Creamy Italian Sausage Chili is warm and hearty with a spicy kick. Cozy up with a big bowl of this comfort food on a cold evening. Your family will love this easy recipe!
Creamy Italian Sausage Chili
This Creamy Italian Sausage Chili is a recipe I created for a church chili cook-off. I wanted to make my own chili mostly because I hate onions (I know, right?) and most chili recipes (including a few on our site!) have lots of onions. I figured if I was going to attend the chili cook-off party I might as well have something there I wanted to eat, so I played around with ingredients until I came up with this recipe, and to my surprise it ended up winning first place! So here it is, my award winning, onion-less chili recipe. Enjoy!
Chili for Chilly Nights
This creamy chili is perfect for fall. We make it up for nights when we are out at football games or going to a corn maze or any night we might be a little chilled and need some warming up. It’s a cinch to throw all the ingredients in the slow cooker and let the spices and flavors cook in during the day so it is ready to go at dinner time. It is a little spicy, so you can decrease some of the spices to mild it down but we like it with a little bit of heat.
What to Serve with Creamy Italian Sausage Chili
- Serve a big bowl of this creamy chili with crackers or tortilla chips crumbled on top.
- Bake up our favorite Easy Cake Mix Cornbread to serve alongside this chili. My kids love to dip the cornbread right in their bowls. Yummy!
- Use this chili recipe for our delicious Chili Cheese Dogs or chili cheese fries. This particular recipe adds a spicy kick to both!
- Leftover Creamy Italian Sausage Chili would be delicious on our Navajo Tacos too!
- Make Chili Nachos by layering tortilla chips, chili, cheese, sour cream, avocado, tomatoes and diced green onions on a plate.
More Chili Recipes
If you are a big chili fan, we have some other yummy chili recipes that you are sure to love. Our Texas Chili has strips of tender beef, our Pork Chili Verde is so tasty, and our White Chicken Chili is always a favorite! If you are looking for a super easy chili try our Mom’s “Cheater” Chili. And if you want an amazing chili dip you can’t go wrong with our Chili-Cheese Dip.
How to Make Creamy Italian Sausage Chili
Ingredients
- 1 lb Italian sausage
- 2 Tbsp. olive oil
- 5 garlic cloves minced
- 14 oz chicken broth (1 can)
- 1 Tbsp. chili powder
- 1 Tbsp. paprika
- 2 tsp. oregano
- 2 tsp. cumin
- 1 tsp. parsley
- salt and pepper to taste
- 28 oz diced tomatoes lightly blended, (or 2 cans)
- 1 c. tomato juice
- 2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
- 14 oz black beans (1 can)
- 4 oz cream cheese (half of one package)
- 14 oz pinto beans (1 can)
- 14 oz kidney beans (1 can)
Instructions
- Brown the sausage in a frying pan.
- In a large pot cook the garlic in the olive oil until it is golden. Then add the broth, spices, tomatoes, tomato juice, and vinegar. Stir well and bring to a boil.
- When the sausage is browned, place it over some folded paper towels to drain off some of the grease. Add the sausage and the cans of beans (you do not have to drain the beans) to the pot. Let the chili simmer for about half an hour. Lastly add the cream cheese and stir in until completely dissolved.
- It's especially good served with crackers, tortilla chips, or cornbread.
Erica Lyn says
How many oz. is a package of cream cheese?
Erica says
Usually 8 oz I believe…
Erica Lyn says
Thank you 🙂 I just bought a 6 oz backage, so I thought I'd check.
Amy says
I was just sitting here thinking "I need to find a chili recipe for the cook-off at church."
and here you are with one that I'm going to use.
I like that it's not the typical chili.
thanks so much!
Anonymous says
I loved this. Tried it a couple weeks ago. It was different but so yummy, and I LOVED that it didn't have onions. So much flavor!
She Loves The Color Pink says
I LOVED this soup! I'm probably going to make it for our our church's chili cook off coming up. I added 3/4 package of cream cheese just because my husband doesn't like things too spicy. It was great!
Laura says
I ABSOLUTELY LOOOVEEE LOOOVEEE this chili!!!!!!! Emily made it for a ward chili cookoff and I knew I had to track down whoever made that delicious chili! I HAD to have the recipe! I remember having 3 bowls of this chili that nite and I am one who doesn’t eat a lot. It is one of my all time favorite chilis. YUMERS! Thx for sharing!
Shelly says
How many ounces in the can of chicken broth?
