Barbecue Bacon Cheeseburger Chili
Try this Barbecue Bacon Cheeseburger Chili recipe, or contribute your own.
Try this Barbecue Bacon Cheeseburger Chili recipe, or contribute your own.
- 2 lbs . lean ground beef
- 4 slices thick-cut bacon
- 1 onion (finely chopped)
- 2 -15 oz . cans kidney beans (rinsed and drained)
- 3 - 14 oz . cans diced tomatoes
- 16-18 oz . bottle of barbecue sauce
- 1 t. liquid smoke
- 1 t. cumin
- 1 tsp . chili powder (feel free to add more)
- 1 tsp . unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/2 tsp . smoked paprika
- Carbohydrate 0.7392 g
- Cholesterol 76.16 mg
- Fat 50.4448 g
- Fiber 0 g
- Protein 12.992 g
- Saturated Fat 16.79216 g
- Serving Size 1 1 recipe (1019g)
- Sodium 932.96 mg
- Sugar 0.7392 g
- Trans Fat 5.56191999999999 g
- Calories 513 calories
Step-by-step
- In a large pot or Dutch oven, brown the ground meat. Drain, and set aside.
- Cook the bacon. Set bacon aside, and drain all but about 1 tablespoon of the grease.
- Cook onion in bacon grease until soft, about 3-5 minutes.
- Return the browned ground beef to the pot.
- Add the rest of the ingredients. Stir to combine.
- Crumble bacon over the chili, and stir in.
- Cover, and simmer over medium-low heat, stirring as needed, for about 1-2 hours.
Home cooks frequently make the mistake of adding raw onions directly to simmering tomatoes, resulting in an unpleasantly crunchy texture that never softens properly. Cooking the aromatics in rendered bacon fat at 300 degrees Fahrenheit builds a flavorful foundation while ensuring the onions break down completely.
- Substitute the ground beef with ground turkey at a one-to-one ratio if red meat must be avoided, but increase the smoked paprika by half a teaspoon to compensate for the lost beef flavor.
- Rinse canned kidney beans thoroughly under cold running water to eliminate excess sodium and reduce the starches that can cause cloudiness in the sauce.
- Unsweetened cocoa powder acts as a bitter balancing agent against the high sugar content found in commercial barbecue sauces.
- Store leftovers in an airtight glass container in the refrigerator for up to four days, or freeze for three months.
Canned diced tomatoes offer consistent year-round acidity and moisture levels that fresh tomatoes cannot match without extensive reduction. Utilizing preserved ingredients ensures predictable thickening during the one to two hour simmer.
