Food

BBQ CHICKEN CHILI

by steve

This is not a “traditional” chili recipe, if it were, it would say “TRADITIONAL CHILI RECIPE” at the top of the page. This is a good pantry meal, you probably already have most of the stuff kicking around the cupboard and you might even have the chicken thighs in the freezer (you should always have chicken thighs in the freezer).

INGREDIENTS

  • 1lb boneless skinless chicken thighs (do you need exactly 1 pound? No, a bit more is probably better, pretty sure I’ve never heard anyone say “boy, this chili would be perfect if it wasn’t for all this meat in here…”
  • 1 large onion
  • 1 beer (you could use a glass of water but like… why?)
  • 2 Peppers (red/orange/yellow, stay away from green, we’re making chili not the United Nations of peppers over here)
  • 4 cloves garlic
  • ¼ cup chili powder
  • 2 28oz cans diced tomato
  • 2 cans beans (black and kidney are good, black eyed peas or navy beans are also good, I like to use two different kinds)
  • ½ cup frozen or canned corn (more if you uh…like more corn?)
  • ½-¾  425mL bottle BBQ sauce (see note below)
  • Worcestershire
  • Cider vinegar

A note on BBQ sauce: Obviously use one that you like, I even use this recipe to finish off the last drops of a few bottles from the fridge. If you use a sweeter sauce you should add a bit more vinegar, if you use a sauce that is smoky/vinegary then you may want to skip adding any cider vinegar and might even want to add a tablespoon of brown sugar. If I’m buying a bottle of sauce for this, I usually get a generic sauce that’s on sale, this is NOT the time to use your artisanal sauce that was handmade by sixth generation bbq pit masters and costs $20 a bottle.

DIRECTIONS

  1. Gonna need a large pot for this one, now is not the time to say “I wonder if I can use my <smaller than my largest pot> because I am lazy and don’t want to lift the big pot.” You have been warned. The pot I use is my 6 quart dutch oven, which is neither dutch nor an oven. 
  2. Get the pot on medium high heat with some vegetable/canola oil. 
  3. Sprinkle the chicken thighs with 1 tsp of kosher salt
  4. Get half of the thighs in the pot and get them browning, it’ll take a couple minutes on each side, don’t worry too much if they’re sticking to the pot but keep an eye out for any black bits, we want browning not burning
  5. While the thighs are browning, get to work chopping your onions and peppers. How fine you chop them is up to you, if you’re lazy or suck at cutting shit, just call the chili “rustic” 
  6. When the thighs are nice and brown, remove them to a bowl, add a bit more oil and brown the second batch. When they’re done, add them to the bowl with the rest of the thighs and set aside.
  7. Dump your onions and peppers into the pot with about half of the beer (the rest is for you, you are welcome). Add a pinch of salt to the pot. 
  8. Scrape the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon to get all the tasty chicken bits off the bottom
  9. Keep the onions and peppers moving until they’ve softened, probably 5 minutes. Open your cans of tomatoes and have them on standby. 
  10. Grate the garlic into the pot (you could also mince it with a knife and then add it if you like torture and smelly garlic fingers)
  11. Add the ¼ cup chili powder and stir for 30 seconds or so (keep it moving, don’t burn the chili powder)
  12. Add the cans of tomatoes and give everything a good stir
  13. Open up your cans of beans, drain and rinse and add to the pot
  14. Add the corn
  15. Add ½ bottle of BBQ sauce, 2 tbsp Worcestershire 2 tbsp cider vinegar and 1tsp salt
  16. Give everything a good stir and add the chicken thighs back to the pot. You want them all as submerged as possible. 
  17. Lower the heat to medium low so it’s just simmering and leave it alone for a while. 
  18. The chicken will need an hour in the pot, you can tell it’s done if you pick up one of the thighs with a pair of tongs and it’s easy to break the meat apart
  19. Decision time: you can remove each of the thighs from the pot and shred the meat up real good in a bowl and add it back to the chili or you can go the lazy route and just use a pair of tongs to break it up right in the pot
  20. When the chicken is all broken up, give the chili a taste. Depending on the kind of sauce you used, you might want to add a bit more salt or more bbq sauce, if you like things spicy add a few dashes of hot sauce
  21. Leave the pot on the stove on a very low heat until it’s time to eat
  22. Serving suggestions: a dollop of sour cream with some green onions is nice, some shredded cheddar cheese would also be lovely