Echo says
They are 14.5 ounce cans. Thanks for asking!
LaceyB says
Hi! Looking forward to trying this recipe! Looks delish! To make sure I understand correctly, do not drain either the sausage or any of the beans?
Thanks!
Emily says
You could drain some of the grease from the sausage to make it a little healthier. But don’t drain the beans.
Chris says
Hello. How many ounces are the diced tomato cans each?
Thanks!!!
Emily says
Usually a 12 to 14 oz can.
Dylan says
It says do not drain any of the ingredients however I thought you are always supposed to drain and rinse black beans, no?
Erica says
I haven’t heard of any reasons why you absolutely HAVE to drain and rinse black beans. If for some reason you are worried about it you can certainly drain and rinse them!
Cathy says
Hi This recipe looks delicious…can’t wait to make it. do you think it would be good with sausage and ground beef (or turkey) mixed?
Erica says
You can definitely try it — we haven’t made it that way before but I bet it would be just fine!
Jodie says
How many servings does this recipe serve?
Emily says
About 6 to 8 servings.
Ashley says
What brand of chili beans did you use? Also what spiciness did you buy your Italian sausage? Mild/med/hot? I like a kick but not over the top that my nose is running the whole time I’m eating it.
I got this recipe from my cousins who both won the chili cook offs in their church wards and I’m making it for mine this weekend. Can’t wait to see if it wins!
Emily says
Any brand of chili beans will work, and I usually do mild Italian sausage.
Karen Howard says
I was looking for something a little different that would stick to my ribs-the Tortellini with Sausage looked yummy & I am adding Zucchini instead of Broccoli only because I have some to use up! And probably some Bell Pepper as well. You Pretty Ladies always come through with great recipes here.
Beverley says
What’s a good substitute for red wine vinegar?
Echo says
You can substitute another vinegar – white wine, rice, or apple cider vinegar. Thanks for asking!
R.Mitchell says
What are the slow cooker instructions? Can’t wait to try this; looks great!
Thanks.
Echo says
To cook this chili in the slow cooker, cook on high for 2-3 hours or low for 4-6 hours instead of simmering for 30 minutes on the stove top. Add softened cream cheese (at room temperature, not directly from the fridge) in the last 30 minutes if cooking on high or the last hour if cooking on low. Thank you for asking!
Jocelyn says
This had a wonderful flavor. Unfortunately, I had trouble with the production. I cooked it in the slow cooker on low for 7 hours (the time and setting I use for all my slow cooker chilis and soups), and it was very thin. So, I added some cornstarch and a can of pureed kidney beans, then transferred the chili to the stove for 15 minutes of simmering and evaporation. That did the trick! If I were to make this again in the slow cooker, I would use far less chicken broth.
My family really liked this, though. Thank you!
Guyron says
What does the “c” stand for when it asks for tomato juice? What size can for the beans?
Echo says
The recipe call for 1 cup of tomato juice and a 15 ounce can of beans (give or take a little depending on the brand). Thank you for asking!
Kelley says
I made this recipe for dinner tonight. This is the first time I have served chili and my kids actually ate it! So delicious, I will be making it again. Thank you for sharing it!
Echo says
Thanks Kelley! I’m so glad you and your kids like the recipe!
Lynn says
Are you using whole links and cutting up?
Emily says
I’ve done that, but I usually end up using just a package of ground Italian sausage.
Matt says
How many does this serve? I need to feed 12 to 14 people.
Favorite Family Recipes says
You will want to double the recipe. This recipe serves 6 to 8 people. Thanks for asking!
Dawn says
Made the crockpot version for the Super Bowl. We loved it… will definitely make it again!!
Favorite Family Recipes says
Thank you for taking the time to comment! Hope the chili turned out to be more exciting than the game lol 😉
Barb says
results for: I don’t use a crockpot
When cooking, especially the Pasta E Ravioli soup
I stovetop my soups have made this soup in the past its super, I simmer it until all ingredients blend togther,your recipe says white kidney beans I’ve used white navy beans and dark red kidney beans both in the soup, just wanted to share its truly a hearty and delicious soup especially for the Midwest and east coast, just sharing! Barb B Indy
CB says
I made this recipe as is and it was amazing. The simple ingredients melded together wonderfully to create a tasty meal.
The aroma of the chili simmering reminded me of Sunday dinner at my grandma’s house.
Thank you for sharing this recipe.
Erica Walker says
So glad this recipe brought back such wonderful memories for you! That is our goal here at FFR!