If you've ever skied at Deer Valley Resort, you already know about the Turkey Chili they serve in the lodges and restaurants. The double whammy of both warm and nourishing and yet somehow light, Deer Valley Turkey Chili the perfect dish for a cozy new year, new you and this recipe is a near exact dupe that's somehow even lighter. Shall we?
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What's so Special about Deer Valley Turkey Chili?
Look, I don't know the full lore around the turkey chili, but I do know that any mention of "Deer Valley" in conversation is immediately followed by some variation of "don't you love the chili?!" I think it's a combination of a few factors. Just about ANYTHING warm and hearty will taste great after spending a day exerting all that energy out on the ski slopes, chili isn't something you eat every day at least not me, and this version is different with the turkey and the southwest-y addition of corn.
The chili is so well-known among fans that while they've never shared an official recipe, the resort sells a Chili Mix that lists its dry ingredients, and has instructions with what fresh ingredients you need to add like garlic, onions, etc.
I personally love the Deer Valley Turkey Chili, especially because it's made with no tomatoes, which makes it a unique flavor departure from the usual tomato-based red chilis. Using the mix label, my palate, and a lot of testing, I've duped the recipe with some tweaks to make it a little easier, and am sharing it here!
Deer Valley Turkey Chili Health Benefits
Depending on your health and dietary needs, Turkey Chili in general can be part of a healthy lifestyle! Both turkey and the black beans are nutrient dense, that goes without saying.
Turkey, particularly the breast meat, is one of the leanest sources of protein, with 4 ounces (¼ pound) of the breast meat containing 35 g of protein! Turkey also provides vitamin B12.
Black beans are rich in both protein and fiber. One serving of black beans, about ½ cup cooked, offers:
- 8 grams of protein
- 6 grams fiber
As published, this Turkey Chili recipe without the optional garnishes is:
- dairy-free
- gluten-free
- sugar-free
Ingredients You Need for Deer Valley Turkey Chili
There are a little more than a few ingredients in this list, but the actual prep and cooking is pretty minimal. Here's what you need:
Fresh/refrigerator ingredients:
- Cooked turkey, 1 pound—leftovers from Thanksgiving are PERFECT for this!
- Garlic, 5-6 cloves
- Onion, 1
- Celery, 2 stalks
- Red bell pepper, 1
- Corn kernels, 3 cups frozen or fresh shucked
- Chicken broth, 3-4 cups homemade is better and if you have turkey bone broth from leftovers, EVEN BETTER
Dry/pantry ingredients:
- Black beans, 2 cans drained
- Masa harina, ½ cup
- Chili powder, 2 tablespoons
- Ground cumin, 1 tablespoon
- Dried oregano, 1 tablespoon
- Cayenne pepper, 1-3 teaspoons
- Sea salt, 1 tablespoon plus more to taste
The Turkey Chili by itself is delicious, but adding a few extras as toppings can really take it over the mountain top!
- Sour cream or thick yogurt
- Shredded cheese
- Avocado
- Chopped green onions
- Minced red onions
- Jalapeño or serrano pepper slices
- Pico de gallo or salsa
- Tortilla chips
What's the Best Kind of Turkey to Use for Chili?
This particular recipe for Turkey Chili is inspired by the lodges at Deer Valley ski resort, which uses chopped cooked turkey breast, thereby making it a great use for leftover turkey from Thanksgiving or the Holidays. Adding cooked turkey dark meat will add more flavor!
What Kind of Beans are Best for Turkey Chili
This Turkey Chili contains black beans, and canned black beans make the recipe faster and easier. Black beans give the turkey a southwest vibe. The smaller size makes them easier to eat and keeps their shape during the cooking.
Is Chili Powder the Same as Ground Chiles?
Chili powder ending in "i" and chile powder ending in "e" are two different things.
