36 of The Best Paleo Chili Recipes
Post by Lucha: World traveler turned culinary student, Lucha will try most food but prefers Indian, Thai and Mexican food above all else. She is currently either cooking, eating, grocery shopping, or browsing recipes on Pinterest.
I was always mystified by chili – that warm and spicy Tex-Mex stew that seemed to have plenty of unrecognizable bits and bobs floating about in a spicy tomato soup sauce.
I couldn’t believe it the first time my friend’s mom showed us (the morning of a Big Game Day of course) just how easy it was! Using tomatoes, spices and your choice of filling, customizing a dish to your liking–or based on what you’ve got in the cupboard–just doesn’t get more straight-forward than this.
And I know what you’re thinking. Chili without the beans? What’s a Paleo eater to do? Behold the best bean-less chili recipes this side of the border!
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Top 3 Paleo Chili Recipes
1. Super Bowl Crock Pot Chili
The foodies over at the Meatified blog have offered up this super clear and easy-to-follow chili recipe full of meat, a variety of peppers and a secret ingredient: dark chocolate! Whether it’s the Super Bowl or a cold winter afternoon, this crock pot recipe keeps it simple with some tips and tricks, like layering the ingredients instead of mixing them together. While I still don’t own a crock pot, I’m tempted to get one before my next big party; I’m sure this crock pot chili would be a huge hit with a crowd! (And thanks to Rach who let us re-use her image.)
2. Paleo Crockpot Chili
While still a bit on the spicy-hot side, this recipe has more of a toasted and roasted zing to it because of the use of cacao powder and chipotle peppers in adobo sauce. This one also calls for a crock pot and 6-8 hours of cook time; perhaps it’s best to get started the night before if it’s for a lunch or a mid-day party. The good thing though is that it takes 10 minutes to mix it all together and then the crock pot does the rest of the work for you. I have a feeling that it’ll be worth the wait to soak through this hearty Paleo chili’s amazing flavor combination.
3. Pumpkin Chicken Chili
Diverging a ways off from your typical beefy tomato-base chili, this recipe mixes chicken in pumpkin sauce (with optional white wine- mmm!). The Civilized Caveman’s chili recipe is definitely a winner (Strands of My Life blogger agrees). If the kids are hot food-phobic you can always leave out the jalapeños; they’re pretty much the only spicy ingredient listed. These proportions are enough for 8-10 people but you can also make it on Sunday and freeze or refrigerate for easy to-go lunches all week!
Ancestral Chef Paleo Chili Recipes
Here are two yummy and unique Paleo chili recipes from our own website.
1. Bison Pineapple Chili
2. Raspberry Liver Chili
Other Great Paleo Chili Recipes
1. Bison Sweet Potato Chili
Food blogger Holly recommends you exit your comfort zone momentarily and try something new – bison!
2. One Pot Paleo Chili
Grass Fed Girl is the Internet’s resident expert on the health benefits of grass-fed beef. She uses it in this chili recipe and mixes in healthy veggies like zucchini and carrot that you might not have thought of including.
3. Paleo Bean-Less Chili
This bean-less chili recipe comes with a great recommendation from blogger Jessica: serve as a topping over a baked sweet potato! Why didn’t I think of that?
4. Paleo Chili Recipe
This is the most succinct Paleo chili recipe on the list so far, with a short list of ingredients and brief instructions.
5. Hearty Stovetop Chili
Using bacon and chicken sausages in addition to beef, these bloggers give a step-by-step photo guide so there’s no way to mess this one up! 
6. Tropical Turkey Chili
Blogger Melissa (who kindly allowed us to reproduce her image) starts with the basics but then lets you choose your garnish, giving some great ideas for a more tropical twist like pineapple and fried plantains.
7. Masala Chili with Kale and Kohlrabi
Kohlrabi may not be the easiest ingredient to find, but the Indian flavors of this “chili-like dish” has me intrigued. I might just try it out and replace the kohlrabi with turnip or radish if locating it proves difficult.
8. Butternut Squash Chili
Everyday Maven uses a steak cut and guides us through this recipe with step-by-step photos.
9. Quick and Easy Crock Pot Chili
This crockpot chili recipe is pretty straight forward; I especially love Hayley’s recommendations to vary the dish for whatever your mild-medium-hot preference may be.
10. Mexican Stewp Recipe
Food blogger Linda calls this chili a “stewp” (a cross between a stew and a soup). Her variation includes carrots, zucchini, cabbage, and (an optional) Polenta!
11. Sweet Cocoa Chili
Like a few others in this list, this recipe calls for bison, but you can leave it out if it’s too hard to find (or if you otherwise can’t be bothered). What makes this one special is the spice combination: cloves and allspice contribute to the warm and sweet, subtle flavors.
12. Pumpkin Chorizo Chili
Another chili on the sweeter side, the base for this one is a pork chorizo sausage; i.e. no beef!
13. Sweet Summer Chili
This chili is strong on the veggies and telling from the photo, it appears to be more of a soup.
14. Cherry Pork Chili
This cherry pork chili has a heavy Mexican flavor thanks to the gluten-free enchilada sauce (Mindy provides a link to the sauce recipe as well).
And Even More Paleo Chili Recipes
16. Slow Cooked, Grass Fed Beef Chili
17. Beef and Pork Chili (slow cooker)
19. Crockpot Pork and Pumpkin Chili
21. Pumpkin Chicken Chili (With White Cooking Wine)
28. Nom Nom Paleo’s Cowboy Chili
29. Chocolate Chili from Well Fed (one of the most popular Paleo chili recipes ever)
30. Elk Chipotle Chocolate Chili
Images: Copyright (c) Michael Longo cc
Véritable Chili Con Carne cc
Nathan Yergler cc
IMG_0353 cc