“No Cap” Best Southern-Style Chili
This delicious chili is the best southern style chili ever! Rave reviews of “best chili ever, mind blown…no cap!” are already rolling in!
Looking for your new favorite chili recipe? This is it! The flavors are amazingly delicious, and I’m calling it now: this chili is going to be winning chili cook-offs right and left.
Easy Chili Recipe
This southern-style chili starts with a tomato and beef-broth base and is enhanced with chili powder, BBQ sauce, a variety of canned beans, and several other ingredients that boost the flavor into “out of this world” territory.
The cooking method is SO easy:
- Brown the ground meat with the veggies.
- Throw in all the other ingredients.
- Simmer for a couple of hours.
After simmering, the chili is ultra-thick and hearty and perfect for piling on all the chili toppings your heart desires.
A Few Unique Ingredients
There are a few ingredients that help this chili achieve extra-special status.
- BBQ sauce: choose a BBQ sauce you love, because you will notice the flavor in the chili (although it doesn’t overpower the chili with too much overt BBQ flavor). I use Kinders Hickory Brown Sugar or Sweet Baby Ray’s BBQ sauce (best version was half of each). This homemade BBQ sauce would also be excellent in this chili.
- Sweet and Spicy: chili powder and jalapenos add a bit of heat (which can easily be moderated depending on how spicy you want the chili). To balance out the heat, tomatoes, balsamic vinegar, white grape juice (see the note in the recipe – it’s important!), and a hint of honey or brown sugar are added. SO GOOD.
- Variety of Beans: using several different kinds of beans makes the chili especially yummy and interesting (both in texture and flavor!).
How This Chili Got Its Name
My cousin Katie deserves credit for introducing me to this chili (my Aunt Marilyn plays a part, too, since she quickly marched some over to my house after Katie made it, ordering me to try it immediately).
Since then, Katie and I have shared details on our variations, and I eventually landed on the one you see here today as my ultimate favorite.
I have made this southern-style chili for lots of people (including my parents!), and it is met with such ecstatic praise each time. You might be thinking: what’s the big deal? It’s just chili?? But let me tell you: it’s not JUST chili. It’s the most uniquely delicious chili ever.
Here is a text I got from a friend after I brought this chili to their family for dinner one night a few week’s back (hence the inspiration for the title of the recipe) 😉:
It really is some of the best chili ever. If you’ve been looking for a new chili recipe to win you fame and fortune (or just a cute paper award) at your next chili cook-off, this recipe is for you!
“No Cap” Best Southern Style Chili Ever
Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds lean ground beef
- 1 pound ground pork or pork sausage (see note)
- 1 medium white or yellow onion, diced (about 1 cup)
- 1 medium green bell pepper or poblano pepper, cored, seeded and chopped (about 1/2 to 1 cup)
- 1 medium stalk celery, finely chopped (about 1/2 cup)
- 1 medium jalapeno, cored, seeded and finely diced (leave seeds in for more heat)
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic (or 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder)
- 1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
- 2 cups beef stock or beef broth
- 1 cup BBQ sauce (see note)
- ¾ cup white grape juice or apple juice (SEE NOTE)
- 1 6-ounce can tomato paste
- 3 tablespoons chili powder (see note)
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 1 tablespoon honey or brown sugar (optional – helps cut the acidity)
- 1 tablespoon coarse, kosher salt (or 1 1/2 teaspoons table salt)
- ½ teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper (or 1/4 teaspoon finely ground pepper)
- 1 15-ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 15-ounce can red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 15-ounce can pinto beans, rinsed and drained
Instructions
- In a large 7-quart pot, add the ground beef, pork or sausage, onion, bell pepper, celery, jalapeno, and garlic. Cook, breaking the meat into small pieces, until the meat is no longer pink and the veggies have started to soften, 6 to 8 minutes. Drain excess grease.
- Add all remaining ingredients and give a good stir to combine.
- Bring the chili to a simmer over medium heat. Simmer, uncovered or partially covered, for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, stirring occasionally. Adjust heat to prevent sticking on the bottom of the pot.
- Add additional broth if the chili thickens too much while cooking. Season to taste with additional salt and pepper.