The bottle of "chili powder" you buy from the grocery store is actually a blend of ground dried chile peppers along with other spices and seasonings that may include cumin, coriander, oregano, garlic and sometimes even other fillers. The type(s) of chiles in generic chili powder varies across brands and heat levels, but may include paprika which usually has no heat, ancho chiles which are mild to medium spicy, and cayenne pepper which considered spicy. Most bottled chili powders you buy don't enumerate the type of chiles in the ingredients, just listing "ground chile" as (hopefully) the first ingredients.
This brand of chili powder is organic and I appreciate that it lists specific chiles on the bottle, e.g. paprika and cayenne.
Ground chile, with an "e," is usually the ground powder form of a single type of dried chile. When you buy a single variety of ground chile, the variety of chile is usually stated, like ancho chile powder, cayenne pepper (which is a chile), and chipotle chile powder.
Because all chili powders are different, and most of them are usually fairly mild, I add additional chiles and spices to make sure the deep, spicy, smoky, and sometimes subtly sweet flavors are there. Dried ground cumin adds more smoke and cayenne or other spicy chile pepper adds heat.
Additional Ingredients Notes and Resources
Stock or Bone Broth. In this house, we only ever make Turkey Chili when we actually have leftover turkey from a Holiday dinner, which means we also have homemade turkey bone broth. However, you can absolutely use homemade or store-bought chicken broth.
Frozen Corn tastes fresher and has better texture in the final chili. The chili mix that Deer Valley actually sells lists canned corn and canned creamed corn, which you can use if you don't have access to frozen corn.
Masa harina is very finely ground corn used to make tortillas and tamales. It is similar to corn meal and corn flour, but much finer in texture and treated so it has a slightly different flavor. For this Turkey Chili recipe masa harina is a thickener, similar to the way cornstarch or wheat flour would be used to thicken the chili base. If you don't have access to masa harina, use corn starch slurry as a substitute—instructions below under Substitutions section.
Salt. Salt is an obvious and ubiquitous ingredient. I use this Kosher salt.
All other vegetables, herbs and produce I get from the the regular grocery store.
How to Make Deer Valley Turkey Chili
Look, in general, chili of any kind is not a complicated dish to make. You just throw a bunch of ingredients in a pot with liquid, simmer, and you can have a pretty decent pot of chili in about an hour.
And Deer Valley Turkey is truly one of the easiest chilis to make because you don't even have to cook turkey, you use leftover already cooked turkey! Here is how you make it:
If you haven't already prepped the vegetables and aromatics, mince 5-6 garlic cloves, and chop 1 onion, 2 stalks celery, and 1 red bell pepper
Heat ¼ cup olive oil over medium heat in a large Dutch oven or pot. Add 1 chopped onion, 5-6 minced garlic cloves, 2 stalks chopped celery, chopped ½ red bell pepper. Cook for 7 minutes until the vegetables are tender and translucent.
Add 1 pound chopped, cooked turkey to the pot along with ½ cup masa harina, 2 tablespoons chili powder, 1 tablespoon ground cumin, 1 tablespoon dried oregano, 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper to start, and 1 tablespoon salt to start. Give the mixture a stir.
Add 4 cups turkey or chicken stock. Bring to a boil, then immediately reduce heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes.
Add the 2 drained cans black beans and 3 cups corn. Bring to a boil then reduce heat again and simmer for 15 minutes If the chili gets too thick, add more chicken stock.
Serve in bowls along with sour cream or yogurt, shredded cheese, chopped green onions, chopped red onions, and sliced jalapeños.
Pro-tip: If you prefer the texture of chili with ground turkey, simply cook 1 pound of ground turkey in a little bit of the olive oil first, then proceed with the aromatic vegetables.
Substitutions and Variations
This Turkey Chili recipe, as with most chilis, is generally forgiving and flexible. You can eyeball a lot of the amounts and ratios "to taste." I have made this recipe many times as presented, as well as with the substitutions and variations as noted below:
Chicken instead of turkey. Though the recipe is called "Turkey Chili" you can absolutely use chicken. In fact, store-bought rotisserie chicken, which is fairly ubiquitous, is perfect here. Keep in mind that you will likely need more than 1 chicken to make the full recipe.
