Venison-Bacon White Chili

The basic recipe was good, but it'll need some tweaking. Next time I won't put so much cinnamon in it. It was tad overpowering. Also, make sure you drain your bacon before mixing in. I don't believe the recipe called for that and the chili was a little too greasy. And one last thing is I'll add more cumin. Chili I like has way more cumin in it. My boyfriend absolutely loved it! He ate almost the entire pot over 2 days! I will definitely make again with a few adjustments!

I have never cooked venison in the past, and I found that this recipe was extremely easy to follow, and the meat turned out tender and flavorful. So, I can safely recommend this for novice cooks. My husband took the chili to work with him, and his co-workers ate the entire pot. I'm making another pot tonight. I did cut back on the salt by one teaspoon, and I found that this recipe was plenty salty (and I generally like a lot of salt in my food.) I also do not own a meat grinder, so I diced the venison, and it turned out great. Thanks for the recipe!

I changed it slightly. I didn't add the salt, it was fine without it. While cooking the meat mixture I added Merlot to it to add flavor. I made it on a Saturday and it was finished off that night so the next day I made it again and doubled the recipe using venison and beef chili meat. All my guy friends loved it and devoured it VERY quickly. Plus, I And I also used Chili Beans instead of Northern Beans and frozen corn for more flavor. Then the green chilies that it called for I used Spiced Rotel tomatoes with green chilies in it, meant for cooking chili and also added a can of diced, peeled tomatos. Turned out FABULOUS!!!!

Whoever thought of putting cinnamon in chili should think again. Not a very good recipe. Way too sweet. I will continue my search for the ultimate venison chili recipe.

I was given some venison , which I had never cooked before. This was a very tasty recipe, though I was glad I completely eliminated all 4 teaspoons of salt. I think it would have been inedible if that was used. You get more than enough salt with the bacon and chicken broth. I also cut the cayenne pepper to 1 teaspoon, which made it only mildly hot. My husband just adds more hot sauce when I serve it, as he likes to break out in a sweat when he eats chili!

This chili is phenomenal! It tastes just like a chili I get from a local resturaunt that I love but I could never nail down exactly what was in it. I am going to try it with chicken instead of the venison and bacon this time.

This was the first time I made anything with venison. It was good, although next time I will cut back on the salt if not eliminate it altogether. Plenty of taste to this dish!

Amazing!!! I was hesitant to the brown sugar and cinammon, but it added the perfect taste. I substituted chicken for the venison and it worked.

I used the spices in this recipe as a guideline for my own venison chili. I didn't follow the ingredient list, but I felt I needed to comment anyway because it was fantastic. I cut the cinnamon and nutmeg in half but followed the remaining spices exactly. I'm definitely going to keep this recipe!

This is a wonderful, unique soup. My husband went wild over it and even took some to work to prove to his boss how good deer meat can be! I added half the amount of cayenne and chili powders. If you love spicy food, put in the whole amt. The next time I make this, I will definitely use half the cinnamon and nutmeg; it was too much for me, even though some of that taste/smell is essential for this soup. I ended up putting in 10 cups of chicken broth, which gave us more to eat and made it soupier. I can't imagine how 4 cups would be enough. Absolutely great - we are putting this on the top of our soup list!

don't add salt, half the spices

This was truly yummy. Not the right recipe if you're looking for traditional "Texas" chili, but it is delicious in its own right. I'm lucky enough to be in NM where I can add fresh green chilis. So good!!

This is my first review on this site, and I think the chili merited it. I left out the cayenne and green chiles since I'm serving two kids under 5, but it still had a real depth of flavor that was really awesome. Great comfort food, and a perfect match for venison. I agree with the other comments on the salt. I used 1/2 the amount and it was a little salty. Will leave out next time. Thanks for sharing a great recipe.

Great different chili recipe. I would eliminate the salt. There is plenty in the bacon and other ingredients.

Very tasty. I added a tomato and about 3/4 of a jar of salsa, used fresh jalapenos instead of canned chiles, and omitted the flour/butter. Next time I will add even more tomatoes, because as my long-time-cook-boyfriend pointed out, tomatoes add acidity which helps to tenderize the meat.

