Buckle up because this authentic Texas chili is the most flavorful, perfectly spiced bowl of red you’ve ever tried. Made with a dried chile paste rather than chili powder, every bite of this beefy chili is filled with tender chuck roast in a rich red gravy. This real Texas chili comes with just the right kick and is a guaranteed party pleaser.
Jump to:
While I live in Denver, I was born and raised in Houston and spent my college years in Waco, Texas, so I've made and tried countless chili recipes in my lifetime. Of course, being an annoying perfectionist, I‘ve also spent years tinkering and testing different spice combinations for my own recipe, and I’m happy to report I've perfected my Texas chili.
So what makes my chili especially great? Making a paste from dried chiles instead of your standard chili powder that many other recipes use. Yes, it's a little extra work, but a fabulous chili takes some effort. After you taste how much more complex and flavorful dried chile paste is compared to those with just chili powder, you won't go back.
In addition, I complement that dried chile paste with a few warm spices. Cumin is a given, but I also include cinnamon, allspice and cloves, which add a richness. When these elements all come together, you’re in for one lip-smacking delicious bowl of authentic Texas chili.
Bonus: If you love this recipe, make sure you also check out my smoked chili, short rib chili and Dutch oven chili!
What Is Texas Chili?
While you can find all sorts of chili varieties, Texas chili comes with a red base and two strict rules: no beans and no tomatoes. Real Texas chili is all about the beef, chiles and spices.
Of course, that's not to say beans and tomatoes aren't delicious in chili. Despite growing up in Texas, I've had many delicious chilis over the years that feature beans and tomatoes. Those chilis just aren't a true Texas style.
If you're a big bean or tomato chili fan and not overly concerned with adhering to strict Texas guidelines, you're more than welcome to use this recipe as a base and add those fillers. But if you have your heart on staying true to an authentic recipe, leave the beans and tomatoes for another day.
Ingredients
Before we start cooking, let's organize our ingredients. Here's what we need to make this perfectly spiced red chili.
- Chuck roast
- Dried guajillo chiles
- Dried arbol chiles
- Chipotles in adobo sauce
- Fresh jalapenos
- Olive oil
- Onions
- Garlic
- Beef stock
- Coffee
- Apple cider vinegar
- Dark brown sugar
- Cocoa powder
- A variety of spices, including cumin, smoked paprika, Mexican oregano, cayenne, coriander, cinnamon, cloves and allspice
- Salt
Step-by-Step-Instructions
How to Make Dried Chile Paste
To make our dried chile paste, we start by toasting our chiles on the stove until they turn fragrant. This should only take a few minutes. After toasting, we add some beef stock to the pot and allow the chiles to simmer for about 15 minutes.
We then throw our chiles and beef stock into a blender with some chipotle peppers and adobo sauce and then mix until it becomes a smooth paste. That's all it takes.
How to Make Chili
With our dried chile paste prepared, we're ready to start on the rest of the dish. We begin by cutting our chuck roast into small, bite-size pieces, about ½-inch diameter.
I won't lie. This step takes some time, so put on your current Netflix show or some good music and just enjoy the process of cooking a leisurely meal.
Once we cut up our chuck roast, we brown the meat.
After the chuck roast browns, we remove it from the pot and cook some onion, jalapeño and garlic.
We put the beef back in the pot along with our chile paste, beef stock, coffee, apple cider vinegar and spices and let the mixture simmer away.
After about two hours, the beef chuck will be perfectly tender, and the chili will thicken to a gravy-like consistency. You'll notice the gravy will reduce quite a bit. That's normal for Texas chili, which isn't as soupy as some other chilis.
If you're dying for more liquid, you can always add some beef stock, but I prefer not to as I don't want to dilute that complex chile flavor. But you do you.
Recipe FAQs
I believe a good Texas chili recipe should come with a kick. At the same time, I’m against spice that’s so intense you can only taste the heat without the nuanced flavors.
I designed this recipe for just that. This recipe comes with enough spice that we know we’re eating chili and not some flavorless beef stew, but it also won’t disintegrate your taste buds.
Of course, heat levels are subjective. If you’re sensitive to heat, you may want to skip the cayenne pepper. Once the chili finishes cooking, you can taste it and add cayenne pepper to your liking or skip it entirely.
Absolutely! In fact, I encourage it.
I love making this chili at least a day before serving. Not only does this make for easy entertaining but it also gives the flavors a chance to meld, making for an even more delicious chili.
That's not to say this chili isn’t tasty right after cooking. I just think it gets even better when it has a chance to sit.
