The Ultimate Chili Bar (2024)

At least a couple of times a year, I enjoy making a huge pot of chili for my family. When hosting a party, it is a perfect dish to serve. In fact, one Christmas, we had a chili party with a few different kinds of chili and lots of toppings. For this chili bar, I made a spicy turkey chili with all the toppings that you're going to love.

For Oliver's first birthday party, we had a make-your-own chili bar. Our guests really loved it! I was so happy with my decision to make it for Oliver's party. One thing that I learned was that I did not need 4 slow cookers full of chili. I needed one. We ate chili for forever in April! Good thing that it freezes really well.

To be honest, it is hard for me to share my chili recipe because it changes every single time. I think that chili can be made with whatever you have on hand and doesn't need to be exactly the same. I make chili with either ground turkey, beef, venison or even vegetarian depending on what I have stocked in my freezer or feel like eating.

• Ground turkey
• Carrots
• Celery
• Onion
• Olive oil
• no-added salt tomato puree
• Diced tomatoes
• no-added salt kidney beans
• chili powder
• Hot sauce
• garlic powder
• Onion powder
• Smoked paprika

I make spicy chili with all different vegetables depending on what I need to use up. The constant vegetables are pretty much always onions, carrots and celery. Zucchini, summer squash, sweet potatoes and squash also work really well in chili. I also use different tomato products such as tomato puree from my garden which I freeze each year, no-salt added tomatoes, tomato puree or even fresh tomatoes.

Growing up, my dad was always the chili maker. We ate it often and he actually just made us some a couple of weeks ago. We never ate toppings on our chili so that is new to me. When I met Troy, he was totally obsessed with a chili toppings bar so now when I make chili, I always set out a bunch of toppings and my husband is thrilled.

For this chili bar, I decided to make a spicy turkey chili and it came out awesome! I made a huge pot of it to take over to our cousin's house. When you're making chili, feel free to make it in quantity and freeze some. I freeze mine in mason jars and just make sure to leave some room at the top since the soup will expand when it freezes. I love pulling out quart jars full of chili during a busy week and having dinner ready to go in no time.

What toppings are good on chili?

Toppings make chili SO much more delicious than chili just on its own. The topping options are endless! Some delicious chili toppings are onions, cheese, corn chips, jalapenos and more! Read below for a more extensive chili toppings list.

What are the best toppings for chili?

• Diced red onion
• Chopped avocado
• Shredded yellow cheddar
• Shredded white cheddar
• Diced green onion
• Corn chips
• Cornbread
• Cilantro
• Sour cream or plain Greek yogurt
• Any flavor ofhot sauce
• Slicedjalapenos

How to Freeze Chili

I like making a double batch of chili and freezing some for later in Ziploc bags. It lasts about 6 months in the freezer. To defrost, place the bag of chili in a pot a day ahead of time to thaw. Reheat the chili on the stove.

This chili has a little bit of spice and a lot of tomato flavor which I really enjoyed. I chose ground turkey because that is what I had on hand. Feel free to swap it for any ground meat you prefer.

What kind of cheese goes well with chili?

Any kind of shredded cheese would be good on chili but my favorite is definitely shredded sharp cheddar cheese. White cheddar, mozzarella, smoked gouda, and pepper jack cheese are other great toppings for chili.

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