Five Alarm Steak Chili

This spicy Five Alarm Steak Chili is the best recipe you’ll ever find, plus slow cooking it in the crockpot makes it perfect game day tailgating grub.

This, by far, is the best chili I’ve ever made. Can you believe I’ve only ever made my chili with ground beef? Turns out, I’m all out of ground beef, but I did have a couple of sirloin steaks in the freezer. I combined those with my favorite cooking hot sauce along with some other ingredients… and pure magic happened. Everyone knows (or should know) that browning your meat first does amazing things for the flavor. I covered my cut up steak pieces with a light dusting of flour and then I cooked them for a couple minutes on each side in some screaming hot oil. There were all sorts of good things stuck to my pan so I did what any reasonable cook would do and I cracked open a can of amber ale beer and poured it in to loosen up all those delicious bits, then I added all of that into the slow cooker.

You have all of your basic chili components in here – beans, tomatoes, onions, and chili powder among a few other things. When you really want to call your chili Five Alarm Chili, then you add in 5 tablespoons of this hot sauce. If you’re not brave enough, you can make four alarm chili and add four tablespoons. And if you really like to sweat, you can make six alarm chili and… you get the idea.

This chili is downright perfect for tailgating. Just get everything in the crockpot the night before, let it cook while you sleep, and then take it to the parking lot bright in early to get it warmed up. It also works great during a busy work week. Just imagine doing the prep work in the morning, slaving all day at work, running back and forth between football and soccer practice, and coming home to a hot bowl of THIS!

Five Alarm Steak Chili

This spicy Five Alarm Steak Chili is the best recipe you'll ever find, plus slow cooking it in the crockpot makes it perfect game day tailgating grub.

5 from 1 vote

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Course: main dish

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 10 hours

Total Time: 10 hours 20 minutes

Servings: 8 servings

Author: Krissy Allori

Ingredients

• 1 medium onion diced
• 2-3 pounds steak cut in 1-inch chunks (you can use stew beef, I used two sirloin steaks)
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 4 tablespoons oil I use avocado oil and use enough to generously coat bottom of pan
• 1 12 ounce bottle of amber ale
• 3 tablespoons chili powder
• 5 tablespoons hot sauce
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon cumin
• 1 tablespoon oregano
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 15 ounce can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 15 ounce can white kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 28 ounce cans unsalted plum tomatoes, with juice (break up tomatoes into pieces)
• Garnish with freshly grated cheese sour cream, and/or diced avocados

Instructions

• Add onion to the bottom of your slow cooker.
• Lightly coat steak with flour and shake off excess. Heat a heavy bottom large skillet or dutch oven over high heat and add oil. When oil is hot, add meat, ensuring enough space is in between pieces to properly brown. Allow to cook for just a couple minutes on each side to brown. I had to do this in two separate batches. Turn off heat when done. Transfer browned steak to slow cooker, placing on top of the diced onion.
• Add amber ale to pot and allow to sit for 5-10 minutes to dissolve all that good stuff that stuck to the pot. Scrape it with a wooden spoon and then add entire mixture to slow cooker.
• Add remaining ingredients all the way up to the garnish, stir, and set slow cooker to cook on low for 8-10 hours. Before serving, use a masher to smash the chili to shred the meat and smash up some of the beans. This will thicken everything to perfection. Top with garnishes and serve hot.

Questions about the nutrition information?Check out my Nutrition Disclaimer