Hosting a Party for the Big Game? 4 Chili Recipes for Your Playbook

It’s big game season, which means it’s a great time to get together with friends. Even if you’re not into the sports ballz, what’s not to like about hanging with good folks for a few hours? If the game isn’t interesting, at least the commercials are entertaining. 

Chili is the perfect big-game food to host with: you can keep it warm all day in a crockpot, it can serve a crowd, and anyone can dress it up as they like with sour cream or cheese or crackers or hot sauce or cornbread or … a peanut butter sandwich (someone please check on Indiana) … or cinnamon rolls (Wyoming, are you okay?). 

Another advantage to chili is that it’s a very flexible recipe — beyond the basics of a tomato base and beans (and even that’s optional), you can throw a lot into a pot of chili. It’s a sure touchdown/home run/slam dunk/other sports metaphor.

Our Grotto team has a lot of pride in our chili traditions, and we’re even hosting a cookoff this year. We’ve gathered our recipes into a free download here — each of them is a proven winner, and there’s even a vegan option — so you can give one a try when you invite your friends over for the big game.