannot possibly compete. But this is chili HOW I LIKE IT: lots of beans, seasoned turkey, a spicy kick, subtle smokey chipotle flavors, and no chunky tomatoes. Cause, ew.
Chili
what you need:
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil or unsalted butter
- 1 small white onion, diced
- 1 package ground turkey or beef I used turkey!
- 3 tablespoons chili powder
- 2 tsp cumin
- 1/2 tsp oregano
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp minced garlic
- 2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, diced
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 (15oz) can tomato sauce
- 1/2 can/bottle of beer of your choosing I used Coors!
- 1 cup water
- 1 can kidney beans
- 1 can pinto beans
- Optional: Cheese, sour cream, green onions to serve!
what you need to do:
- In a large pot or dutch oven, heat up your fat (bacon grease/oil/butter) on medium heat. Add in the onion and cook about 3 minutes, until the onion is super fragrant.
- Add in the ground meat and continue to cook until browned, using your spoon to break up the meat into small pieces as it cooks.
- Drain the fat and return to heat.
- Add in: chili powder, cumin, oregano, salt, cayenne, cinnamon, garlic, and chipotle peppers. Stir to combine and cook about 3 – 4 minutes, or until the spices are dissolved into the meat.
- Add the tomato paste and stir to combine, breaking up the paste and cooking it down a bit, about 3 minutes.
- Add in the tomato sauce, beer, and water and stir to combine.
- Bring to a boil, and then lower to a simmer. Cover and cook 1 hour, stirring every so often.
- After the hour is complete, add in your beans and stir to combine. Let simmer about 10 minutes to heat up and soften the beans.
- Serve over your waffles (recipe below) and top with cheese!!!
Corn Bread Waffles
what you need:
- 1 cup yellow cornmeal
- 1/3 cup flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 T sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 egg
- 3/4 cup buttermilk plus more if your batter is too thick
- Cooking spray
what you need to do:
- Plug in and heat up your waffle iron.
- In a large bowl, combine cornmeal, flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, and salt.
- Create a well/hole in the middle of the dry ingredients, add your egg.
- Using a fork, beat the egg inside of the well and then gradually incorporate the dry ingredients.
- Add the milk, and stir until combined. Make sure that all of the dry ingredients are moistened but do NOT overmix.
- If your batter is too thick, add a splash of buttermilk. You don’t want it to be too thin because it needs to go into the waffle iron!
- Grease your iron with the cooking spray. Pour in the batter and cook as you would cook a waffle!
- Serve with the chili!