Sweet Italian Chili

“I’m making this for the fourth time today in two months. I tripled the recipe for a small party and there were no leftovers – everyone loves it. This is now a staple in our house. It’s hearty and robust for Dad, and not spicy and sweet for Mom. I don’t add water since we like our chili thick. I always cook my meat seperately from my onions so I don’t have to worry about under/over cooking them. Everything goes in the crockpot once the chili is assembled for at least three hours.”

“This is our favorite chili. A winter staple. I add mushrooms and extras on the other veggies (tastes great, extra healthy!) I’ve also made it with ground turkey and found it to be equally good. Thanks for a great recipe!!”

“Absolutely delicious! Just the right amount of saucy and hearty. Thank you GIngerbear!”

“This was pretty good, definitely didn’t burn the tummy like most chilis do.My dad didn’t care much for it, because he likes traditional chili.I thought this would be a nice compromise since mom doesn’t like spicey foods.Haha!Ah, well, it was a good little meal with a spinach salad and a side of strawberries.Thanks for the opportunity to try something unique!”

“I didn’t have a dutch oven so I just cooked the ground beef in a skillet. I had trouble getting the onions to saute without burning the meat. I would suggest cooking them up separately at the same time the ground beef is cooking. Otherwise, this was pretty simple to make and did taste good. I give it 3 stars because I ‘like it’. I just don’t think sweet chili is for me. I might try it again though without adding the sugar. If you really like a spicy chili you’ll need to add some additional spice. It wasn’t hot at all, and it isn’t supposed to be. It’s a great recipe to make for kids.”

“Absolutely amazing Chili!I cooked up the ground beef, cut up the veggies and threw all in the crockpot and put it on Low for 6 hours and it was excellent – a very tasty, sweet Chili!(I made the recipe as stated, except put in a few teaspoons of minced garlic instead of the garlic powder.)My family and I loved it and it’s a keeper!Thanks for sharing, Gingerbear!”

“I prepared the recipe exactly as stated.At that point, it was a 4* recipe.For my tastes, it needed just a little more spice. I added about 1/4 tsp. more of salt, chili powder and cumin and it was perfect.That made it 5*.I really like a hotter chili, but wanted one a little less spicy to use in a casserole.This one is perfect for anyone who likes a slightly sweet and less spicy chili.I’m making a casserole with a cornbread top, and I think this will be just what the recipe needs.”

“For someone who doesn’t like “regular” chili, I love this! I halved the recipe and cooked it on low on the stove for 2 hrs and yielded three cups total. I used lean ground venison for the meat, and I added some extra basil and Italian seasoning as well. I have been eating it inside a warm flour tortilla with a little velveeta mixed in…very good! Thanks~”

“Delicious. My seriously spice challenged family (they don’t even like salt and pepper..) loved this, no complaints. I only made a few changes – 3 packages of Splenda instead of sugar, and extra tsps of cumin and chili powder. Amazing!”

“A bit on the sweet side for us, so we upped the chili powder and the cumin, and added red pepper flakes.The extra kick made it just right for us.Thanks, gingerbear!”

“This recipe was a little too sweet for me so I added some more chili powder and cumin.I also added a little crushed red pepper.But, I loved the way is was sweet and then spicy.It was an awesome change to the same old chili.I also didn’t have any cloves so I omitted them.I’ll make this again.”

“This was a great recipe. Lot of interesting flavors. It is very thick, but that’s the way we like it.It was just a little too sweet for us, felt like it overpowered the other seasoning. DD had the idea of putting sweet corn in it instead of the sugar so next time we are going to try that.Will definitely make again though!Thanks for posting.”

“This is now one of my favorites!! The leftovers were even better!”

“Yum, Yum. Only thing I did different was to use dried parsley cause I was out of fresh (actually bought cilantro by mistake!!!!). I strayed from using my recent “usual” recipe because I wanted to try and replicate the flavor of the chili from Nick’s Chili Parlor in Indianapolis. It’s been years since I had that chili, but the flavor of this was so good I think I can quit looking. Wasn’t overly sweet, just plain good. Thanks!”

“Absolutely delicious!Very easy to make, looks good and tastes better.My fiance has already asked me to make again!”

“My boyfriend went crazy over this chili!!! congrats!!! GREAT RECIPE!!!”

“made this vegetarian by using baby portobello mushrooms that i first sauteed in olive oil, garlic and sea salt then followed the recipe exactly subbing those for the meat.couldnt be simpler to make.very good taste, and nice texture; not too thick and not too thin.i did add a bit of hot sauce to it as i like things spicey but even without the flavor was great. thanks!”

“This is my favorite chili recipe. I’ve been trying a bunch and this one out does them all. I’ve had to give the recipe out to anyone I’ve made it for. Thank you!”

“Nice dish. DH, who is a chili lover, loved it. We had it with corn muffin from recipe #83625; very good. Lacks a bit of spicyness but nothing that a bit of hot sauce in your bowl cannot fix. “

“Yum! Will definitely make again. I used half as much water and a couple teaspoons of cloves, and I added a cup of chopped carrot and substituted 4 tablespoons of minced garlic for the garlic powder. Next time I’ll bump up the bell pepper and onion to at least a cup each and use half as much chili powder, as I found it too spicy (but I don’t like spicy food at all).”