Sweet & Spicy Southern Chili Recipe

With just a hint of sweetness to counter the heat, this homemade sweet and spicy Southern Chili Recipe is bursting with flavor. It’s thick and hearty, packed with beans, tomatoes, peppers, onions, ground beef and Italian sausage.

I’ve been making this spicy and sweet chili recipe for close to 20 years, and it’s one of our favorite year-round comfort foods.

It’s especially good on a cold winter day or when you’re watching football. You’ll definitely want to add this homemade chili recipe to your Super Bowl party food menu. Serve with Homemade Tortilla Chips or Cheesy Green Chile Cornbread for a complete comfort food meal.

This spicy-sweet chili is one of my signature dishes that everybody loves. (Be sure you try my Pork Fried Wontons, easy homemade Hot Dog Chili and Mandarin Orange Salad, too!)

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Jump to:

• ❤️ Why You’ll Love This Recipe
• 🥘 Ingredients for Spicy and Sweet Chili
• 🌶 How to Make Southern Chili
• Slow Cooker Method
• 📖 Variations & Substitutions
• Storage & Freezing
• How Do You Add Sweetness to Chili?
• What Can I Add to Chili to Make It Spicy
• How Do You Cut the Spicy in Chili?
• More Chili, Soups & Stew Recipes
• 🎥 Recipe Card & Video
• Sweet and Spicy Homemade Chili

❤️ Why You’ll Love This Recipe

I adapted this dish from an award-winning chili recipe I clipped from my hometown newspaper decades ago. But I’ve made it even better, amping up the flavor and heat with more spices, fresh garlic and a hint of sugar to balance things out.

This hearty Southern chili recipe uses ground beef and a blend of Italian sausage, along with three types of pepper, tomatoes and protein-rich kidney beans.

Need a hands off meal? This Spicy and Sweet Chili recipe can be prepared in a slow cooker. Or try this Slow Cooker White Chicken Chili recipe instead!

The chili recipe makes 8 servings, so it’s good to make for a crowd or when you need leftovers. In fact, it might even be better on the second day, after the flavors have had more chance to meld.

The easy recipe makes enough for my my husband and I to have chili for dinner two nights and for lunch on the third day. Sometimes, we use the leftovers as a topping for nachos, taco salad, baked potatoes or macaroni noodles.

Want to see a brief overview of the process before diving into the recipe? Watch my web story on how to make this Southern Chili Recipe.

🥘 Ingredients for Spicy and Sweet Chili

To make this homemade chili, you will need:

• Ground Beef – I usually use lean ground beef, but you can substitute ground chuck.
• Italian Sausage – Sausage adds more flavor than ground pork to chili. For a spicy kick, use spicy Italian sausage or a blend of mild, sweet and hot sausage. I usually use half mild or sweet sausage and half spicy sausage.
• Chili Powder – Different varieties of chili powder are spicier than others. The chili powder you find at most grocery stores is relatively mild, but you can find spicier versions made with hotter peppers at specialty stores or online.
• Sugar – A little bit of white granulated sugar helps offset some of the heat and gives the chili a nice flavor.
• Kidney Beans – You can use dark or light red kidney beans. The skins on the light red beans aren’t as tough as the skins on their dark red counterparts.
• Peppers – I use a mix of red, green and yellow bell peppers. You can also add a diced jalapeño for more spice.
• Onion – This recipe uses a diced white or yellow onion, plus optional green onions for garnish.
• Tomatoes – You’ll need two cans of diced tomatoes. You can substitute whole, canned tomatoes or use diced tomatoes with green chiles.
• Tomato sauce – Use canned tomato sauce without added seasonings, not tomato pasta sauce in a jar.
• Spice Blend – In addition to fresh garlic, you’ll need garlic powder, ground cayenne pepper, cumin, salt and pepper to season the meat and the chili.
• Vinegar – Finish the recipe with an optional splash of white vinegar for acidity.

See recipe card for quantities.

🌶 How to Make Southern Chili

First, measure out the sugar and spices to season the meat. You’ll use two cloves of minced garlic, 2 tablespoons sugar, 1½ teaspoons chili powder, ½ teapoon garlic powder, 1 teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon fresh ground pepper. (See the recipe card for more information and a cooking demo video.)

Use your clean hands or a wooden spoon to combine the ground sausage and ground beef and mix in the spices.

Brown the seasoned sausage and beef in a large Dutch over or large pan over medium heat. Drain off any excess grease.

Once the meat has browned, add canned tomatoes, tomato sauce, kidney beans (drained and rinsed), chopped peppers, diced onion and the remaining spices and sugar to the mix.

