Ingredients

• 3 lbs ground sausage (hot or sweet)^*
• 2 lbs ground beef^*
• 3 yellow onions, diced
• 2 15-oz cans kidney beans, drained
• 2 15-oz cans black beans, drained
• 1 15-oz can diced tomatoes
• 1 14-oz can beef broth
• 1 12-oz can tomato paste
• 1 cup strong brewed coffee
• 1-2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil^*

Spices

• 2 Tbsp cumin
• 1\(\frac{1}{2}\) Tbsp garlic powder
• 1 Tbsp cayenne pepper^*
• 1 Tbsp smoked paprika
• 2 tsp Greek oregano
• 1 tsp basil
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp coriander
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp parsley
• 1 tsp salt

• \(\frac{1}{4}\) cup brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp cocoa powder (unsweetened)
• 2 tsp cinnamon

Directions

1. Mix together all spices except brown sugar, cocoa powder, and cinnamon.
2. Add beans, tomatoes, tomato paste, beef broth, coffee, brown sugar, cocoa powder, cinnamon, and half the blended spices to the slow cooker and stir well.
3. Sauté the onions and ground meats in olive oil until browned; then season with remaining spice blend, add them to the slow cooker, and stir well.
4. Cook chili in slow cooker for 2-2\(\frac{1}{2}\) hours or to desired consistency, stirring midway through. (Bear in mind that the meat is already fully cooked and safe to eat at this point; so, the slow cooker just needs to cook the beans and let the meat absorb the flavor of the spices.)
5. Serve chili as-is or with cheddar cheese, sour cream, tortilla chips, et cetera. Corn bread also pairs nicely!

Notes

• Heat: Athennia's not big on excessive spice; so, when I make this for the family, I'll typically cut the cayenne pepper in half or omit it completely, and I'll use one pound of hot Italian sausage to two pounds of sweet.
• Meats: As long as you have at least four or five pounds of ground something, you shouldn't have any problem swapping out the meat choices for whatever you want: chicken, lamb, all beef, et cetera. The flavor of the spices is also deep enough that I imagine you'd be fine increasing this to six pounds of meat without issue (provided your slow cooker can accommodate that much).
• Olive Oil: The olive oil is largely residual from when I used to make this with ground chicken instead of sausage. If you're using fattier meats like sausage, you really don't need to use any olive oil at all when sautéing the meat and the onions.