So we know we have been posting a metric crap ton of dessert and treat recipes lately but bear with us because it is that time of year and we are also way more creative with baked goods when we’re stressed. We think it is our inner food monster craving sweets and chocolate so we justify it to ourselves by saying we’re being creative for all of you.
It is ok though, we have figured out a remedy: We make these desserts, we taste one, and then we deliver the rest to one of the Crossfit gyms near us or our friend’s coffee shop and voila, we are safe and you are satisfied. If we didn’t do that, we would all look like Ben Stiller at the end of dodgeball (if you don’t get that reference, you should find it).
Anyways, this one is not a dessert, but a DELICIOUS chili that you can substitute the elk with some ground beef or bison or any combination you choose. Either way, it will be delicious. Also, just to answer a question in advance, we got this Elk from our friends at Cook Pigs Meat.
If you’re also experiencing high levels of stress during this time of the year, we have implemented new ways to combat it that might help you as well:
1. All electronics off 1 hour before you plan on falling asleep.
2. Read for at least 30 minutes per day (because we can not have our brains turning to mush and need to continue to learn big words to entertain you all).
3. We are going to take our own advice on food which means as much as we love eating meat and bacon, we need to eat more veggies. So thanks to our friend Mark Sisson, we will be implementing a HUGE, savory salad into our meals daily and we just so happen to have found an amazing Paleo Salad dressing company that we will utilize. You can find Tessemae’s HERE.
Now, enjoy this recipe and don’t forget to go out of your way to make someone smile today!
Spicy Elk Chili
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground elk meat ground beef
- 2 zucchini peeled and diced
- 2 bell peppers diced
- 1 onion peeled and diced
- 1 8 ounce can tomato sauce
- 1 14.5 ounce can fire-roasted tomatoes
- 1 1/2 tablespoons chili powder
- 2 teaspoons cumin
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon cayenne leave out if you want mild
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 cinnamon stick
Instructions
Stovetop
- Preheat a dutch oven or large stock pot over medium heat
- Add in a cooking fat of your choice, like always we used 3 tablespoons of bacon fat
- Add in your onions and sweat them for about 10 minutes or until translucent
- Add in your peppers and zucchini and sauté for another 5 minutes
- Stir in your ground elk meat and all the spices and mix well, stir every minute or so for 7-9 minutes until your elk is cooked
- Add your tomato sauce, fire-roasted tomatoes, and cinnamon stick and stir well
- Reduce heat to low, cover and let simmer for at least 45 minutes
- Serve hot and enjoy
Crockpot
- Combine all the above ingredients in your crock pot and mix well
- Turn on low and let cook for 8 hours
- Serve and enjoy
For people who just want to cut on stress in their busy schedules, taking shortcuts like doing screen-freeing an hour prior to sleeping or spending 20 minutes at the end of each day reading a book can be really helpful. What is more, placing more veggies into the meal as well as the excess of hearty delights like this Spicy Elk Chili can help in achieving a balanced life. Not only is there a vast amount of resources available, but should you at any time find yourself without the proper words for your essay on healthy living, you can even think about using the AI essay writer for help.
Interested in eating more healthy?
Want to unlock greater wellness?
Listen to our friends over at the Wellness + Wisdom Podcast to unlock your best self with Drew Canole of Organifi:
Paleo French Toast
I served this — using a much larger brisket and increasing the marinade and rub to match — to a large group last month. These were folks who know food, and they LOVED LOVED LOVED it. Said it was the best brisket they’d ever eaten. I’m doing it again this weekend — for fifty! Thanks,
Great seasoning combo! A friend brought by an early Christmas gift of fresh ground elk and I made this last night. Delicious! Thanks for an easy and delicious chili.
SO GOOD. It was too thick when I did it as written, so I added 1.5 cups of beef broth and it was perfect. I also added one can of hot rotel diced tomatoes for a little extra heat. My boyfriend ate three bowls in one sitting.
Cannot get enough of this recipe! Absolutely love the rich flavor – and so does my family & all of our friends who I have shared a bowl with. I use red & yellow bell peppers and although I rarely add he zucchini I did like the batch I made with it in there. Thanks for sharing :)
would love to make this. I have precooked ground elk in the fridge. should i still follow the recipe as above or should i adjust it due to the fact that my meat is already cooked…? looks delicious :) Thank you!
Just adjust and you should be fine :)
Could I use elk chorizo and ground elk?
You sure could
Just used ground beef but this was really good, and easy to make! Love all the veggies in it. Thanks!
Awesome thank you
This is the best Elk Chili that I have ever had. Great ingredients especially the Zucchini!
Thank you, glad you loved it
would this be good if i added beans to it, or keep the beans out? I’m trying to add some more volume, maybe more veggies too
I don’t do beans or recommend them, I would add some more veggies and sweet potatoes
I’m so excited to try this! My favorite restaurant had a spicy elk chili, but they stopped making it.. This sounds great!!
Let me know how it comes out! I love the feedback :)
I’m going to use this recipe utilizing black bear, vennison, and elk all in one monster batch at our church cook off this weekend.Hello silver ladle award…john e.
Thank you so much :)
I am excited to make this for a chili cook off for my sons football banquet but I don’t have a cinnamon stick can I sub powder cinnamon?
Definitely. Go for it :)
What proportion of ground cinnamon would you recommend? I plan to try this recipe next week!
1 cinnamon stick = approximately 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Absolutely delicious!!! This is the only chili we make now. We have used venison, beef, turkey; and all turn out great. Also love the amount if veggies in here that my husband and kids don’t even realize they are getting! Thank you for posting this recipe.