- Serve warm with chili toppings of choice, such as shredded cheese, sour cream, tortilla or corn chips, green onions, etc.
Notes
Recommended Products
Recipe Source: created and brainstormed with my cousin, Katie, and Aunt Marilyn, as we shared variations and details with each other (Katie introduced the original recipe to me that she got while living in Alaska, and we adapted and changed it quite a bit to get this best-ever version)
We had a split household over this. My husband and dad loved it but my mom and I preferred the regular chili. We are also in alabama and this is the first I heard of BBQ sauce in a chili. It was too strong for me, but the guys loved it!
I read the reviews and thought this would be a good one to try, but I felt the Sweet Baby Rays overpowered the flavor. If I try it again I will definitely use 1/2 cup instead of 1cup. Just my taste I guess.
Larry
I agree! The BBQ flavor was very strong. If I made it again, I would start with 1/4 cup and go from there. I think with this adjustment it could be a real winner!
I just won first place at a chili cook off with this recipe! It is delicious. Thank you for posting it.
I made this once for my family who hates chili, and they didn’t hate it too much, so I made it for our neighborhood chili cook-off and surprised myself by winning best overall chili! I follow the recipe exactly, except stick it in a crockpot for 5-6 hours for the simmer time. I also read the comments about sweetness, so I used Kinders Mild BBQ, and it worked perfectly.
Thanks for the notes on how you made it, Krista!
This is a great recipe for chili – won first prize in the cookoff ( thanks Mel!) I think for our tastes I’d like it less sweet so may use less bbq sauce and less juice in the future but loved the blend of beans and vegetables used.
Thanks, Sally!
This is now my husband’s favorite chili EVER!!! He says it is FABULOUS! And he loves it even more after it has spent a day or two chilling with the flavors melding in the fridge.
We now have multiple bags in the freezer for this winter. 😉
That’s awesome!!
So yummy! I loved the spicy and sweet combination. The only thing I didn’t like was the simmering on the stove for 1 1/2-2 hrs. Next time I’ll try throwing it in the slow cooker.
Thanks for the review, Sharon!
I’ve followed your recipes for years and never felt moved to post, but this chili!! My husband had bowl after bowl and the kids had leftovers the next day as sloppy joes. It really is the best (and I have made a LOT of chilis over the years)
Thanks for taking the time to let me know, Colleen! Super happy it was a hit with your family!
Hi Mel,
Thank you for sharing this recipe. I made it almost exactly as written and it was really delicious. The only change I made was that I didn’t add any extra honey or brown sugar because I used Sweet Baby Ray’s Honey BBQ sauce and that was enough sweetness. This chili recipe is a nice change from the more traditional chili I usually make. I think folks who don’t like spicy foods will really like this recipe.
I served it with shredded cheddar cheese, sour cream and corn bread muffins on Halloween night. Just perfect!
My husband just won 2nd place at the chili cook off with this recipe tonight! 🥈
He added a couple extra jalapeños to spice it up, but honestly, we loved it either way! He also made it a day ahead and it got tastier and tastier the longer it cooked!
*We noticed that it tasted pretty sweet at the start, but cooking longer helped bring all the flavors together! 👌🏼
Thanks Mel for yet another winner!!
That’s awesome, Rachel! Thanks for letting me know!
My husband just won 2nd place at the chili cook off with this recipe tonight! 🥈
Idk if it was just my Trader Joe’s organic apple juice, but 3/4 C was waaaaaaaay too much and made the chili taste, well, like apple juice. Which when mixed with Sweet Baby Rae’s, meat and beans, came in last at my chili cook off last night. You get used to the fruit broth after a few bites, but not really.
Sorry to hear this, Tara! Thanks for the review and the note on the brand of apple juice you used.
I have a couple chili recipes I really enjoy but was interested to try this unique one. I really enjoyed the slightly sweet flavor. Lots of beans which I like. I ate two bowls and am looking forward to having it for lunch tomorrow. Sooo good.
Thanks, Jen! So helpful to have the varied reviews on this recipe!
I’ve never made chili before, but I knew I could trust you to help me make a good one. 😊 This recipe won my ward’s chili contest tonight!
Woohoo!!