Keeping stomachs full and happy is a key part of hospitality. It’s no surprise that, as innkeepers of the Inn at Woodhaven, we get asked regularly what our favorite or most popular recipes are… especially when hosting a crowd.

We’ve shared our drool-worthy Caramel French Toast recipe, our Kentucky-derby-ready Ultimate Mint Julep recipe, and our perfect picnic Summer-Loving Green Pita recipe.

Today, we have another crowd favorite recipe that is guaranteed to warm souls and keep everyone fueled up—our Signature Spicy Crockpot Chili recipe.

Why Chili Is the Perfect Super Bowl Meal

Whether you’re hosting a big Super Bowl watch party or just having a cozy game night for two, slow-cooker chili is an excellent go-to meal for many reasons:

1. Something for everyone: Chili has so many variations with ingredients and spice-level, that it is highly customizable to your personal tastes and scalable to any size crowd you’re cooking for.
2. Food prep: Chili is a food that can be prepared in advance and where the leftovers usually taste even better than the original serving.
3. Versatility: Chili shines both as a main meal, hearty side, or hot dog topping. Plus, it’s fun to dress up with cornbread, corn chips, sour cream, shredded cheese, pickled jalapenos, or whatever else speaks to your senses.

This easy crockpot chili recipe evokes feelings of comfort and warmth. And it just tastes incredible!

Pre-Game Chili Prep

While this recipe is easy enough to throw together on your own, we always find it more fun to prepare together. It usually starts with pouring a well-crafted drink, perhaps a Kentucky Peerless bourbon over ice or a bottle of wine from Old 502, Louisville’s only urban winery.

Prep time!

Let’s face it, cooking up a good chili is a slow process, especially if you want to do it right. Any great chili recipe will tell you that it takes hours for all the flavors to come together. All we can tell from tasting our Super Bowl chili recipe is that whatever happens is worth it!

When we make this recipe at the Inn at Woodhaven, we make the most of our prep time. We turn on some of our favorite tunes or a Super Bowl playlist on Spotify (2025 playlist embedded below for you!) and just enjoy our time together chopping, browning and blending up the perfect spicy sauce.

Once that’s done, everything goes in the chili pot and we relax knowing that our delicious dinner will be ready within hours.

Chop the vegetables

Every vegetable cooks and softens more quickly when cut into smaller pieces. For our recipe, grab a chopping board and chop the onion and bell pepper.

Make sure you go for a fine chop rather than a rough one here. While you can certainly use carrot chips if you want, chop the carrots too if you’re using fresh ones.

We know this step can feel like a bore, but you can make it an art by reviewing the basics of good knife skills! You’ll feel like Gordon Ramsay after this tutorial:

Prep the meat

Although it may sound simple, there are a few things to watch out for when dicing and browning the beef. There’s no rocket science here, but paying attention leads to a big pay-off at the end.

On a clean cutting board, chop up the beef chuck into roughly 1-inch cubes. Trim away any excess fat and try to go for a uniform cut here. It doesn’t matter if your cubes are a little on the small sid,e but avoid making them too big. When cutting the beef, always make sure you cut against the grain. This ensures a more tender result.

Once you’re done, brown the meat in batches over medium heat. Don’t be tempted to do it all at once or the meat will boil rather than fry. Turn off or reduce the heat after you’re done.

Blend the spice mix

Anyone who’s ever taken part in a chili cookoff will tell you that the spicy hot sauce is really what makes the difference between an award-winning chili and a bland bowl of brown. Our days of competing are behind us, so we don’t mind sharing our secret ingredients with you.

Easy tip: We like to measure out our spices before we light the stove. This helps us measure just the right amount of each spice beforehand so we can focus on the cooking once the stove is lit.

Never forget that the charm of chili is that there are so many varieties out there. Each cook has their own recipe. We highly recommend using this recipe as a base and try to develop your own.

Feel like it needs some maple syrup or brown sugar to balance the acidity of the tomato? Want to add fresh oregano or maybe a splash of Worcestershire Sauce? Some cayenne pepper for more heat? You can!

Supplies

The best football food is something that everyone with a basic kitchen can make. You don’t need much to make this chili recipe. Just a cutting board, a sharp knife and a large stock pot to cook the chili in.

The rest is optional.

Let’s talk Pots

You need a large pot to get the most out of chili. Not only is chili best when you make it for a large group of people, any leftovers are equally delicious. In fact, it’s often even better the next day!

We choose to make ours in a slow cooker, but a large pan works just as well. In order to prevent the chili from burning, it’s important to choose a large pan with a thick bottom. Any heavy-bottom pan, such as a Dutch oven, will do the trick.

What about Beans?

Looking at our list of ingredients, you’ll notice that we don’t use any beans for our recipe. We are purists at the Inn at Woodhaven and we stick to a strict no-bean policy.

However, we certainly believe that adding beans can make for a great recipe, especially if you’re looking for a vegetarian alternative to beef. For example, adding some dark red kidney beans, chili beans, or pinto beans can make for a chili that is just as warming in winter and just as great a dish for game day

How to Serve Football Food

Prepare your table based on your budget, aesthetic, and the number of people you’re serving. Disposable paper bowls make sense for large football-loving crowds, but if this recipe becomes a cold-weather staple, then consider investing in something special (we love these bowls from Etsy maker EarthenFirePottery out of North Carolina).

 Make sure you have plenty of beverage options on hand (plus sour cream or cheese) to handle the spice. This chili’s got a real kick! Enjoy the game knowing you’ve created a crowd-pleasing meal with minimal work and very easy cleanup!

Without further ado, here is our favorite Signature Spicy Chili from the Inn at Woodhaven.

Inn at Woodhaven Signature Spicy Crockpot Chili

Now that you’ve done all the prepping, time to cook!

Ingredients:

• 3 tomatillos, husks removed
• 1 jalapeno pepper
• 2 serrano peppers
• 1 yellow onion
• 1 green, orange, or yellow bell pepper
• 1lb beef chuck, cubed
• 1lb ground beef
• 1 28oz can crushed tomatoes
• 1 28oz can diced tomatoes
• 1 tsp ground ancho chili pepper
• 3 Tbs chili powder
• 1 tsp chipotle powder
• 2 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp red chili flakes
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• ¼ cup olive oil
• ¼ cup beef stock
• 3 Tbs tomato paste
• Carrot chips (optional)

Steps:

1. Toss the tomatillos, serrano peppers, and jalapeno pepper in a small pot with enough water to cover them. Bring to a boil and continue boiling until they are tender. Drain and serve boiled tomatillos and peppers for use later.
2. Chop the onion and bell pepper.
3. In a large skillet heat 2 Tbs olive oil over medium-high heat and brown the beef cubes on all sides. Place the beef cubes in your slow cooker.
4. In the same skillet, brown the ground beef with the onion and bell pepper. Once cooked, transfer the mixture to your slow cooker.
5. Using a food processor or blender, puree the tomatillos, serranos, jalapeno, ancho chili pepper, chipotle powder, red chili flakes, cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, and remaining olive oil until smooth. Stir sauce into the meat mixture in the crock pot.
6. Add the beef stock, tomato paste, crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes, and carrot chips to the slow cooker. Stir well and cover, cooking on low heat for six to eight hours.
7. Enjoy with corn chips, cornbread, sour cream, cheese, or any other toppings you like!

We’d love to hear what you think and how you’ve made it your own. Prefer to tell us in person? We’d love to host you at our charming bed and breakfast this year!