Ground turkey instead of diced turkey breast. My presumption has always been that this Turkey Chili recipe was created expressly to use leftover cooked turkey, but if your only option is ground turkey, make your first step to simply brown 1 to 1½ pounds lean ground turkey in 2 tablespoons oil, drain, and set aside while you proceed with cooking the vegetables. Add the cooked ground turkey at the same step in the recipe.
Masa Harina Substitution. Corn flour and corn meal are not good substitutes for masa harina in this recipe. If you don't have masa harina, use a cornstarch slurry. Make the chili as instructed, without the masa harina. After adding black beans and corn, in the last 10 minutes of cooking, mix 2 tablespoons cornstarch with 2 tablespoons cold water and slowly drizzle and stir into the chili while it is boiling. The chili will thicken over the course of 10 minutes.
Other Beans. You can absolutely substitute any other type of cooked beans, including chickpeas, for the black beans.
Different Broth or Stock. Substitute any broth or stock, even mushroom stock. Just make sure to taste the chili as you go since different broths and stocks have varying levels of salt.
How to Level Up Deer Valley Turkey Chili
The true beauty of Turkey Chili is that it's so simple. However, if you do want to level up a simple, cozy bowl of chili, here's what I've done in the past to rave reviews:
- Make Turkey Chili Nachos by ladling Turkey Chili over a pile of sturdy tortilla chips, melt some shredded cheese, and add all of the toppings
- Serve in Bread Bowl. Can Turkey Chili get any cozier? If you serve Turkey Chili in a bread bowl it can.
- Serve Turkey Chili over a roasted sweet potato to add a healthy fiber-rich carb boost
- Spice it up. Swirl spicy Chili Crisp over each bowl to add a different kind of heat to a steaming hot bowl of soup
Tools and Equipment
As I always say about almost every recipe on this website, especially soups, you don't need any special equipment to make Turkey Chili. You can simply use a knife and cutting board to mince the garlic and chop the vegetables. However, that doesn't mean there are a couple of gadgets and tools that might make Turkey Chili even easier than it already is.
Stock Pot: I use a very large stock pot by this cookware company. It has a heavy bottom and easy-to-hold handles. Any large pot that fits the ingredients will do. A large Dutch oven is great for this.
Vegetable Peeler. Current favorite all-purpose vegetable peeler to use for the carrots.
Chef's Knife. This is my workhorse chef's knife, slightly more pricey than others, but definitely worth it. I have had it for more than 10 years and use it every day.
Immersion Blender. Great for pureed soups with a little more texture.
Food Processor. I have been using an older model of this mini food processor for 15, maybe 20, years.
Blender. You don't need a high-power blender, but this one works well for soup because of it's large pitcher.
Stainless steel tongs
What Else to Serve with Turkey Chili
I am an executive member of the "Soup is a Meal" club, so I generally would serve the chili perfect as-is, with nothing more than the suggested toppings. However, if you can't consider it a meal without some kind of greens or carbs, here are a few additional dishes that work particularly well with it:
- Caesar-ish tri-colore salad with an Anchovy Vinaigrette
- Roasted broccoli, or steamed if you want to keep all your cooking on the stovetop
- Stay on all-green theme with Crispy Shredded Brussels Sprouts
Wine for Turkey Chili
I'm not saying you should open a bottle of wine to pair with a bowl of chili that you're eating at the kitchen counter for dinner on a Tuesday night, but I'm not not saying that either. Let's just say this is a lesson in food and wine pairing.
- Grüner Veltliner. Grüner Veltliner is perfectly light and herbal, like a slightly more interesting Sauvignon Blanc.
- Chardonnay. Turkey Chili is rich, thick, and hearty. Medium-bodied, lightly oaked Chardonnay would be able to stand up to the texture, especially if you're serving the soup and wine when it's cold outside.
