↑ Hot or Not↓ Your Vote Counts
Boilermaker Tailgate Chili will strike the heart of any sports fan, through their stomach of course.
Football season is here, and most football fans already have their season gear. The one gift you have left to give your sports fans is a full belly.
With football comes tailgating and soon Fall will turn to winter. Sports fans all over will be searching for a warm bowl of chili to tie them over till kickoff.
Boilermaker Tailgate chili will keep your fan base warm till the championships.
Inspired by one of the favorite foods of a school rich in football history, the Purdue Boilermakers.
According to the book Tales of Boilermaker Country, the Purdue Boilermakers got their nickname by defeating Wabash College….again…in 1891 by a score of 44-0.
The headline in the Crawfordsville Daily Argus News after the game read “Slaughter of Innocents: Wabash Snowed Completely Under by the Burly Boilermakers from Purdue.”
The name stuck the following year, Over the years and through many hungry tailgating fans, the chili was borne.
Through trial and error of the varying recipes available, we have found the very best, in our humble opinion, of the Boilermaker Tailgate Chili recipes.
Hopefully, your favorite sports fans will enjoy this this unique gift of belly filling on their next game day.
Boilermaker Tailgate Chili Recipe
This recipe feeds up to 12 servings, so more likely 4-6 hungry football fans. You can scale it as needed for your fan base.
- 2 lb ground beef
- 1 lb bulk Italian sausage
- 3 can (15 oz each) chili beans, undrained
- 1 can (15 oz) chili beans, in spicy sauce
- 2 can (28 oz each) diced tomatoes, with juice
- 1 can (6 oz) tomato paste
- 1 large yellow onion, chopped
- 3 stalk celery, chopped
- 1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
- 1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
- 2 green chile pepper, seeded and chopped
- 3 tbsp bacon bits
- 4 cube beef bouillon
- 1 cup beer
- 1⁄4 cup chili powder
- 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tbsp garlic, minced
- 1 tbsp dried oregano
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 2 tsp hot pepper sauce, such as Tabasco
- 1 tsp dried basil
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp ground black pepper
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp white sugar
- 1 package (8 oz) shredded cheddar cheese
Directions for the best Boilermaker Tailgate Chili
Prep Cook Ready
- Heat a large stock pot over medium-high heat. Crumble in ground beef and sausage and cook until evenly browned. Drain off excess grease.
- Pour in chili beans, spicy chili beans, diced tomatoes, and tomato paste. Add onion, celery, green and red bell peppers, Chile peppers, bacon bits, bouillon, and beer. Season with chili powder, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, oregano, cumin, hot pepper sauce, basil, salt, pepper, cayenne, paprika, and sugar. Stir to combine, then cover and simmer over low heat for at least 2 hours, stirring occasionally.
- After 2 hours, taste and adjust salt, black pepper, and chili powder, if necessary. The longer the chili simmers, the more the flavors will develop. Remove from heat and serve or cool, then refrigerate and serve the next day. To serve, ladle into bowls and top with shredded Cheddar cheese.
- Note: The chili can also be simmered in a slow cooker on Low for 6-8 hours.
We can assure that this Boilermaker Tailgate Chili recipe will be a win, that is of course unless, your crew are Notre Dame, Indiana, or Illinois fans.
While you are waiting on the chili to cook, check out this college footbal logo metal wall art to find your favorite team.
