This is my famous Chili Cookoff winning recipe!  The key ingredient is the Italian sausage which adds the extra flavor that can’t be matched.  On a few occasions, I have used ground beef instead of sausage, but it only yielded a 2nd or 3rd place ranking.  If you do decide to use ground beef, I recommend using 1 1/2 or 2 chili seasoning packets.

Ingredients:

2 lbs. ground Italian sausage

1 chili seasoning packet

1 sweet onion, chopped

28 ozs. crushed tomatoes

8 ozs. tomato sauce

10 ozs. diced tomatoes with green chiles

2 – 15 oz. cans kidney beans, drained

Chili powder, to taste

Brown the sausage and onion in a skillet.  Drain off excess fat.  Put all of the ingredients in your crockpot and stir well.  I prefer to make this the night before and store the crock in the refrigerator (it gives the chili a thicker consistency), but you can do it either way.

The next morning, I put the crock back into the base, turn it on low, and cook for 7 to 8 hours.  Add extra chili powder, to taste during cooking, if needed.

Serve with mini corn muffins, sour cream, and grated cheese on the side.  Whether you’re entering a chili cookoff or bringing this to a potluck, you’ll be a winner either way!