Back to Basics

• A basic pot of chili starts with a meat base, usually ground beef, sausage or chicken, cooked until brown. Next come onions and peppers sauteed until softened, although some prefer to cook them until caramelized to add an element of sweetness. Red chili gets its colors from red tomatoes and red beans, such as kidney beans and chili beans. Green chili or chili verde, made with roasted pork shoulder, gets its color from white beans, clear broth, green chilies and tomatillos. In the case of red chili, choose between fresh and canned tomatoes. Much of the flavor in the sauce comes from chili powder, which is added to taste. Simmer the ingredients for at least 1 hour to allow the flavors to meld.

The Spice Is Right

• While some chili enthusiasts pack the pot with spicy meats, and peppers with Scoville heat ratings in the thousands or tens of thousands, simple ingredient substitutions tone down the chili. Stick with meats with no added hot spices. If you use ground or Italian sausage, skip the hot sausage in favor of sweet or mild sausage.

  Mild and sweet peppers work best for mild chili. Bell peppers have a rating of 0 on the Scoville heat scale, adding a layer of sweetness rather than spiciness. Other mild chili peppers include shishitos and poblanos. Check with care the labels of canned tomatoes, avoiding any that might contain green chilies. Season the chili with mild chili powder or a mild chili-seasoning packet. Leave out spices such as ground cayenne pepper and crushed red pepper.

Leave Your Options Open

• Different taste preferences abound when cooking for a crowd, making it difficult to please everyone with a single pot of chili. One option is to make separate pots of chili -- one spicy and one mild -- although this is usually only practical if you have enough guests to eat both pots. Instead of doubling the kitchen workload, make a single pot of mild chili, but provide options for those who like spicy chili to kick their bowls up a notch. Roast some jalapenos or habanero peppers for guests to stir into the chili. Serve a bowl of hot sausage as an optional add-in. Among the condiments, provide spicy ground chili powder and a variety of hot sauces to pack some heat. The result is not the same as simmering the spicy ingredients in the chili pot, but this is a fair compromise to appease all palates.

Keep Your Cool

• Even with mild ingredient options, mild chili might prove too spicy for people with delicate palates, especially children. Offer some toppings and side dishes to help further reduce the spicy factor. A dollop of sour cream and a sprinkle of cheddar cheese add creamy coolness while expanding the flavor profile of a plain bowl of chili. Bread proves to be even more effective at neutralizing a fiery mouth than a glass of milk. Chili and cornbread pair together perfectly, but garlic bread or even a loaf of plain bread or crackers work well in a pinch. Use chili as a topping to cut the heat while also stretching a small amount of chili to feed a large group. Serve it atop a bed of spaghetti, rice, mashed potatoes, or macaroni and cheese.