Slow Cooker Sirloin Chili
Quick note: This is our second recipe on the site that isn’t baked in some way. We asked you all if you’d be interested and it was a resounding “Yes!”. So here you go. Thank you all for your never ending support. Keep the conversations going, the cards flipping, and the cookies baking.
It feels like the only time I have to write things up are nap times. I know that’s not true. I prioritize other things at other times. Nap time, however, is the time when everyone is usually asleep. Most of the time I’m relaxing during that time too. Otherwise it feels like it’s always go go go. Sleep, kids, work, wife, house work, or climbing. I wouldn’t trade it for the world. One of these days I’ll move this up in the priority again though. I love this project and it still means so much to me.
My dad has always made chili. He uses venison that he’s hunted. It’s been a family favorite for as long as I can remember. I asked him for the recipe a while back and we’ve been making it off and on with different meats. I still prefer, and always will prefer, the venison. I have most of his recipe shot and and some point I will get the final shots and write it up for the blog. I love sharing family recipes. They’re really where this all started.
His recipe isn’t done in a slow cooker. It’s done in a pan, with ground venison, and it takes 3-4 hours depending on how you do it. The prep takes roughly 30 mins and then you can speed it up by cranking the heat. Low and slow does always make it more tasty though. He uses more peppers than we do. It’s got a kick. I’m working on getting our version shot as well and then we’ll have that. Anyway, I digress. His chili is great. The only down side is having to stir it often and the 3-4 hour time it takes to make it right.
Enter our slow cooker version. One day we went to Costco for sirloin for cheesesteaks. It’s Costso so everything is in bulk. The original recipe for chili is a pound and a half of ground meat. At Costco you can buy 4 pounds of sirloin. We used 2 for a different dinner, so what do you do with the other 2? Freeze it. Then pull it out and make slow cooker sirloin chili. The prep still takes roughly 30 minutes, but the 4 hours (on high) doesn’t require you to sit close to the stove. A quick trip every so often to stir, and then adding the beans with 2 hours left and you can’t beat that. Instead of ground meat we use sirloin. Sear the large steaks (if you’re going to do it low and slow for roughly 8 hours) or cube it, sear it, and then it only takes 4 hours. The meat falls apart by the end. It gives it such a hearty stick to your ribs feel. The flavor is our version of my dad’s recipe. We can’t handle that heat so we sweeten it up with honey and brown sugar. A little cinnamon for a Cincy style and added flavor. Another change (aside from slightly increasing the amount of spices due to the added half pound of meet) is an additional can of beans. We’re not here to argue whether beans should be in chili. I like them and we added more for the slow cooker version.
The other thing better than chili is putting small amounts of it on home made pizzas. Talk about taking your pizza game to a whole new level. We try and save some chili for pizza, but it’s hard. We eat 2-3 bows each at a time. Even with so much chili it doesn’t last long in our house.
Something fun happened this time while I was shooting for this recipe. My daughter joined me to see what I was up to. She played around with the layout while I was shooting. It was all completely unscripted and really brought these pictures to life. Her tiny hands coming in for the spoon gave those images something I could have never planned for. It helped tell the story. Not only that but I got to share a hobby of mine with her. Usually she gets a small piece of cookie or something and I try and shoot while she’s asleep. Maybe that will change going forward. Who knows? She loves the chili and I think that should make you run out and make it tomorrow.
Ingredients
2 lb Sirloin
1/2 sweet onion
4 dried New Mexico chilis with the seeds removed
1 1/4 teaspoon oregano
1 1/4 teaspoon cayenne powder
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon cumin
2 1/2 Cups boiling water
1 Can (15 oz) tomato sauce
2 Cans (15 oz each) red kidney beans
1/2 Cup brown sugar
3 Tablespoons honey
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
Instructions
Turn on the slow cooker / crock pot to high
Cut the sirloin into 1 inch cubes
Gently sear the sirloin cubes in a hot pan with a touch of olive oil
Add the sirloin cubes to the crock pot
Remove the seeds from the New Mexico dried chilis and tear into small pieces
In a blender add the hot water and the torn up dried chilis
While the sirloin is searing dice the onion. Cook in the same pan used for the sirloin until translucent
Once the onions are cooked add them to the blender
Add the oregano, cayenne, black pepper, and cumin to the blender
Blend everything for roughly a minute until smooth
Add the blended mixture to the crock pot
Add the tomato sauce to the crock pot
Cook everything on high for 2 hours, stirring occasionally.
After 2 hours, open and rinse the beans. Add to the crock pot
Remove the lid and cook everything for another 2 - 2.5 hours, stirring occasionally.
When there’s half an hour left shred the sirloin and mix everything
Serve