Texas-Style Chili

4.86 from 7 votes

Texas-Style Chili recipe is thick and meaty, smoky and spicy.

Prep Time25

Cook Time3

Total Time3 25

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American

Keyword: chili con carne, no bean chili, texas chili recipe

Servings: - 10 servings

Calories: 489kcal

4 lbs boneless beef chuck roast trimmed of excess fat and cut into roughly 1 inch pieces
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 Tbsp butter
1 large yellow onion diced
2 poblano peppers diced
1 jalapeno pepper minced
4-5 cloves garlic minced
3 Tbsp tomato paste
1 Tbsp packed light brown sugar
8 oz can tomato sauce
1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce minced - see recipe notes
4 cups reduced sodium beef broth
1 cup water
2 bay leaves

Combine seasoning mix in a mixing bowl and set aside.
Season meat with salt and pepper. Heat 1 Tbsp vegetable oil in a large dutch oven or heavy bottomed pot and heat over MED HIGH heat. Once hot, add 1/3 of the beef and sear for 2 minutes, without stirring. Flip beef pieces over and cook another 1-2 minutes. Remove to a plate.
Repeat with another 1/3 of the beef, and then one last time with the remaining 1/3 of the beef, adding more oil if necessary, putting all the beef on the same plate after searing.
Add butter and reduce heat to MED. Add in onion, poblano peppers, and jalapeno pepper. Cook, scraping the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon to loosen any browned bits from the beef, for 5 minutes.
Add garlic and cook 1 minute. Add in tomato paste and seasoning mix (from step 1) and cook another 1 minute, stirring often.
Stir in brown sugar, tomato sauce, chipotle pepper, beef broth and water. Carefully return beef back to the pot.
Add bay leaves and let come to a low boil. Once boiling, reduce heat to LOW and simmer, uncovered, for 3 - 3 1/2 hours. Stir every hour, at least.
If chili becomes too thick during the simmering, add a splash of extra broth or water.
Remove bay leaves, and serve hot, garnished as desired.

Masa harina is very finely ground corn, and what's used to make corn tortillas. It will resemble flour and can be found in the "ethnic" or "international" aisle of larger grocery stores. If you can't find it, substituting cornmeal will work, but with a slightly different flavor. You'll also want to pulse the cornmeal in a food processor to get the finer texture, otherwise you'll notice that gritty consistency in your chili.
Chipotle peppers in adobo sauce come in little cans, also in the ethnic or international foods aisle. You want just one of the peppers, NOT the whole can. Using the whole can will make this chili super hot and spicy. Don't worry, you can freeze the leftover chipotles in adobo sauce, just add them to a freezer safe bag.
This recipe has not been tested in an Instant Pot/pressure cooker, so I can't say if any adjustments would need to be made, or how long to cook it.

Complete recipe up through step 5, then transfer pot/skillet contents to the slow cooker. Add seared beef to the slow cooker.
Add brown sugar, tomato sauce, chipotle pepper, beef broth and water.
Add bay leaves, cover, and cook on LOW for 8 hours, or until beef is very tender.
Chili may not be very thick (since the liquid can't evaporate very much in a slow cooker), so you can sprinkle in an additional Tbsp or two of masa harina. Stir it well, then increase slow cooker heat to HIGH and cook UNcovered for 15 minutes or so, stirring often.
Another option for thickening the chili is to mix 2 Tbsp cornstarch with 2 1/2 Tbsp water until smooth - then stir that in and cook on high, uncovered for 15 minutes or so, stirring often.
Remove bay leaves, and serve hot, garnished as desired.