Spicy Hunter’s Chili with Venison, Chorizo, and Peppers

Whew, what a doozy of a week! It has been early mornings and late nights! I’ve been so busy that I didn’t even bother with a write up for my tuna burrito bowls the other day! Maybe I’ll go back and share my story behind that recipe… maybe I won’t 🤷🏻‍♀️. Maybe I’ll start a new personal blog trend of not putting in our ridiculous stories!

But, it is sometimes fun to clear my stream of conscious for the day. And you all can click that convenient “jump to recipe” button if you don’t want to read my blah, blah, blah!

I lived in Jersey City overlooking the Trade Center on 9/11 almost 20 years ago. After witnessing that horrible, I needed to get out of the NY area for a bit. It took me another year and a half before finally making the leap and moving to Colorado where I had spent many summers visiting my uncles.

My now ex-husband, then boyfriend, and I moved to Colorado Springs to wait a year before I applied for college in order to qualify for in state tuition. I ended up getting a job as a bartender at some little blue collar dive bar. I LOVED it! When you think about the regulars on Cheers, that bar embodied that. Regulars that became friends and pseudo-families to one another.

All the customers tortured me by playing country music constantly. What was that who’s your daddy line that came from some popular country song back then? Ugh 😝.

Well, one woman came in only on football Sunday when all of our regulars would bring in potluck dishes for the game. One Sunday, she brought in venison chili, and it was amazing! I never once tried making it at home. But, back when I made that large order of game meat because I was craving duck for Valentine’s Day, I also ordered venison meat. I used half of the venison meat to make venison burgers, and saved the rest to make venison chili.

I made this a bit smoky, quite spicy with chipotle in adobo and chorizo, and added a kick with coffee and beer. I call it a hunter’s chili, not only because of the venison, but because I can picture this being thrown together over a campfire.

If you don’t want to go through the effort of finding ground venison, you can absolutely swap it out for ground beef. Just keep in mind that the fat content of ground beef is much higher than venison, so I would recommend draining off the fat before adding the liquids.

Let this simmer on the stove for an hour and a half or all day in a slow cooker… the longer you let it simmer, the better it’ll taste! Squeeze some fresh lime juice over it and top it with Sante Fe flavored tortilla strips, cheese, and sour cream. And make sure you serve it with a cold one because it certainly has a kick to it!

Enjoy!

Spicy Hunter’s Chili with Venison, Chorizo, and Peppers

• Author: the old woman and the sea
• Prep Time: 10 minutes
• Cook Time: 2 hours
• Total Time: 2 hours 10 minutes
• Yield: 6 servings 1x
• Category: American
• Cuisine: Dinner

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Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

18 oz ground venison (alternatively, substitute with ground elk or very low fat ground beef)

16 oz chorizo

1 onion, chopped

3 bell peppers of various colors, cut into bite size pieces

1 jalapeño, deseeded and minced

8 garlic cloves, minced

2 chipotles in adobo with the sauce, finely minced

2 TBs brown sugar

2 TBs ground cumin

2 TBs paprika

1 TB dried oregano

1 TB coriander

1 TB ground chipotle pepper

1 can fire roasted tomatoes

1½ cups beef broth

½ cup coffee

To Serve

rice

shredded cheddar

sour cream

sante fe style tortilla strips

lime wedges

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Instructions

In a large pot, cook the chorizo over medium heat, using a wooden spoon or spatula to break up the meat into crumbles. When cooked through, remove from the pot with a slotted spoon and drain on several paper towels. Add the onions. Cook for about 5 minutes until just starting to soften. Add the bell peppers and cook 5 minutes. Add the jalapeños and garlic and cook until fragrant ~ about 30 seconds. Add the venison and cook until mostly cooked through, breaking up with a wooden spoon or spatula.

Add the chipotles in adobo sauce, spices, tomatoes, coffee, and beef broth. Stir to combine. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and let simmer for an hour and a half (NOTE: you can serve the chili after simmering half an hour, but a longer simmer enhances and melds the flavors ~ it is highly recommend to go low and slow).

Options for serving ~ I love serving chili over rice, but that is totally optional. It is satiating on its own. Top with sour cream, shredded cheddar, and tortilla strips. The crunch from the tortilla strips adds a nice texture to the dish. Squeeze over a wedge or two of lime for a nice zest.

Enjoy!

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Notes

If you substitute the ground venison for ground beef, note that beef inherently has more fat in it. I recommend draining off some or all of the fat before adding the spices, tomatoes, and liquid.

Keywords: Chili, venison chili, elk chili, spicy chili, beanless chili, no bean chili, hunter’s chili, chili with coffee, how to make venison chili, chorizo chili