Easy ideas to organize and plan a chili cook-off party. Get our free printables to help you throw an amazing event.
Do you love chili?
Do you like to host get-togethers with your friends or family?
Are you a bit competitive?
If you answered yes then I think you’re going to love this blog post.
Hosting a chili cook-off party is a super fun way to gather your friends, family, neighbors, or whoever you’d like to a friendly little cooking competition.
So what exactly is a chili cook-off party?
The idea of a cook-off party is that each guest or family makes a batch of their favorite chili recipe to enter the contest.
Then at the party, your guests will sample each recipe and vote for the one they like best.
Everyone will bring enough chili for all the guests in attendance to taste each recipe.
And since all of the guests will be bringing their best homemade chili with them, there won’t be as much cooking and preparing for you as the host.
We’ll chat more about those details later in this post and I’ll share some simple ideas to plan a winning chili cook-off.
And to make it even easier I’ve got an amazing printable bundle that has everything you need to get this party started!
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How to Plan a Cook-off Party
The first thing you’ll need to do is download our printable bundle when you start planning your chili cook-off event.
This bundle has everything you need, from invitations to scorecards to decorations and more.
The printables are all designed to be printed on standard-size paper.
I’d suggest printing on cardstock so they are a bit sturdier than regular copy paper.
Each design is made to be easily cut out along solid lines with a good pair of precision detail craft scissors.
However, a paper cutter, will save you time cutting them out.
How to Invite Guests to a Chili Cook-Off
First, you’ll need to decide how many people you want to invite to your chili cook-off.
Think about the space you have to hold this event. If it’s outdoors, what is your plan in case of bad weather?
The fall is a perfect time to host a chili cook-off if you want to do it outside.
Think sweaters and flannels with a bonfire and a hot cup of homemade chili.
If you have enough room indoors, then winter is another great time to gather some friends for a friendly contest.
There’s nothing better than a warm bowl of chili when it’s cold outside to heat things up.
Once you decide on your guest list, you can either mail invitations, use an online email service, or text your guests to invite them to your party.
If you want to send an invitation, we’ve created a fun postcard-sized invite that you can download and print out on white card stock.
Then just fill in the details and send it off!
What to Serve at Chili Cookoff
Print out these small tent cards to place in front of each chili pot or container to distinguish between recipes.
Make sure that you have an area large enough to set out all of the stock pots, crock pots, and serving dishes.
You can use your kitchen table or counter space to place all the chili pots.
You can also line the containers on a folding table so that the chili pots are separate from the toppings, drinks, and paper products.
S2M tip: Use a trivet or hot plate under each pot to protect your table top surfaces.
Since each guest or family will bring the main dish, you can concentrate on the toppings, sides, and beverages.
I’ve included some suggestions below to help you plan.
Toppings:
- shredded cheese
- sour cream
- avocado
- onion
- peppers
- jalapenos
- cilantro
- tomatoes
- scallions
- lime
Sides:
- cornbread
- tortilla chips
- Fritos
- tater tots
Drinks:
- beer
- water
- soda
How to Judge a Cook-Off Contest
Your chili cook-off bundle includes an official rule printable that can be trimmed to fit in an 8×10 picture frame.
Then, the frame can be placed on a table beside your tasting cups or the chili dishes.
All the guests will taste each homemade recipe and give it a score from 1 to 5.
Here’s a fun way to score:
- Keep working on it
- Ok
- Not bad
- Almost perfect
- Ahhh…YES!
I’ve also included a page of four small rule cards that can be used in addition to the large one.
Or, if you prefer, you can give each person one of these to hold onto while they’re tasting.
The scorecards are created to have room for six small tasting cups on one card.
Using clipboards gives your guests a surface to hold the sample cups while tasting and writing their scores.
Everyone will judge each recipe for appearance, aroma, taste, and spice.
Then tallying the scores to figure out their favorite chili recipe.
Since everyone is doing the judging, you can enter your best chili recipe too!
Looking for a new chili recipe to try? We’ve got you covered with three amazing options:
How to Award the Winning Chili Recipe
1st, 2nd, and 3rd place prize ribbons are also included in the download of printables for your party.
You can attach these ribbons to anything you choose to present the winners of your cook-off contest.
Wood spoons are an affordable and fun idea to give as prizes.
Just trim each paper prize ribbon then, punch a hole in the top and tie it to the spoon with twine or decorative ribbon.
How to Decorate for a Chili Cook-off Gathering
Using all of our matching printables in the bundle unifies your theme and gives you instant easy party decor.
The simple black and white design with a pop of red is perfect for a chili cook-off get together.
The bundle also includes a DIY banner that’s easy to assemble and hang over your table.
I just cut out the individual pennants then punched two holes with a 1/16″ paper punch in the top and thread each with jute twine to make the banner.
Since it’s really light weight I was able to hang it with tape to the wall.
Check out how I decorated my space for this chili cook-off party, including the tablescape I styled.
Want to find a new chili recipe to make? We’ve got some award-winning chili recipes for you.
Click on any image to shop items from this post
Sources: clipboards | white card stock paper | paper trimmer | 2 oz. sample cups | 1/16″ paper punch | detail scissors | jute twine | 8×10 photo frame | wood spoons
Don’t forget to download your chili cook-off printables HERE!
If you have any questions or suggestions, contact me or leave a comment!
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