I am all for sneaking food everywhere. Enjoy
This is so awesome, I make it weekly. I can’t get enough! So glad I found this recipe.
Awesome thank you Christine
Wow… what an incredible dish! I made mine with bison and it was AWESOMENESS! I made sure to have leftovers for lunch today… THAT’s how good it was :)
Thanks so much for the recipe!
-Ryan
That sounds delicious Ryan. Glad you enjoyed
This is so good! I have made it twice now. I will be very sad when all the ground elk is gone from the freezer! I told my husband he needs to shoot a bigger one next time. :) Thanks for the great recipes. I also love the Banana bread recipe. I make it almost every week. Even my VERY picky 10-year-old loves it! Oh, and I just made the spicy pineapple chili last night. So good. I added some kale and zucchini because I am always trying to think of ways to get extra veggies in.
Jessica thank you for all the love. And yes your husband should kill two and send one to me ;)
So glad I found your website and especially this recipe! I have 90 lbs. of ground elk in our freezer and cannot wait to make this! THanks!!!
Oh you will love this
Just tried this using 1 lb of ground white turkey and it was awesome!!
That sounds amazing, so glad you enjoyed
I made this with wild boar. OMG, it was so good. My husband said it was the best chili he’s ever had. My two teenage boys loved it. Thanks for a great recipe! I can’t wait to try others.
Oh that sounds amazing :)
Do you brown the ground elk before it goes in the crock pot? I want to make this for dinner. I’m excited to try it.
You don’t have to but you can
ok, thanks. I’ll try just throwing it in :)
I’ve been working non-stop this holiday season and this recipe was a lifesaver. I didn’t have elk, or grass-fed beef, but I did have a pound of kangaroo, which really complemented the various spices. I also added some smoked paprika and mushrooms to the mix and it was absolutely delicious (especially when served with some cauliflower “rice” to soak up all the amazing flavors). After singing for 7 hours out in the cold, this pretty much saved my voice. I really can’t thank you enough! What you do for everyone by providing these recipes is truly amazing (and I sincerely mean that). Best wishes and have a spectacular holiday season!
Samantha I am so glad you loved it. Even happier it saved your voice cause we don’t want me singing to the world haha. I hope you enjoy many more recipes and I appreciate the support
Made this last night. Wholey moley….. freaking amazing! Needless to say, it was demolished and I’ve added a new staple recipe to my kitchen. I LOVE how easy it is to make!! Thanks for an amazing recipe! Oh, and my hubby thanks you too. :)
BTW, I used ground grass-fed beef. Next time I will try it with Elk!
So glad you loved it
I got your recipe email for the Spicy Elk Chili. I wanted to make it right away because any kind of chili is in my wheelhouse. I had no Elk (something I feel most of us could say on most days) so I used grass-fed ground beef. I had no zucchini but I did have a husband who was willing to stop and get it on his way home. Yeah! So I made it and it was delicious, even better the next day. I was tentative with the cayenne pepper (and not too sure of its birth date) so next time I’m going to add more or buy new cayenne pepper.
So glad you loved it. Keep making it and tweak it to your liking
Made this Monday night, I used bison instead of elk. So Yummy!! My 8 & 9 year olds scarfed it down too. Thanks for all the great recipes!
Made this Monday night. I didn’t have elk, but did have bison. So yummy!!! My 8 & 9 year olds scarfed it down too! Thanks for all of the great recipes!!
That’s awesome. I love when kids love my food
I would personally go kill a buffalo myself, just so I could have it in a piping hot bowl of this deliciousness.
Go do it then come share with me
It just occurred to me how long its been since I have had chili. Thank you for reminding me about this! I guess I’m gonna have to try this now. The elk sounds super interesting. I will let you know how it goes when I try it.
Awesome Joshua, can’t wait to hear
Well. I was able to obtain elk from my uncle and I made this. And I this is by far one of the best chlis I have ever eaten. The flavors were super balanced, it wasn’t too spicy and it wasn’t too chili tasting, it was just right. I’m definitely going to adapt this and use this recipe more often but with more obtainable meats. But It was worth using the elk because it gave it a really unique flavor. Thank you so much George!
Oh dude awesome you got elk and got to try. Thanks for commenting
That looks super tasty! I have a chili going now but haven’t added the spices yet. I think I should go with this one however maybe add some more spicy because it has to be hot for my tastes. LOL! I am missing the zucchini though. Bummer.
It’s ok Denise, I hope you enjoy anyways
Literally eating it with grassfed ground beef as I type! It’s delicious- great flavor. I will however add more zuccinni, bell pepper, and onion for texture and it’s always good to get more veggies! :) Thanks for yet another great recipe! :)
Woohoo thank you Monica, I am so glad I am not the only one who liked it with zucchini :)
I am going to try it with venison chunks…in the crockpot. Sounds delicious!
That sounds amazing
I just took ground moose out of my freezer to make this tomorrow!! YAY!!
Tammy you will have to report back on that one
Will do. I have caribou too, but the moose is out now, so moose it is!
It was not ground moose it was just a big hunk of moose, so I cubed it and made the recipe, minus the zucchini and spicy parts, annnnd it was awesome! The cinnamon I would have never thought of but now I will never make chili without it! Thanks for the recipe!!
So glad you enjoyed. Cinnamon makes everything amazing
For those in the Colorado Springs area, Andy’s Meat Market on Platte regularly sells elk. It is delicious.
Not lucky enough to have elk in the freezer, I’ll substitute with ground venison and give it a try. I hear elk is even more delicious – they’re just hard to come by. Cheers ~ Conny
That sounds like it will be delicious