- Spanish Red Wine Like Rioja. Highlight Turkey Chili's background notes of spicy and smoky with a light-bodied red from the Rioja region of Spain, usually made with the Tempranillo grape.
Advance Prep, Leftovers, and Storage
Make a huge pot of Turkey Chili in advance then store and/or freeze in single serving containers to thaw and eat all through soup season.
How Long Can You Keep Turkey Chili in the Refrigerator? You can store leftover Turkey Chili in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to three days. Re-heat in a pot on the stovetop.
How Long Can You Freeze Turkey Chili? You can freeze Turkey Chili in an airtight container or plastic zipper bags for three months. Re-heat in a pot on the stovetop with a splash or two of water or broth so the frozen soup doesn't burn before thawing out.
FAQ
Yes! Turkey Chili can support health, specifically because it is both fiber- and protein-rich. Turkey breast meat has 35 grams of protein per 4 ounces, and black beans have 8-10 grams of fiber and 8 grams of protein per cup. Black beans are also a good source of vitamins B and K and the mineral magnesium.
When most people think of turkey chili, they think of a red chili made with tomatoes as the base, ground turkey because that's usually what's available all year, and pinto or kidney beans.
This Deer Valley Turkey Chili recipe is a "white chili" made with cooked turkey breast in a thick, savory broth base. It's almost more like a very thick and rich Southwest turkey soup/stew.
Best Cozy Chili and Hearty Soup Recipes
- Vegetarian Split Pea Soup
- Spicy Carrot Lentil Soup
- Vegetarian French Onion Soup
- Butternut Squash Black Bean Chili recipe
Turkey Chili Recipe, Deer Valley Dupe
Ingredients
- ¼ cup olive oil divided
- 1 onion diced
- 5-6 cloves garlic
- 2 stalks celery diced
- 1 red bell pepper seeded and diced
- 1 pound cooked turkey cut into 1-inch pieces or loosely shredded
- ½ cup masa harina
- 4 cups chicken broth plus 1-2 cups extra for consistency/texture
- 1-2 tablespoons kosher salt
- 1-2 tablespoons black pepper
- 3 cups frozen corn kernels
- 2 15-ounce cans black beans rinsed and drained, or 3 cups cooked black beans
Spices
- 2 tablespoons chili powder
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- 1-3 teaspoons cayenne pepper
Garnishes
- sour cream or yogurt
- chopped green onions
- chopped red onions
- shredded cheddar cheese
- fresh and pickled jalapeño slices
Instructions
- Heat ¼ cup olive oil over medium heat in a large Dutch oven or pot. Add 1 chopped onion, 5-6 minced garlic cloves, 2 stalks chopped celery, chopped 1 red bell pepper. Cook for 5 minutes until the vegetables are tender and translucent.
- Add the 1 pound turkey to the pot along with ½ cup masa harina, 2 tablespoons chili powder, 1 tablespoon ground cumin, 1 tablespoon dried oregano, 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper to start, and 1 tablespoon salt to start. Give the mixture a stir, then add 4 cups chicken stock. Bring to a boil, then immediately reduce heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes.
- Add the 2 drained cans black beans and 3 cups corn. Bring to a boil then reduce heat again and simmer for 15 minutes If the chili gets too thick, add more chicken stock.
- Serve with sour cream or yogurt, shredded cheese, chopped green onions, chopped red onions, and sliced jalapeños.
Notes
Nutrition
Food for Afterthought
I had been inspired by freshly baked organic whole grain breads, fresh seafood, free-range poultry, and rows and rows of vibrant produce in every color in Mother Nature's palette. As we were walking out of the Milwaukee Public Market, I asked expectantly, "Where are we having lunch?"
"Real Chili."
Guys are funny like that.
