CANNING: Five-Alarm Venison (or Beef) Chili
Canning venison chili is a great way to preserve the flavor of fall, and ensures you have almost instant delicious homemade dinners ready to go. If we don’t have at least a few jars of this on the shelf, I feel like our pantry is missing something important (and it’s time to pull out the pressure canner)! Making and canning venison chili is an afternoon of easy work, and yields many easy meals-in-a-jar. It’s one of our go-to favorites for busy weeknights, or nights when no one feels like cooking. That’s the best part about having a stocked pantry full of homemade canned food- you’re banking your labor for later, and batch-cooking to save time and effort.
You can enjoy this chili heated up and served in a steaming hot bowl with cornbread or biscuits, with rice, or over spaghetti or macaroni with all the Cincinnati-style fixin’s. We also like it mixed into mac and cheese, baked under a cornbread or masa crust in a tamale pie, or layered in a tater tot casserole. Heat it up and ladle it over baked russet potatoes or sweet potatoes, or atop spicy chili dogs. Add beans when you heat it up for a heartier chili (or leave them out if you are in the anti-bean chili camp, it’s up to you!). It’s a simple meal in itself or a versatile ingredient that can make all kinds of dishes in a hurry.
Five-Alarm Venison Chili Ingredients
This zesty homemade canned venison chili is a great way to put up part of your venison harvest, if you or a friend are lucky enough to get a deer during hunting season. If you’re eating tag soup, or don’t hunt, you can safely substitute ground beef, pork, or other large game (elk, antelope, or bear).
Unfortunately, there aren’t tested recipes and processing times for canning ground poultry, so to be safe, you don’t want to substitute ground turkey or chicken if you are planning to can your chili. You also can’t use TVP or meat substitutes if you are canning the recipe. However, if you are freezing your chili or using it all right away (for a party, or bulk meal prep), you can substitute any meat or meat substitute that you like, though the flavor and texture will be very different, and a lot of the richness and flavor of this recipe comes from the venison or beef.
Cubed Venison or Lean Ground Beef:
For this batch, I used about eight pounds of venison roasts, cut into cubes or strips, and then ground. I used a coarse grinder plate so the finished chili would have a hearty texture, though if you’re using pre-ground meat you won’t have this option… finer grind will work just as well. Since the venison is exceptionally lean, I ground about one cup of very fatty pork shoulder trim along with the venison so that it would brown nicely, and also to add flavor and richness. If you use beef, you can just grind a lean cut, or buy the leanest ground meat you can find. I don’t drain the fat when I brown the venison, but if you are using beef in your chili, you will probably want to drain at least some of the fat when you brown your beef before making your chili.
Canned Tomatoes:
I’ve scaled this recipe to use a #10 can of whole peeled tomatoes. You can also use fresh tomatoes, blanched and peeled, or multiple smaller cans.
Alliums:
Diced yellow, white, or red onions & minced fresh garlic add sweetness, zest, and flavor to this chili.
Chili Powder:
You can use any chili powder you prefer, as long as it doesn’t have flour, starch, or cornmeal in the ingredients if you are canning your venison chili. Most packets or containers of “taco seasoning” contain one or several of these, and shouldn’t be used for canning. You can use regular chili powder blends that just contain dried peppers, spices, herbs, dried onions and garlic, or make your own.
I like to make my own freshly ground chili powder with dried chili peppers, smoked and plain paprika, bright red Kashmiri chili powder, Mexican oregano, garlic powder, and cocoa powder. You shouldn’t add cocoa powder to untested water bath canning recipes, as cocoa is alkaline, especially dutch process or dutched cocoa, and can make your recipe pH unsafe for canning if it hasn’t specifically been formulated and tested to be ok. Since this is already a low-acid recipe that is being pressure-canned, it’s fine.
For this batch, I used one medium chipotle pepper, three small or two large ancho chilies, and three or four each of pasilla and guajillo peppers. I use a blender to grind the chilies into a coarse powder, after removing the stems and most of the seeds. The proportions are below, though you can adjust the type and quantity of chili peppers to suit your tastes (and what is available in your area).
Equipment & Method for Canning Venison Chili
Meat Grinder or Stand Mixer with Meat Grinder Attachment:
If you have pre-ground venison or are using ground beef, you can skip this. I like to grind my own meat to have control over the quality and size of the grind, but if you don’t have a grinder, the recipe will still be great! I use a meat grinder attachment for my KitchenAid, though you can use a stand-alone grinder if you have one, a hand grinder, or have your meat processor grind your venison or beef for you. You could also make mince by hand with a sharp chef’s knife, but that would be a LOT of work for a recipe of this volume!
Pressure Canner:
You absolutely must use a pressure canner to can this venison chili safely. If you don’t have a pressure canner, you can freeze this chili. Do not try to water-bath can low-acid foods! You also can’t safely can this in an Instant Pot- they do not reliably build up enough pressure to safely can foods, especially low-acid foods like meat and veggies that require consistent pressure and long processing times. Botulism isn’t worth the risk… always pressure can low-acid foods like meats and vegetables.
I love my All-American pressure canner, but any pressure canner that is large enough to hold at least four quart jars and that has a pressure weight and/or a tested pressure gauge will work. You’ll need a larger canner to process this whole batch, although you can also can whatever will fit in your pressure canner, and use the rest of the chili immediately (or freeze it to use within a few months).
For more information about canning basics and equipment, check out our other article:
CANNING: Equipment Guide- What Do I Need to Start Canning at Home?