Very yummy! We really liked it. It has an excellent flavor, but a little on the spicy side for what we tend to prefer. Next time will cut back on the cayenne and salt.

I can't believe how delicious this is! Made the recipe exactly how it was written (i did drain the back grease), and served with sour cream on top..this one is definitely a keeper, and I plan on making it often!

Great chili! We don't add the salt, use reduced sodium chicken broth with turkey bacon for a more healthy version.

I won a local chili cook-off this weekend with this recipe! There were 10 entries total and I got a TON of compliments on how many layers of flavor this dish has. By the way, I assumed the author meant 15-20 seconds, not minutes, in the first instruction. Also, I used a yellow onion instead of red. Thanks for a wonderful recipe!!

I used this recipe for a chili cook-off at my sons school. It was a great hit. I did not add the salt. I put in kidney beans, a little more chile powder, and only half of the cayenne pepper. We won Peoples Choice at out cook-off. A great recipe..

This was AMAZING!!!!! My husband and I cannot get enough! I doubled the recipe, left out the salt, and 1/3 the bacon (less sodium). Served with cheese and sour cream. Too die for!

It was good, but didn't really taste like chili. It was more of a stew with ground venison.

After reading each and every review I decided that this would be the recipe to WOW my husband with after a long hard day at work. Boy was I wrong! We both thought that the cinnamon and nutmeg were overbearing and to be quite frank, when mingled with the other flavors it was gross. The entire house reeked of the aroma of the chili. I was more than disappointed, especially after all of the positve reviews. I read the recipe more than once before I began and of course during and even after. I am now reluctant to prepare anymore venison chili recipes from this site.

This recipe is the BOMB! The first time I made it, everyone raved. The second time and since then I add a pound of ground lamb, a few more chiles and a few more beans. My family loves it with corny corn bread on the side or even under the chili! Thank you!

I would really love to give this recipe 5 stars, because it was absolutely amazing - but the 4 teaspoons of salt prevents me from doing so. Since I am trying to stick with south beach diet guidelines, as much as possible, I made the following modifications. I left out the salt, smart balance instead of butter, whole wheat flour, turkey bacon instead of regular, venison stew meat instead of ground (because I didnt' have the ground), and brown sugar w/splenda. Also because of my own personal preference I used diced chlies instead of whole, and only 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper. This is my favorite chili by far!

This recipe as is is good. I think it can get a little better. I ended up tweaking slightly to what we had on hand and what we preferred in the Chili. This is a great base recipe. I used this recipe in a crockpot by adding all ingredients except the venison and some butter to cook it in and once cooked through I added salt and pepper to it and 1/3 cup flour to coat the meat and then threw that in the crockpot. I HATE the cinnamon and nutmeg in it though. I can still eat it but find myself not wanting much due to these ingredients. I even got nauseated when reheating it for the husbands lunch thermos this morning (due to the smell of that cinnamon and nutmeg in there) LOL apparently I am not a fan of these ingredients in this dish. I love the overall flavor beyond those ingredients and next time will simply Omit those. I did add a 28 oz can of petite diced tomatoes and 1/2 taco seasoning packet as well as about 2 TBSP Taco Sauce and about 8 diced pickled Jalepenos to the mix. I substituted dry northern beans (1 Cup) for the crockpot method instead of using canned. My family enjoyed this dish. I am new to eating venison so I have to say this recipe is great in that I didnt feel like I tasted a gamey flavor in our meat.

Fantastic recipe. I've never cooked venison before and didn't know what to expect. It's filling and hearty. I did follow the lead of other reviews and halved the amount of cinnamon and nutmeg and did not add any salt. I will definitely try this again.

This is a fabulous white chili. We halved the amount of bacon and added half again as much cayenne pepper and chili powder, and used fresh cilantro instead of dried. This recipe disappears almost as soon as it's put on the table!

This is going to be a staple in my kitchen. I used a very smokey bacon and ommitted 3 tbsps of the salt and all of cilantro (because I didn't have any in the house). I built the chili on the stove top and then put the entire thing in the oven for 2 1/2 hours. Got rave reviews from hubby and friends who were over for dinner.

Amazing! I used fresh cliantro-but everything else was as listed. I love it!

