Quick Big Game Chili & Our Football Snack Spread!

We love having people over for weekly football parties, but it can definitely be a ton of work and expensive to host everyone!  For this week, I streamlined everything from our shopping to the menu, to make sure that we were spending our time and money wisely.  That meant a late night trip to Smart & Final, so we only had to make one stop for all of our party needs.  For the menu, I needed something quick and hearty, so I bought all of the ingredients for my crowd-pleasing quick big game chili recipe.  Then, we added a bunch of pre-packaged party snacks to complete the spread!

Over the weeks, I have figured out the hits and the misses that our football crowd loves, and I would love to share my tips for putting together a quick game time snack spread with you plus one crowd-pleasing recipe!

Here are just some of supplies that we bought.  All of the Simply Value paper products, tortilla chips, guacamole, fresh veggies, hummus, everything for our chili, and mini waffles for the kids'  chicken & waffle sliders.  After snapping a quick photo, we rounded up the rest of the stuff and were out of there lickety split!  The best part of Smart & Final is that I can buy everything in one store and I can buy both warehouse size & regular size items in one place.  Soooo convenient and budget-friendly!

Right before company comes over, I start the chili and it is a HUGE pot!  Here is my quick chili recipe, so you don't spend the whole day slaving over a hot stove or waiting for the slow cooker.  I use some shortcuts so I can minimize my time chopping veggies.  :)

Quick Big Game Chili
A Vintage Zest original

Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 onions, diced
Carrots, diced (1 cup) *I use the prepackaged carrot sticks to avoid peeling individual carrots*
14 oz. frozen bell pepper strips, diced
1 Tbsp. chili powder
2 pounds ground beef
6 Tbsp. flour
1 cup water
28 oz. diced tomatoes
28 oz. crushed tomatoes
14 oz. tomato sauce
3 chipotle peppers in adobo, diced
1 tsp. dried oregano
Six 14-oz. cans of beans (You can use black, kidney, white, red, pinto, or a mixture of your favorites)
14 oz. canned corn
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Shredded cheese, for serving (optional)

Directions

1. On medium, heat the oil in large pot.
2. Add the onion and carrots, cover, and cook until the vegetables are soft, about 5 minutes.
3. Increase the heat to high and the ground beef and chili powder.  Break up the meat with a spoon and cook until the meat is no longer pink.
4. Raise the heat to high and cook, breaking up the meat with a spoon, until the meat is no longer pink.
5. Mix the flour and the water together in a small bowl.
6. Add the flour mixture, tomatoes, chipotles, oregano, beans, corn, and frozen bell pepper strips.
7. Simmer for 20 - 40 minutes, depending on how thick you prefer your chili.
8. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper.

And that's all there is to the recipe!

We make sure to serve up the chili with tortilla chips, fresh veggies, and dip.  Everyone has a full belly by the end of the day, so I'm happy that everyone is satisfied with very little work!  If I have a bit more time, sometimes we make fries, hot dogs, or burgers to make chili fries/dogs/burgers, but tortilla strip scoops are a pretty good alternative.  :)  Also, sometimes I get requests for my cornbread as an accompaniment.  Yum!

If you're suuuper short on time, throwing frozen hot wings or jalapeño poppers in the oven is always easy and a sure-fire crowd pleaser.  But always keep those fruit & veggie platters on your shopping list because healthy snacks are a must!

Those are a couple of my tips (and a recipe) for making your game day shopping easier and less expensive, so you can spend time with your friends and family!

How do you set up your table for the big game?