Five Alarm Venison or Beef Chili (pressure-canning recipe)
Ingredients
Venison or Beef Chili
- 8.5 lbs lean venison, coarsely ground (if you substitute ground beef, use the leanest possible, or drain most of the fat after browning before adding other ingredients)
- 8 oz fatty pork shoulder or lean bacon grind with the meat or mince
- 109 oz whole peeled tomatoes with juice, or diced tomatoes in juice #10 can (12 cups)
- 4 cups onions, diced (yellow, white, or red onions)
- 4-6 large garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
- ⅔-1 cup chili powder (NOT taco seasoning) (good quality or homemade blend)
- 1 tbsp cumin, whole or ground
- 3 tbsp salt
Homemade Five Alarm Chili Powder
- 3-4 large dried pasilla peppers
- 3-4 large dried guajillo peppers
- 2-3 large dried ancho chilies
- 1 medium dried chipotle or morita pepper
- 3 tbsp smoked and plain paprika
- 3 tbsp ground cumin
- 2 tbsp cocoa powder.
- 2 tbsp Mexican oregano
- 2 tbsp ground coriander
- 1 tbsp Kashmiri chili powder sub cayenne or other dried chili, or paprika for milder chili powder
- 1 tbsp garlic powder
Instructions
Homemade Chili Powder Instructions:
- Remove the stems and most of the seeds from the dried peppers. Use gloves if your hands are sensitive, or if you are making a big batch, and wash them thoroughly after handling the dried peppers.
- It helps to tear the seeded and stemmed peppers into smaller pieces (an inch or three in size) so that they are easier to blend.
- I use a blender to grind the chilies into a coarse powder, pulsing them and shaking the jar so that they grind evenly. I sift them through a coarse sieve/strainer to reblend any large pieces, along with the other ingredients.
- When all ingredients are well blended and combined, store in a well-sealed jar in a cool and dry place until you are ready to use the chili powder.
Venison or Beef Chili Prep:
- Prepare and assemble your ingredients. Peel and chop the onions and garlic and measure out your dry seasonings.
- Brown the ground meat in batches in a large heavy skillet. Drain any excess fat (this shouldn't be necessary with venison, but less lean beef may need some fat drained). Add the meat to a large stockpot.
- Keep browning the meat in batches, along with the onions and garlic, sauteing the onions and garlic until they are tender. If you are not draining excess fat from the meat, you can season it with the chili powder as it browns. Otherwise, add the salt, chili powder, and cumin to the large stockpot and keep warm as you brown the rest of the meat.
- Add the canned tomatoes and their juice to the pot, crushing or breaking up the large chunks if you are using whole tomatoes. If you want a thinner or more tomato-forward chili, you can safely add more (or some tomato juice or V8), but don't use less (this is less about the pH than about the density of the chili- if it's too thick, the heat may not penetrate to the center of the jars during canning).
- Bring the mixture up to a low boil and simmer for at least twenty minutes. You can simmer it longer and adjust seasonings as it cooks, but remember that if you are pressure canning your chili, it will have another hour and 15-30 minutes in the canner. If you are not canning it, the flavor will improve if you simmer it longer before serving.
- If you are not serving this immediately, keep chili hot while you ready the jars and canner, or divide into freezer containers and cool rapidly.
Pressure Canning Instructions:
- Put several quarts of hot water in the bottom of your pressure canner (follow instructions from your manufacturer, enough to have several inches of water in the canner once you place the jars inside, without covering the jars) and begin to heat the canner. You can pre-heat your jars in the canner if you like, or keep them warm on a baking pan in the oven or a clean dishwasher with a heating element.
- Fill the clean, warmed canning jars with hot chili, using a jar funnel and ladle. Debubble the jars and top up if needed, leaving a one inch head-space at the top of the jars.
- Wipe down the rims of the canning jars with a clean cloth dampened with distilled vinegar (to cut any oil that may interfere with a good seal) and cover with clean, new canning jar lids. Tighten the rings finger-tight and place them in your pressure canner.
- Check the weighted vent of your canner to make sure it is clean and free to vent, then place the lid on your canner and latch it.
- Begin heating the canner over medium heat, with the weight off or the vent open (depending on your canner model) until it is steadily venting steam. Once it begins to vent, set a timer for 10 minutes and let it continue to vent steam. Then, place the weight on your canner and/or close the vent valve.
- Watch the dial gauge and/or listen for the appropriate jiggle on your canner to let you know it has reached your processing pressure- generally 10 lbs of pressure on a weighted gauge or 11 lbs on a dial, unless you are at an altitude above 1000 feet.
- Process pint (500 ml) jars for 75 minutes or quart (1 L) jars for 90 minutes. If the canner drops below the recommended processing pressure at any time, you must restart the timer from zero, so keep an eye on that gauge or listen for the weight and adjust heat if necessary as you can. It's best to make slow, gradual adjustments as sudden swings in pressure can cause siphoning in the jars.
- When the processing time is up, turn the heat off under the canner. Let cool until the gauge reads zero (or a weighted canner doesn't vent steam when you bump the weight). Carefully remove the weight or open the vent, away from you in case there is still steam to vent. Open the canner away from you, and remove the jars with jar tongs.
- Place the jars of chili on a towel or cooling rack (not a cold countertop) and let cool undisturbed for at least 8 and up to 24 hours. Check to make sure that the jars sealed, and refrigerate any jars that did not and use promptly. Remove the rings, wash the outsides of the jars with hot soapy water, label, and store in a cool dark pantry.