Great flavor. I too, left out the salt and it was just right without it.

If you like HEAT, and a different twist on traditional Chili - this is it! The spice combo is stellar in my opinion. I did not have venison nor bacon for this (used ground pork, and only 1 lb - all I had!) instead.. but can imagine how wonderful those two meats would be. Venison in chili is delicious, I much prefer it to ground beef. I prepared this in my slow cooker, because I like to use dry beans, which fare best in slow cookers rather than stovetops. So prepped all spices, thawed meat, soaked beans, chopped onion (used 4 shallots instead), and actually was out of garlic so omitted it entirely. Sauteed the shallot in butter & spices that night, added the meat and canola oil and let cook til slightly browned. Followed the roux/stock step, simmered with the corn for a few minutes.. then dumped it all into the crockpot, with the addition of 2 extra cups of chicken stock. Cooked 12 hours on low - it is just fabulous! Served with cornbread crackers. First time EVER I have not added vinegar, cheese, sour cream or any other toppings to my chili! LOVE THIS!

Awesome if you leave out the salt and halve the cinnamon and nutmeg. One person who tried it told me that it was the best chili they'd ever tasted 4 times.

Wow! This is really terrific. Finally I have something I can do with all that ground venison in our freezer. My son doubled this recipe for us last night. A little bit was left over and I was planning to have it for lunch, but dh swiped it for breakfast! The only thing we altered was we left out the cayenne because our cayenne seems extra hot and we're not the types who can handle that much spice. Absolutely perfect! Thanks for sharing this recipe.

I really liked the different flavors in this recipe. It's a little different from a traditional chili. I altered it slightly after reading some reviews. I cut the cinnamon and the nutmeg quantities in half and used only 1/4 of the cayenne. I like it hot, but my wife does not. Even with only 1/2 tsp cayenne I would consider it mild to moderately hot. I did not have ground venison left so I cubed it into bite sized pieces and it was very good that way. I drained most of the bacon fat off and reserved only 2 TBS for the onions and garlic to be sauteed in. After trying it, I think that the full amount of cinnamon and nutmeg would be too overpowering. Adding half gave it just enough to recognize the flavors and still allow them to blend with the other spices. I like all kinds of chili and will make this one again sometime.

My husband and I were both feeling under the weather when I made this and we both loved it! I did make some modifications. I used 7 crushed cloves of garlic since I had it, I eye-balled all the spices, used no salt at all, used turkey bacon and a small amount of cinnamon and nutmeg. I also added red cooking wine to the meat mixture. It smelled delicious and tasted amazing. My husband and I both agree that some kind of un-levened bread would go quite well with this. Cornbread might do in a pinch. I will make this again if given the chance.

Talk about good! Like others, I made a few changes. Only used 1 tsp of salt and that was plenty! I omitted the green Chile’s and used 1 can of Rotel tomatoes w/chili’s and 1 can of diced tomatoes. I also added an extra can of Northern beans because I thought it needed it. Was a little nervous about the bacon in it but it’s great! This chili is a keeper! And... it packs some heat! My nose is still running! LOL

What a wonderful recipe! After reading the other reviews I also omitted the salt and it was just fine. Adding the salt would have made it inedible. Overall it was fabulous and we will prepare this again in the near future.

Great!!! The whole family loves it.

This recipe was amazing, my whole family loved it and my husband said he'd love to take it in for his annual company chili cook off! This recipe offered a unique flavor and blend of ingredients. Per other suggestions, I cut the salt in half to 2 teaspoons, the bacon added plenty of salt itself. We will be adding this recipe to our file of favorites.

won a chili cookoff with this as a base recipe

I acctually let it cook longer to thicken up, and was splendid as a more traditional chili, with a not so traditional earth taste

yikes pretty darn spicy. I used venison bacon only that couldve had some effect on the spice. my boyfriend ate the whole pot that night. said wow i just can't stop eating it even though its so spicy... i also left out the last of the salt because of the veni bacon... Thank God i did This will be a regular thing we'll be making! I'll just have to double the recipe next time and have lots of fun chopping allllllll those garlic cloves :)

We eat a lot of venison at our house & my husband LOVED this! We followed the recipe exactly & I wouldn't change a thing. Very tasty, we'll definetly be having this again.