The thing is, I wasn't the least bit disappointed. It was cold and windy outside. The sky was turning the color of hard boiled egg yolks when they're cooked too fast and too long - greenish gray - and it was starting to drizzle. It was miserable midwest autumn weather, but perfect for a steaming hot bowl of greasy, spicy, totally-bad-for-your-body but totally-good-for-your-brain chili.
Even without the weather, I was pretty excited at the prospect of going back to an all-chili restaurant. I grew up on chili, I love chili, I make chili. If ever such a girl existed, then I am a chili girl. There are a few chili places in LA, and I even went to the chili cook-off at the Beverly Hills Farmers' Market. But come on, chili in Beverly Hills?! Bev. Ur. Lee. 90210. Kelly and Brenda never ate chili. And Donna? Her enormous horse head would have toppled her anorexic body if she even caught a glimpse of all that beef and fat.
South by Midwest
I grew up in San Antonio, Texas and chili was beefy with steak, chunky with beans and vegetables and spicy. Served Tex-Mex style with guacamole, sour cream, and a heavenly dose of jalapenos, a bowl of chili was a meal by itself.
I spent my high school days in Cincinnati, Ohio, home of Montgomery Inn ribs, Graeter's Ice Cream and...Skyline Chili. There was Gold Star Chili, too, but I think Skyline was the one where we didn't have to cross busy Montgomery Road. Cincinnati style chili took some getting used to after the Tex Mex brand that I had eaten for almost 10 years. It's beefy with ground beef, not cubes of steak, there are no beans in the chili though you could order beans as a topping, and wasn't spicy at all in terms of heat. It was almost sweet, and to this day, I am absolutely certain that Cincinnati puts cinnamon in their chili.
The strangest thing of all to me was that they served chili over spaghetti noodles. I used to get the 3-way, a bowl of spaghetti topped with the sweet cinnamon-y chili, cheese that had been shredded into strands as long as the spaghetti noodles, and fresh chopped onions. I can feel the heartburn bubbling up just thinking about it.
Real Chili
We walked into the Real Chili fairly late in the afternoon, long past any expected lunch rush, and the place was still about half-full. There was a family of five sitting at one of the long, cafeteria-style tables with stool bolted to the ground, and everyone else was sitting at the counter that swooped down one side, held the register in the curved end, then swooped back up the other side, enclosing the center where the orders are put together. We stood back from the counter a bit to review the menu board hanging high on the back wall. It's not too complicated. You order a bowl of chili in mild, medium, or spicy, then select toppings: beans, cheese, onions, and sour cream.
The tiny teenage pixie of a thing with bleached blonde, spiky hair who took our order also put it together. I watched as she trotted back in Dickies folded over at the waist to keep them up from her ratty Jack Purcells. She threw a tangled mess of spaghetti noodles into a bowl that didn't look big enough to hold the soupy beans she poured on top. Her bony, tattooed arm almost disappeared into the pot when she stuck a long-handled ladle down into the tall silver vat of chili.
The final touch was an afro of neon yellow cheese. When she came back and dropped the bowl onto the paper-lined plastic elementary school cafeteria tray, I marveled that a stray strand of spaghetti, a rebel bean, a single drop of shimmering crimson oil didn't drop from the bowl. She's done this a hundred times. And that was just today during lunch.
Souper Bowl
Chopped onions came in a tiny bowl on the side, along with a bowl of oyster crackers. I love those tiny, powdery, flour-y hexagon crackers, but they're usually partnered with clam chowder, not chili. Not even in Cincinnati, though I do remember Dill-lites from my Cincinnati days - I can't remember the restaurant, but they had the best oyster crackers that were flavored with sea salt and dill. Strange what we remember. Oyster crackers with chili! Only in...Milwaukee.
The cheese on top was at that point just before truly melting into ooze, where it still maintains its original individual shape, but has softened into a glimmering, translucent yellow that clings to whatever lumps and bumps of beans and beef are underneath. Liquid fat had separated out from the chili and created an oily red halo around the edge of the bowl, making the entire thing look less like a bowl of chili and more like a bowl of red oil soup garnished with ground beef and beans. I almost had no idea where to begin. Almost.