Stir well and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to medium-low or low, cover and simmer for at least 30 minutes, but preferably longer to let the flavor develop.

Stir occasionally to make sure the chili doesn’t burn or stick to the bottom of the pan.

Just before serving, add a ½ teaspoon white vinegar to the pot of chili.

While the chili will be ready to eat after simmering on the stovetop for 30 minutes, you can allow it to cook on low for several hours for more depth of flavor. Cooking it longer will also allow the peppers and onion to soften more.

Serve sweet and spicy chili with tortilla chips, shredded cheddar cheese, sliced green onions and fresh jalapeño pepper, if you prefer a spicier chili. Add a dollop of sour cream, if you like.

This recipe can also be cooked in a Crock-Pot.

Slow Cooker Method

To make this recipe in a slow cooker:

• Brown the seasoned meat mixture using the saute feature on your slow cooker. If yours doesn’t have a saute feature, brown the meat in a skillet on the stovetop.
• Drain excess fat and transfer the browned sausage and ground beef to an 8-quart slow cooker.
• Add canned diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, kidney beans, chopped peppers, diced onion and the remaining spices and sugar to the slow cooker.
• Stir well.
• Cover and cook on LOW for 6 to 7 hours.
• Just before serving, add a ½ teaspoon of white vinegar to the slow cooker.

📖 Variations & Substitutions

• If you don’t like sausage, make this chili with two pounds of ground beef.
• Add 2 Tablespoons of chopped chipotle peppers in adobo sauce for a spicier, smoky flavor.
• Use a mix of mild, hot and sweet ground Italian sausage for more complex flavor.
• Use a poblano pepper in place of the green bell pepper for spicier chili.
• Add fresh, diced jalapeño pepper or cayenne pepper to add heat.
• Omit the onions if you don’t like them in chili.
• Substitute pinto beans or black beans for the kidney beans or use a blend of all three types of beans.
• Substitute sliced canned tomatoes or whole canned tomatoes for the diced tomatoes. You could also use Mexican-style tomatoes or Ro-Tel tomatoes.
• To make the chili sweeter, use brown sugar, instead of granulated white sugar.

Storage & Freezing

Store leftover sweet and spicy chili in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to three days. Reheat leftovers in a pan on the stovetop or in the microwave.

To freeze: Allow chili to cool before placing in freezer bags or airtight freezer-safe containers. Freeze for 4 to 6 months. Thaw completely in the refrigerator and reheat leftovers on the stovetop or in the microwave.

The texture of the beans may change slightly after being frozen and thawed.

How Do You Add Sweetness to Chili?

Add a touch of sugar to add sweetness to chili to balance the heat. This recipe calls for a total of ¼ cup of granulated sugar. For an even sweeter chili, you could use brown sugar instead.

What Can I Add to Chili to Make It Spicy

You have a lot of different options for adding spice to a pot of chili.

Chili powder will add some heat or spice. Most chili powder sold at the grocery store is fairly mild, because it is made from a blend of spices and mild ground peppers.

But you can find specific varieties of chili powder that pack more heat:

• Look for chipotle chili powder for a smoky, spicy flavor. New Mexico hatch chili powder is a flavorful and spicy.
• Chili powder made from habanero, Scotch bonnet or ghost peppers will make your chili much spicier. Use these super-hot chili powders in small amounts.

You can also add fresh hot peppers, to taste, to make chili spicier. Using hot Italian sausage will also make chili spicier.

You can also add hot sauce or red pepper flakes to make chili spicier.

How Do You Cut the Spicy in Chili?

If you prefer your chili less spicy, reduce the amount of chili powder in the recipe and omit any spicy fresh peppers, such as jalapeños .

In this sweet spicy chili recipe, you can substitute mild or sweet ground sausage for the hot sausage.

If you find that the chili is too spicy after you’ve made it, there are a few things you can do:

• Add sour cream to cut the spice.
• Add another can of tomatoes or tomato sauce to dilute the spice.
• Serve spicy chili over noodles, rice or potatoes.
• Increase the amount of vinegar or sugar to counteract the spiciness.

More Chili, Soups & Stew Recipes

Try these other delicious comfort food meals:

• Slow Cooker White Chicken Chili
• Hearty Sweet Potato & Shrimp Soup
• Easy Chicken Noodle Soup with Egg Noodles
• Slow Cooker Brunswick Stew
• Quick & Easy Tortellini Soup
• Hearty Beef Stew
• Black Eye Pea Soup with Collards & Ham
• Hearty Minestrone Soup

Pin This! Spicy & Sweet Chili Recipe

🎥 Recipe Card & Video