This Venison Chili recipe is a big stockpot full of hearty, delicious, and spicy chili made with ground venison and a variety of spices, tomatoes, and peppers. This wild game recipe packs a ton of flavor and is perfect for game day parties or chilly fall or winter day!
We love this venison recipe and are always ready to enjoy a big bowl for dinner along with a side of garlic cheddar biscuits. I also love to share this recipe for Superbowl parties in a big bowl with a side of corn chips or as a topping for loaded nachos!
Why You'll Love Venison Chili
Ground venison: if you have hunters in the home, ground venison is always on hand, and venison chili is a great way to use that ground meat!
Versatile: this chili recipe can be as spicy or mild as you want it to be with just a few easy spice adjustments.
Comfort food: not only is this party friendly recipe great for game day, its a great cool weather warm you up recipe that is so comforting and delicious!
Ingredients for Venison Chili
You will need a variety of spices and herbs for chili, and most of what you need, you likely already have in your kitchen pantry!
Ground Venison: I'm assuming if you are reading this post, that you probably have access to it. If you don't, then you can always buy venison online or substitute it with ground beef.
Canned Tomatoes: I use home-canned tomatoes, which is a full quart size. You can use a 28 -ounce can if you don't have home canned.
Tomato Sauce and Paste: you need an 8 ounce can of tomato sauce and 4 tablespoons of tomato paste.
Brown sugar: compliments the heat and lends that sweet and spicy flavor that is loved by so many!
Chili Powder: I love a deep dark red chili powder.
Cumin Powder: this lends an excellent complementary flavor to the chili powder.
Smoked Paprika: This might be something you need to buy. I use it often and one of our favorite ways is to sprinkle it on deviled eggs. I also love the flavor it adds to the venison.
Cayenne Pepper: I like to add yet another level of heat to chili and cayenne does the job. Be careful and add ½ teaspoon at a time. A little can go a long way here. You can also skip this part if you need a milder heat.
Kidney Beans: I only add one can. I like to go light on the beans in my chili. But, if you like beans in your chili, you can easily add a 2nd can.
Dried oregano, garlic, and onion powder: adds flavor.
Instructions
Venison chili is ready in just a few simple steps! Be sure to
Step 1
In a 6-quart stockpot, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Add the ground venison and chop it up, stirring occasionally, until the meat has begun to brown. Add the garlic and onion and cook for 7 minutes. or until the venison has browned.
Step 2
Add the peppers and seasonings to the browned meat. Stir to combine and cook for 3 minutes, until the peppers have begun to soften.
Step 3
Stir in the canned tomatoes with their juice, tomato sauce, and tomato paste.
Step 4
Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low. Simmer for 30 minutes, until the chili has reduced and thickened some.
Hint 1: you need a 6-quart stockpot for this recipe, I love this cuisinart one!
Hint 2: Make crock-pot chili: make the chili in the crock pot instead of stove top. Brown the meat with the butter, garlic, and onions. Then, place it in the slow cooker with the remaining ingredients and cook on low for 8 hours. Remove the lid the last 30 minutes and turn the heat to high to allow the chili to thicken.
Top Tips
Deepen flavors: Brown the ground venison meat until it has crispy bits. This adds a lot of extra flavors.
Add fat: Venison is very lean meat. For that reason, you can add ghee or butter when frying the meat to the recipe to keep it from drying out and to add more flavor.
Cook spices with the meat: When the chili spices are added to the cooked meat, allow them to cook for about 2-3 minutes before adding the liquid ingredients.
Substitutions
Venison Black Bean Chili: substitute black beans for the kidney beans
Sweetener substitute: feel free to leave the sweetener out if you wish, but I love the touch of sweet it adds to the heat. You can also substitute honey or maple syrup for the brown sugar.
Seasoning substitute: use 2 tablespoons (more or less to taste) of homemade taco seasoning in place of the chili, cumin, paprika, and dried herbs.
Variations
Meaty chili: Leave out the beans and bulk the venison with ground pork up to 2 pounds. You can also feel free to use a combination of other game meat such as elk or buffalo.
Mexican Mole Style: add a tablespoon of cocoa powder to deepen the flavors even more.
Chipotle Venison Chili: instead of cayenne, use chipotle powder. Use the same amount of chipotle as you would cayenne. It is smoky and hot.
How to Serve Venison Chili
Set up a chili bar with all kinds of toppings for your family and/or friends to assemble their own bowl with all their favorite toppings. Some of my favorites are sour cream, avocado, shredded cheese, jalapeno slices, tomatoes, and fresh cilantro. I also love to serve with Frito's Scoops corn chips!
More Venison Recipes
If you are interested in more recipes for game day, check out these posts below:
- Superbowl Recipes - 100+ Ideas for game day
- Venison Recipes for Superbowl
- Looking for a beefy chili? Try this Best Texas Roadhouse Chili copycat recipe.
When you make this recipe for venison chili, please comment below and let me know what you think. I'd love it if you tag me on Instagram @honeybunchhunts or #honeybunchhunts so I can see your photos!
If you love this recipe, please leave a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating
📖 Recipe
Venison Chili
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Ingredients
- 1½ pound ground venison
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 1 cup finely diced onion
- ½ medium green bell pepper diced
- ½ medium red bell pepper diced
- 5 cloves fresh garlic minced
- 1 large jalapeno diced (seeds removed)
- 2 tablespoons chili powder
- 2 tablespoons cumin powder
- 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar firmly packed
- ½ tablespoon dried oregano
- ½ tablespoon smoked paprika
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 15.5 ounces canned kidney beans drained and rinsed
- 1 quart of whole canned tomatoes
- 8 ounce tomato sauce
- 4 tablespoons tomato paste
Instructions
- In a 6-quart stockpot, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Add the ground venison and chop it up, stirring occasionally, until the meat has begun to brown. Add the garlic and onion and cook for 7 minutes. or until the venison has browned.
- Add the green, red, and jalapeno peppers. Stir to combine and cook for 3 minutes, until the peppers have begun to soften.
- Add the seasonings to the cooked meat and stir to combine. Saute for 2 minutes to allow the flavors to blend into the venison.
- Stir in the canned tomatoes with their juice, tomato sauce, and tomato paste. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low. Simmer for 30 minutes, until the chili has reduced and thickened some.
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