I threw the chopped onions on top, took the spoon, and went straight for the chili's jugular - right down the middle. My spoon was a sloppy mess of short noodles, barely anchored by the chili in the spoon's bowl, and longer noodles tumbling back down into the bowl, unable to hang on against all the oil. There was no way I was going to be able to be a lady about this.
Send Noods
The noodles were very soft - no gourmet "al dente" here. The chili was good, obviously very oily, but not as spicy as I would have expected. Real Chili's tables have condiments, but I wasn't confident that adding more oil, even oil that had been infused with chilis, would improve the heat level. The onions added a freshness and mildly sweet spiciness that comes from fresh white onions. The best bites were the ones that were a little bit of the chili beef and mostly cheese and onions.
This may sound absolutely disgusting, but after all the noodles were gone and all that was left in the bowl was a 3 inch circle of oil with the chilli dregs, I dumped in the rest of the oyster crackers. I ate one. It was, oddly enough, pretty good. It kind of tasted like a cracker that had been deep fried in beef lard. LOL! I didn't taste more than one, though.
Real Chili was good for a cold, gray, rainy afternoon in Milwaukee, but I'm not sure that I'd eat there under any other circumstances because the chili was much oilier than any Cincinnati chili, Skyline or otherwise, and nowhere near as spicy as the Texas chilis. Then again, when I had originally asked about lunch, he had answered "Real Chili," then followed it with, "It's so good after drinking."
OoooOOOoooh. I see.
Guys.
kenneth says
I usually just lurk and read but today I thought I'd post.
nice post- I miss chili too.
I grew up in San Antonio but moved to San Francisco a while back.
To get my fix, well the most satisfying fix, I usually wind up making it myself, and I either make a big ol' vat o' chile-con-carne or proper tex-mex chili. When push comes to shove I'll even break out the emergency Wick Fowler's kit and just replace the water w/ Shiner Bock.
What's the deal w/ the noodles in that Yankee chili anyway? Seems gross.
Nick says
Real Cincinnati looking chili there - 5 way. I tried making this once before and the first few steps were pretty gross looking, but the finale was quite tasty. Try Skyline chili if you get a chance, apparently its the best mail-order chili available.
bar night club supply says
Now that I have a little time I can finally read your posts especially the title this post. Skyline chili? I acidently ran in to it the other day looking for professional bar supply and yours popped up sarah. I was in a hurry and bookmarked it so I could come back later. Well here I am. Keep it up from Las Vegas.
sarah says
kenneth: now that's what i'm talking about. beer in your chili. i must try that for my next indoor tailgate ;)
the noodle thing is what weirded me out initially, as well, but it's the same as serving Tex Mex chili with tortilla chips or cornbread, or even crackers, i suppose.
hey nick: i remember skyline. that's the one i used to eat, but i didn't know until just recently when i checked out their website that you can mail-order it! i wonder how it tastes after being in the mail for a couple of days?!? lol!
Mike says
Sarah -- have you been to Chili John's in Burbank? Their bowls look very similar. I'm not usually one for greasy chili, but from the first time my wife took me there, I was hooked. Of course, i mostly get the turkey chili... (my one attempt at least kinda/sorta being healthy)
sarah says
i haven't been to chili john's...will have to try it :) thanks for the tip, mike!
and ain't nuthin' wrong with turkey chili. :)
trust me, there's going to be a lot of it around here now after thanksgiving. LOL!
Sam says
Chilli isnt Asian, Sarah. C'mon now, you have to at least take part in your own meme :P
roman says
Well...only almost a year late for my 2 cents but...fun posting. Lived in Milwaukee for many moons and worked a block away from Real Chili. Ate there 2-3 times a week. Just wanted to say that it's not as grease laden as it seems...once incorporated into the whole dish, it balances out. The peppers in the jar are not in oil but vinegar. Adding that cuts through some of the grease and gives it a really great tang with a little heat. A very southern thing to have as a condiment. Overall, surprisingly good chili that cures hunger, hangovers, and good breath...oh how I miss Real Chili!