I typically love to serve my chili in a bowl like a stew with my favorite toppings. Cheese, sour cream, cilantro, lime slices, fried tortillas strips, fresh jalapenos and avocado are all delicious options. And, of course, you can't go wrong with a side of my jalapeno popper cornbread with whipped cream cheese butter.
But this chili doesn't only have to come in a bowl. I'm a huge fan of serving this chili with nachos, fries, baked potatoes, queso, burgers -- you name it. You'll find Texas red chili is as versatile as it comes.
Perfect Pairing
A roasty stout is the perfect beer with this chili. The stout's thick body is bold enough to stand up to our heavy stew and rich beef, and the roasted malt nicely complements the warm spices.
Not a beer fan? Try a zinfandel. With a zinfandel, we get a lot of fruit to counter the heat as well as a peppery finish that melds with the rest of the spices. Zinfandel also has plenty of acidity to keep our palate refreshed after each bite.
Of course, if you'd like a cocktail, you can't go wrong with a Texas margarita. Besides the namesake, this margarita is great with chili. It features both fresh lime and orange juices to give those warm spices a welcome brightness.
When nothing but a big bowl of red will do, I hope you try this authentic Texas chili. After many years of testing, I truly believe this chili is as good as it gets.
Cheers!
Get More Cozy Soups and Stews
If you love this recipe, please leave a comment with a five-star rating — or simply hit the five-star button in the recipe card. Don't forget to sign up for my newsletter, and you can follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and TikTok.
📖 Recipe
Authentic Texas Chili From a Texan
Ingredients
- 8 dried guajillo chiles stemmed and seeds removed
- 1 dried arbol chile stemmed and seeds removed
- 5 cups beef stock divided
- 4 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce seeds left intact
- 2 tablespoons adobo sauce
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 4 pounds boneless beef chuck roast cut into ½- to ¾-inch pieces, excess fat removed
- 2 onions diced
- 2 jalapenos seeded and chopped
- 6 garlic cloves minced or grated
- 1 cup strong coffee
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
- 1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon dried Mexican oregano
- 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 teaspoon coriander
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground cloves
- ½ teaspoon ground allspice
Instructions
- Over medium-high heat in a large Dutch oven or stock pot, toast the dried chiles until fragrant, about two to three minutes. Add 2 cups beef stock and bring the mixture to a simmer. Cover, reduce heat and continue to simmer for 10-15 minutes until the chiles soften and are pliable.
- Add the chiles and beef stock used to simmer the chiles to a blender with the chipotle peppers and adobo sauce. Blend until smooth. This is the dried chile paste. Set aside.
- Heat oil in a large stock pot over medium heat. Cook half of the beef chuck until browned, about a few minutes on both sides. Remove from the pot and then repeat with the other half of the beef. Once the second half is browned, remove that beef from the pot as well. Remove excessive drippings so that there's about 2 tablespoons of liquid left in the pot.
- Add the onion and jalapenos to the pot. Cook until softened, about four to five minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Pour in remaining 3 cups of beef stock and strong coffee, scraping up the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon.
- Add the beef back to the pot with the dried chile paste. Stir in apple cider vinegar, cocoa powder, dark brown sugar, cumin, smoked paprika, salt, Mexican oregano, cayenne pepper, coriander, cinnamon, cloves and allspice.
- Bring the chili up to a boil and then lower heat to a simmer. Keep the pot mostly covered with a crack open. Simmer for two to two and a half hours while stirring occasionally. Serve with desired toppings. Enjoy!
Notes
- If you're sensitive to heat, you might want to leave out the cayenne pepper until the end. Try the chili after cooking and then add cayenne pepper in small increments to taste.
- This chili is even better if it has time to sit in the refrigerator. If possible, I recommend making it at least a day in advance, though it's still good if you need to serve it immediately.
- After cooking, the liquid will reduce a lot. This is normal for Texas chili, which isn't as soupy as some other chilis. If you want it soupier, you can add more beef stock, but I don't really recommend it because you'll dilute the chile flavor. Your call but just consider it a warning.
- You can absolutely freeze this chili in an airtight container.
- Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Doug says
Delicious. I’ll have to cut back a bit on the heat next time for my taste. I’m by no means an expert, but Texas chili and Mexican birria seem to be nearly identical??
Amanda McGrory-Dixon says
I do think they’re similar! A lot of influence on Texas cooking definitely comes from Mexico.
Lisa says
Could you make this in an instant pot?
Made it once before in my Dutch oven and it was amazing.
Grey says
I've lived in Texas for 28 years. This recipe is the real thing.
