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This Authentic Texas Chili Recipe has the fundamentals of a Texas inspired chili. Meat, specifically chuck meat, chile pods, and beer. No beans. If you like beans in your chili you can find a fantastic version in our award-winning brisket chili recipe (did I mention that one does have beans?).

So before we get to this authentic chili recipe let’s discuss what we dug up when researching the idea of an authentic Texas Style Chili. It’s….complicated.

What is Chili?

Any chili (or chili con carne) by definition is a stew (yes, I said it, stew – not soup) cooked with chiles, whether fresh or dried chiles, that’s it. That’s the definition. Anything else you want to put in there still makes it a chili. Prove me wrong.

The origination of this style of Texas chili came from Northern Mexico or Southern Texas, depending on the sources. Either way, we can thank our friends in Texas for having a say in how the classic dish came to be. 

Chile versus Chili

For all of our recipes we use the term “chile” to refer to fresh or dry ingredients, and “chili” for the name of the dish or recipe.

Texas Chili vs Well, Everywhere Else

By definition it’s a chili recipe with meat (typically chuck meat), chile peppers (most often dried peppers made into a paste), beer, and then it’s slowly cooked with stock to reduce and thicken. Note – no beans – no ground beef.

Tomatoes will depend on where in Texas you are. Like classic BBQ, Texas has regional variations, and in this recipe we have no tomatoes.

Main Ingredients

Note that we are not adding beans or tomato sauce for this Texas-Style chili.

• Beef: Beef Chuck Roast is the preferred cut for true Texas chili. Chuck Roast is from the shoulder of beef cattle with incredible intramuscular connective tissue and marbling. After braising for a long period of time that chuck meat renders down and becomes a delicate soft texture that is fork tender and will fall apart. The only other beef cuts we would recommend using is cubed brisket or boneless short ribs. 
• Beef Seasoning: We use a blend of kosher salt, black pepper, and garlic powder (or SPG Rub) to season the beef. You can use your favorite grocery store bought seasoning as well.
• Chile Paste: Use a single variety of dried chili pods or use different types of chilis for various heat levels and flavors. You want a total of 3-ounces total of dried chile pods.
• Yellow Onions and Garlic Cloves: Diced onion and finely chopped garlic add a savory flavor to the chili that balance out some bitterness of the chile pods. 
• Braising Liquid: A good quality beef broth and lager beer is added to the paste and this becomes the braising liquid that renders the chuck roast.
• Masa Harina Flour: After the beef has braised, add masa flour to the Texas Chili so it thickens.
• Toppings: You can get as creative as you want. We like a shredded cheddar cheese, dollop of sour cream, chives or green onion, warm corn tortillas.

Types of Chile Pods For Texas Chili

There are dozens of dried chilies (often you’ll see dried chile with the “e” versus chili) you can choose from. You’ll find these in the Mexican aisle of the grocery store or at a specialty market. Be sure for this recipe you combine 3-ounces total of dried chili. For best results use a kitchen scale to measure out your ingredients.

Types of Chilies We Use

• Guajillo – (Med) Another great chile for base sauces like our chili paste. These are earthy with a slight sweetness and not overly spicy.
• Red Chili – (Mild) Also called New Mexico dried chili or just red chili pods, these are a mild chili with savory flavors and nice acidity when toasted.
• Pasilla Negro – (Mild) These large chiles are soft and add a rich earthy flavor and dark color. These are often used for mole sauce and give body to the chili paste.
• Chile de Arbol – (Spicy) This is the heat to our dish. It is small and spicy. We are using a larger portion of this for the heat factor (15,000 – 30,000 Scoville units compared to the Jalapeño at 3,500 – 8,000) and for the flavor and color.

Based on your preferences, this is our recommendation of blends for a Mild Chili vs a Spicy Chili assuming 3-ounces total weight.

• Medium Heat – Little Heat, minor acidity on the finish. Use one 3-ounce package of Guajillo.
• Mild Heat Chili Blend – Moderate heat and acidity on the finish. Use 7 Red Chilies and 5 Passilas.
• Spicy Heat Chili Blend – Spicy up front, spicy finish, high acidity. Use 1 loose cup of Chile de Arbol, 3 Passillas, and 4 Guajillo.