Gary says
I've lived in Milwaukee my entire life. Although I've traveled out west, I never had the pleasure of trying the chilli. I just want to inform everyone that 'Real Chilli' is an extremely popular place for people working, drinking or just hanging around the area, but spaghetti noodles in chilli is NOT the norm in this town. Saltines or a slice of buttered bread is the usual preference... and as for oyster crackers- they work, but it's unusual to see them in chilli anywhere else in Milwaukee.
In my own chilli, ground beef AND chopped steak are added. Unfortunately, all the eating establishments that i've visited just use ground beef.
kevrob says
You didn't go to the "mother church" of Real Chili, but to its branch office. The "home office" is over near Marquette University, @ 1625 W Wells Street. You hit the one near the Milwaukee School of Engineering. There's a theme here. RC has always been very popular with the students, both the ones who have moved out of the dorms and aren't on a meal plan, and those who have just closed the bars. MU is the home of 1 of the state's only 2 law schools, and a short walk from the county courthouse. As a result, you are as likely to run into a lawyer at lunch at the West Wells location as you are a student trying to scrape up the coins for a "Marquette Special" - medium heat, with beans and spaghetti.
Real serves their version of "Green Bay" chili, which originated at Chili John's. The California CJ's was started by a member of the family that started the Wisconsin parlor. I grew up back East, and came from a very bland food tradition. (Irish. Get something white and boil it. At least The Famine is over.) Trying the mild bowl was a challenge the first time I ate there. By the time I was ready to graduate I was ordering "hot" and adding the extra chili oil. If I ever visit TX or NM I'll expect to eat even hotter.
Anonymous says
Go Marquette! We had a Real Chili's just a block from our dorm. GREAT PLACE! Great food. Not the nicest, cleanest place but great for a college campus. I miss my chili!!!!!!
Anonymous says
real chili's recipe is, in fact, a copy of chili john's (where real chili's original owner used to cook). i haven't been there for several years, but at one time, they served a heckuvan oyster stew. great food for cold days/nights!!!
John A says
I'm a regular of both Chili John's Green Bay & Real C.
My Dad took me to the "original" Real Chili when they were on 12th & Wisconsin & have since moved at least twice.
Real Chili has a slight edge over John's as it is more moist & hotter.
Anonymous says
pretty sure that both Green Bay and Cinci style chili have cocoa in them. I find them pretty similar.
I am a former Marquette student, and get myself a bowl pretty much every time i visit Milwaukee.
Anonymous says
Real Chili is the best drunk food ever conceived - they had opened one in Madison, but it closed. When it closed it was like a part of me died.
Pete H. says
As a former Marquette student, I was lucky enough to enjoy RC whenever it suited me---which was pretty much daily. From 1972-76 Real Chili was one block east and on the other side of the street from the current location. Fortunately, it was also next to the Avalanche Bar (working man's prices), an establishment so loved it even became a nickname for the lucky few. Both establishments were torn down when Marquette built housing on the land.....even Blairs Meat Market was not spared and it was the butcher shop of the carriage trade.
The restaurant was owned and started by a lovely, warm older man named Mr. Francis. We never knew his whole name but I now know that Francis was his first name. He was assisted by a wonderful woman named Blondie (stir it up, boys) and a few I can't remember. One shy, younger waitress was hired in our 4th year (76) and I am lucky enough to to still see her when in town. I believe that she has recently retired.
Wells Street between 15th and 16th can never be the same, but I do love walking up the street to the newer location and enjoying the memories almost as much as my son, the Marquette senior loves the chili.....constantly. PRH
CGSchaeferjr says
Ross was an older gentleman who did the dishes for Mr. Francis way back when, and Blondie would say" mix it up boys!"