This is great! A lot hotter than I expected which is awesome for me, just not the rest of the family. Definitely need to drain the bacon grease next time, but there will definitely be a next time. Also, try using Tony Chachere's Bold creole seasoning (if you like spicy)...

A favorite recipe of my husband and I, we just leave out the beans since we aren’t fans of most beans. This chili is incredible over baked homemade fries

Wonderfully Flavored! I did have a few adjustments but nothing too bad. As many did I cut back on the salt, only used 1/4 of what it called for and I would have left that out if I would have had all the bacon it called for. I only had 1/2lb bacon on hand. As far as spice, we like some heat but not FIRE, so glad we only used half the Cayenne pepper. I only had fresh cilantro so I used 4Tbs for the 1Tbs of dried. We use the entire amount of nutmeg and cinnamon and it was fine for us, we're use to it in many of our Chilies. But if your not use to it, you could cut back to half the amounts. If it is too hot for you, of coarse you can add a little sour cream or cheese on top.(we did) Will make again, almost as good as my dad's famous Venison Chili. Glad I tried it and will make again.

I work part time in a bar full of amateur and not so amateur cooks...When I brought this chili in, the whole staff went nuts over and are insisting I bring it in again and again. It's the best chili I've ever had.

Loved it! Changed it a bit: Followed steps 1 & 2, but also added seasoning and veggies from step 3 (cut cayenne down to 1 tsp total). Cooked the bacon separately, drained on towels, then added to prior mixture. Put mixture in crock pot w/cubed 2 pound chuck roast and simmered all day (about 8 hours). Definitely had more fat this way (no place for the roast to drain), but it was delish! (And I drained the fat off after refrigerating the next day). Will definitely make again!

I loved it. I cut back a little on the heat, but other than that, I just followed the directions. I loved the cinnamon in it, and the brown sugar too. I didn't think it was too sweet at all. It is difficult to find recipes for chili that don't call for tomatoes, and while I like tomatoes, they sometimes give my husband heart burn, so he always wants to to cook everything without them. With somethings, it just doesn't work, but this one was great.

Way too spicey for me. I think of "white chili" as being made with chicken. There was no way this was feeding 12 people, so I added more ingredients to stretch.

I altered this some because of a special diet I'm on (blood type diet) and we loved it! I didn't add the corn or bacon. I added lima beans. Added an extra pound of venison and an extra 2 cups of broth. Didn't add all the extra seasonings to the venison. Only put in 2 tsp salt total and used low sodium broth. (salt was just right) Looking back I would only add 1 to 1 and a half tsp of cayenne pepper and I would have maybe added another can of beans. Served with shredded cheddar cheese and sour cream. A-mazing. Even my toddler ate it!

Absolutely amazing. I halved the cinnamon, nutmeg and brown sugar as I had read, and skipped the salt, only sprinkling in a little into the pot. I hate onions, so we skipped those and used a little onion powder in the meat, and hubby doesn't like corn, so we put some diced potato in instead of the onion and corn. Also, the time it takes to make this is more than it says. We made it twice, and it was a 2 person near 2 hour job for us, and then the hour of cooking. But it doesn't matter. We love it so much we would spend the whole day making it if we had to! The first time I added some chicken into our leftovers the next day, and it was super good too! Fantastic recipe!

I lived in Texas for much of my adult life, so I am very familiar with chili. The chili is very different from chili I have made in the past. It doesn't include tomatoes or tomato sauce. I've made chili that includes venison before, but never with bacon! It is much hotter than most chili I've made.

We love the kick of this recipe. Good heat and flavor. It cans well and is great for a make ahead meal for company.

This is a hit every time I have made it! A little less salt though. Skip 2 teaspoons. Otherwise, one of the best soups I've ever made!

I did 2 large jalapenos and omitted the cayenne pepper and the salt, also substituted black beans for the cannellini beans...very good. I also cooked the venison and chopped bacon together to allow more effect of bacon fat in tenderizing and flavoring the venison.

Very rich and hearty. I did halve the cinnnamon, salt and cayeanne.