Making Texas Chili

There is a process for making a true Texas Chili, and the key element is making a chili paste. After that it’s allowing the browned beef to simmer in the liquids to render for a tender beef bite.

1. Prepare your ingredients – Be sure all ingredients are laid out and the beef is cubed and seasoned.
2. Make the paste – Use roasted dried chile and then blend with hot water to get a thick paste. This gives it the distinct (and important) flavor versus using dried powders.
3. Brown the chuck meat – Browning the chuck meat adds flavor to the beef as well as allowing the seared meat that is sticking to the bottom of the pot to incorporate into the dish as it simmers.
4. Soften onions and garlic – Remove the chuck meat and then start making the actual chili by softening the onions and garlic.
5. Add ingredients – Layer in the remaining ingredients and slowly simmer away for a few hours to let the sauce reduce and tenderize the meat.

Tools

You’ll want a good blender to make the paste and a large Dutch oven or large stock pot. If you don’t have a good blender use a good immersion blender.

Video

Preparation – Making the Chili Paste

Roasting the chiles for the chili and turning it into a paste adds the classic rich flavor versus using dried spices.

Using a mix of different types of dried peppers adds flavor and heat versus just using one single type. Since there is no “dried chile” seasoning in this dish, the variation of peppers is the backbone of the flavor.

Toast them in the pot with olive oil for 6 – 8 minutes over medium heat. Once they toast, remove the stems and discard them, then add the remaining chiles to a blender with 1 cup of water and puree until smooth.

Note: Removing the stems before cooking will result in all of the seeds falling into your dish and burning. Remove the steams after cooking.

Browning the Chuck Meat

Make sure the chuck meat has been cut into equal size cubes of meat before seasoning. We cut into 1-inch cubes. It will render and shrink as it cooks.

Start by seasoning the chuck meat with olive oil and our SPG beef rub. Then brown it in two batches to get that nice crust on the outside of the meat (we do two batches to avoid crowding the pot).

If there is too much meat, it will steam and never develop a good crust. As the meat browns, the drippings at the bottom of the pan become a nice flavor addition once the liquids are added and deglaze the pot. Remove the browned meat to finish the remaining steps in making the chili.

To Make The Texas Chili

With the chuck meat removed, next add more olive oil to the Dutch oven and then soften the onions and garlic. We use six large cloves because we love garlic flavor in the chili. After they soften, we start to layer in the ingredients.

1. Add the beef back into the pot, turn up the heat to medium, and pour in the beer. Let it simmer for a couple of minutes.
2. Then add the chili paste and stir to incorporate, keeping the heat on medium.
3. Add the beef stock and stir. The dish may appear to have too much liquid, but it will reduce.
4. Bring to a simmer, and leave it simmering with the cover off, occasionally stirring every 15 minutes or so. At this point, continue simmering for three hours to let the liquid reduce and the flavors concentrate. This will intensify the chili flavor and it will render the chuck meat and make it very tender.
5. As the meat renders use a fork to see if the meat is tender. When it is tender, and almost falls apart, it is done. This is when to add masa flour. The masa flour will act as a thickener.
6. Adjust any seasonings (like salt), and serve with your favorite toppings. This is where we love adding fresh peppers like jalapeño.

How to Thicken

We use masa (corn) flour to thicken right as we finish the chili. This allows the chili to naturally reduce over the few hours of cooking and then add the additional thickening agent at the very end.

Toppings

Once the chili is thickened and in bowls serve with your favorite toppings. We typically add shredded cheddar cheese, green onion or chives, and some jalapeños thinly sliced.

Sides of warm corn tortillas is delicious or even crushed corn chips over the top.

Frequently Asked Questions

Related Recipes

We have several variations of chili. Here are a few of our favorites or check out our favorite chili recipes.

• Smoked Brisket Chili
• Ground Beef Chili
• Smoked Chicken Chili
• Turkey Chili
• Chili Dogs
• Green Chili Turkey

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About Vindulge

Mary (a certified sommelier and recipe developer) and Sean (backyard pitmaster) are co-authors of the critically acclaimed cookbook, Fire + Wine, and have been creating content for the IACP nominated website Vindulge since 2009. They live in Oregon on a farm just outside Portland.

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