My chili recipe is very similar to this one in terms of prep work and cooking method. I got my recipe from 10 years of research, which included at one point getting punched in the mouth in an icehouse just outside of Austin by an ex-con who decided he had answered enough questions about jailhouse chili. So I figure I earned the multiple cookoff prizes I've won with my recipe.
No beans, no tomatoes is a good start. Putting in everything at the start and letting it all simmer together is also great. But what really makes this recipe work is a combination of an acid to help break down and tenderize the meat, plus a little bit of sugar to cut the tart flavor of the acid, plus the rich earthy flavor of cocoa and cumin. (The tartness and sweetness are why a lot of people think Texas chili has tomatoes in it.)
I use lime juice for the acid, brown sugar for the sweetness, and coffee for the warm earthy cocoa-like flavor. These are all traditional ingredients that would have been available to trail cooks 100 or more years ago. And I use dried ancho chiles, partly because I can't handle too much spicy heat and partly because their skin breaks down better than arboles or guajillos. But that's just personal preference.
Dicing the beef is very important. Don't use ground beef. When you simmer ground beef too long, it gets mushy and mealy, which ruins the texture of the chili. Take the time to dice up chuck roast or shoulder roast -- it holds together much better. Don't worry about having a little bit of fat on the meat; it cooks into the gravy. Just cut out the gristle and as much fat as practical, and let it be.
I call my recipe "seven-pepper chili," which makes it sound like an inferno -- but I use only a little of each pepper. So it has a little bit of heat and a complex chile pepper flavor, but is respectful of people with acid reflux. (The seven peppers are: canned green chiles, chili powder, a paste made of dried ancho chiles, smoked paprika, black pepper, smoked chipotle powder, and Tabasco.)
Last, a note about salt. As the chili cooks down, the salt flavor becomes more intense, and you run the risk of oversalting if you keep tasting it while it's simmering and adding more because it "doesn't taste salty enough." So add the recommended amount of salt when you first put all the spices in, but don't add any more salt until you're just about ready to serve. THEN you can taste it and adjust the salt level if needed. Just remember -- you can always add more salt, but you can't take salt away.
All the spices look like they are too much. And when you first put them all in and stir and taste it, it will taste awful. Just give it time. The way they cook together over two hours of simmering is truly magic. This recipe takes a lot of work, but the result is more than worth it.
Denise says
This chili is award winning and only thing I changed was I used a Tri Tip cut instead of chuck. I entered an International Chili Society in my city this past Sunday and entered the Red Chili division, along with 20 other cooks. We cook on site with no electricity. I was absolutely ecstatic that I won 3rd place with this recipe! Thank you for a great and true Red Chili recipe!
Amanda McGrory-Dixon says
You're very welcome, Denise! A big congrats to you. That's awesome!
Evelyn says
Hello, I am making this for the first time. Out of a 4 lb. chuck roast with the fat trimmed off, how much meat are we actually using for this dish? I tend to get trim happy and cut too much off so I am left with a lot less meat.
Thank you
Amanda McGrory-Dixon says
Hi, Evelyn! I would just worry about cutting pieces that are pure fat, and that should leave you with plenty of meat. Of course, I'm sure it can vary by your source, but I feel like my chuck roast usually has a lot of fat trimmed, so there usually isn't much to remove.
Evelyn says
Amanda, thanks for your quick reply. I started cutting the roast tonight and took off more than I should have as my roast was quite fatty. I now only have about 2.5 lbs of meat. Yeah, I know but all that fat… ugh! I may have to get more meat or fill it up with beans. 😕
Billy says
The chili is fantastic. Complex flavors abound. Took one star of because the skins of the Chiles. I had to go through and pick out skins for an hour before I was able to serve it. Maybe I didn't blend enough but a quick strain to the puree prior to adding it back to the pot would go a long way.
Amanda McGrory-Dixon says
Hey, Billy! It does sound like it could have used a bit more blending time. I usually blend for about a minute or so on high power to make sure it's super smooth. But glad you overall loved it!
Kathy Balles says
I gave this recipe five stars because it really came out tasty, but our family is not a real "meat" family, so after agreeing it came out really well, we decided it was a waste of good sauce for just meat, so we set some aside for the carnivores and then added a bunch of beans and tomatoes and some quinoa (sacrilege!) to the rest for a "semi-veg" (in the words of an old Outback commercial) chili. My excuse: I'm not Texan.
Amanda McGrory-Dixon says
Hey, whatever works for you, Kathy! Just happy you enjoyed it.
John says
Made this on Saturday night, ate it Sunday after church. The best thing I have ever made. This recipe is legit!
Amanda McGrory-Dixon says
Love that, John!