Let’s make over the top smoked chili!
I’ve been seeing this over the top smoked chili recipe all over the web and have been curious about it so I gave it a try. But first things first, let’s explain what it is.
What is Over the Top (OTT) Smoked Chili?
Meatballs cooked on the smoker on a rack over the chili, infusing smoke flavor and drippings into the chili resulting in a delicious meal!
The basic idea or “benefit” of making the “meatballs” cook over the chili is that the meatballs absorb more smoke flavor than the traditional method of cooking the meat at the same time along with everything else.
Final opinion? I really enjoyed this. The smoke flavor came through very well but not too much. The meat was really flavorful and everything was hearty and delicious. I would rank this in the to chilis I’ve ever had, to be honest.
You could definitely cook the entire chili in a pot on the smoker but I didn’t have a dutch oven so I chose to cook the chili in a pot on my stove and then put it in an aluminum pan on the smoker while I cooked the “meatballs”.
One question I got asked was whether or not putting the meat over the chili resulted in a lot of grease in the chili. My experience has been no. However, if this is something you’re worried about, I would suggest trying to use a lower fat ground beef or even cooked the chili “meatballs” over an empty pan, getting rid of the grease, and then adding in the rest of your ingredients after.
Serve with Cornbread if you like! (try cooking it on the smoker too!) This was a rosemary cornbread and made a wonderful accompaniment to the over the top smoked chili.
Low Carb / Keto Over the Top Chili Option
If you want to make this low carb or keto, omit the beans and the beer. You can use more beef broth instead. It will still be delicious!
WHAT I USED TO MAKE THIS RECIPE
Big Green Egg Medium Smoker | Wire Rack | Aluminum Pans | BGE Conveggtor (Plate Setter) | FOGO Charcoal | Post Oak Wood Chips | Temperature Probe
Still want more chili? Try my recipe for Ground Beef & Sausage Chili.
Have leftovers? Try making these Chili Cheese Fries (keto) or make Chili Stuffed Empanadas!
PrintOver The Top Smoked Chili
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 3 hours
- Total Time: 3 hours 20 minutes
Ingredients
1 lb beef
3 Italian sausage links
9 oz chorizo
3 cans fire roasted tomatoes with green chiles
1 28 oz. can black beans
1 yellow onion, chopped
2 red bell peppers, chopped
1 jalapeño, minced
2 Roma tomatoes, chopped
Whole garlic cloves
2 14.5 oz cans beef broth
3/4 bottle of corona beer
Spices to taste: Cumin Paprika Chili powder Creole seasoning Onion salt
1 tbsp butter
Favorite chili toppings for garnish (I used cilantro, green onion, cheddar cheese and sour cream)
Instructions
Start by cooking the veggies. This can be done on your smoker at 350 degrees or on the stove (which is what I did). In a dutch oven or pan, add butter and cook onion, bell pepper, garlic cloves and jalapeño until softened. Add in spices and black beans. Mix together and let cook for 3 minutes until most of the moisture is out of the pan.
Deglaze the pan with beer. Add in chopped tomatoes, fire roasted tomatoes and one can beef broth. Simmer.
While this is simmering, heat up your smoker to 225-250 degrees.
Then in a bowl, mix beef, Italian sausage and chorizo. Form into 3 large meatballs.
If you cooked the veggies on the stove, put them in a greased aluminum pan to go on the smoker or in a dutch oven. If you cooked them in a dutch oven on the smoker, skip this step.
Put a wire rack on top of your aluminum pan and then place the meatballs on top.
Cook at 225-250 until the meat reaches 155 degrees internal. (For me, this took just under 2.5 hours)
Once it reaches 155 internal, remove the meat from the rack, break it apart and put it into the chili. Cook for another 20-30 minutes (you can do this on the smoker or add it back to a pan on the stove.)
Garnish with your favorite chili toppings.
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