The Best Dutch Oven Chili

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Game day has never been more delicious than when this very best Dutch oven chili is on the menu. After slowly braising in a rich, spicy sauce, a chuck roast transforms into the most tender, succulent shredded beef to make one seriously loaded, meaty chili. Whether you serve this for your Super Bowl party, a chili cook-off or just a casual get-together with friends, you will look like a master chef when you share this recipe.

A bowl of the Dutch oven chili on a wooden serving tray with cilantro, tortilla strips and lime slices in the background.

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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Ingredients
Step-by-Step Instructions
Slow Cooker Method
Favorite Toppings and Side Dishes
How to Store and Use Leftovers
Recipe FAQs
Variations and Substitutions
Expert Tips
Perfect Pairing
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe

Chuck roast beats ground beef every time: Most chili recipes call for ground beef, and that’s fine if you don’t care about making the best chili. But for a truly show-stopping, blue-ribbon chili, we need a more flavorful cut of meat.

Chuck roast is beautifully marbled with fat that breaks down when it slowly cooks. The result is a shredded beef that’s much more tender and richer in flavor. You won’t go back to plain, old ground beef after tasting this chili.

Dried chile paste makes for a deeper flavor: Just like the best chili calls for a better cut of meat, it also needs a dried chili paste rather than powdered chili powder. Sounds like a lot of work? I promise it’s not, and the flavor payoff is well-worth the few extra minutes it takes.

Full of cozy flavors: Need some winter and fall comfort food? This chili has you covered. All those warm spices are just what your soul needs, especially during football season.

Perfect for parties: I just love serving chili for so many reasons — it’s always a crowd favorite, you have so many serving options, and you can make it well in advance of party time for easy entertaining.

Related: For more dutch oven recipes, you’ll also love my braised red wine short ribs.

Ingredients

Chuck roast: Look for a chuck roast that’s about 3 pounds in size. That gives us the perfect amount of meat.

Dried chiles: I like to use a combination of guajillo and chile de àrbol for a complex depth of flavor. With the guajillo chiles, we get fruity notes with a smoky backbone, and the chile de àrbol delivers just the right heat kick.

Chipotle chiles: A chipotle pepper is a smoked and dried jalapeño. While you can buy plain chipotle chiles, we want the canned variety in adobo sauce. The adobo sauce adds an extra touch of smoky flavor, and we use the sauce in our chile paste as well.

Spices and seasonings: This includes a combination of cocoa powder, dark brown sugar, ground cumin, smoked paprika, Mexican oregano, coriander, cayenne pepper, salt, cinnamon, cloves and allspice.

Coffee: You’ll love how a strong cup of coffee adds some roasted notes to complement those warm spices. And, no, it doesn’t make the chili taste like your morning coffee.

Apple cider vinegar: This gives us a little zip to balance the spice. A little bit goes a long way here.

Beef stock: If you have homemade beef stock, that’s a great option, but I highly recommend Better Than Bouillon if you need a store-bought stock. Better Than Bouillon is made from a concentrated beef base, so it’s much more flavorful than those bland powdery cubes or even canned stock.

Cornstarch: When I typically make chili, I like to cover it with a crack open, which allows the broth to reduce and thicken. But since we’re braising the chili covered in the oven, this gives us that hearty, almost gravy-like texture.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Step 1: Preparing that flavor-making dried chiles paste is our first step. For this, we toast the dried chiles in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat until they turn fragrant (photo 1). This will only take a couple minutes. Once we get a whiff of that wonderful chile scent, we add the beef broth and simmer until the chiles become pliable (photo 2).

Multitasking tip: As the chiles simmer in the stock, take this time to prepare the other ingredients. See? This step really doesn’t add much time.

A wooden spoon toasting the dried chiles on the stove-top range to help bring out the flavor.

The dried chiles simmering in beef stock in a large Dutch oven on the stove top after toasting.

Step 2: After simmering, we add both the dried chiles and beef stock to a blender or food processor with the chipotle peppers in adobo sauce and purée until they turn into a smooth mixture like so (photo 3). For now, we set aside the dried chile paste.

The dried chile paste in a blender until the mixture turned nice and smooth after processing.

Step 3: Now we sprinkle the chuck roast with salt and black pepper and dust it with flour (photo 4). The flour helps create a crust for a nice texture in the next step.

The beef chuck roast on a wooden cutting board after it's been coated with salt, pepper and flour.

Step 4: We heat some olive oil in the Dutch oven, add the chuck roast and cook until it browns (photo 5). This should take about four to five minutes. Using tongs, we carefully flip the chuck roast, brown again on the other side and set it aside for the time being.

Cooking the chuck roast in hot oil in the Dutch oven until one side developed a crust and turned brown.

Step 5: From here, we add the onions and jalapeños and cook until they soften, about four minutes. In the last 30 seconds, we stir in some fresh garlic (photo 6).

A wooden spoon stirring the onions, jalapeños and garlic in a red Dutch oven until they soften.

Step 6: Now we pour in the remaining beef stock, strong coffee and dried chile paste. With a sturdy wooden spoon, we scrape up any browned bits that may be stuck to the bottom of the Dutch oven and then stir in the diced tomatoes, tomato paste, apple cider vinegar, cocoa powder, brown sugar and spices. When everything is well-combined, we place the chuck roast back in the pot (photo 7).

The chuck roast in the chili after adding all the seasonings and liquid on the stove-top.

Step 7: For our next step, we increase the heat to boil the chili, cover and place it in a 275-degree F oven (photo 8). We let the chili braise until a fork can easily shred the meat. Every cut of beef is different, but this should take about three hours for a 3-pound roast.

Placing the cover on the pot after the chili has come to a boil on the stove-top range.

Step 8: Once the chuck roast is perfectly tender, we place it on a cutting board and give it a few minutes to cool. Meanwhile, we stir the cornstarch with a splash of water to make a slurry and add it to the chili with the beans (photo 9). Now we let the chili simmer for about 10 minutes to activate the cornstarch slurry and heat the beans.

A wooden spoon stirring in the bean mixture into the chili after coming out of the oven.

Step 9: Using two forks, we shred the chuck roast and add it back to the chili (photo 10).

The shredded chuck roast on top of the chili before stirring it in to combine.

All that’s left is to spoon that wonderful, flavorful chili into bowls, grab a spoon and enjoy. So good, right?

Bonus: For more chili recipes, don't miss this smoked chili.

Slow Cooker Method

Obviously, this chili was created with the Dutch oven in mind. But if you saw that meaty goodness and want to make this chili but don’t have a Dutch oven, you can prepare it in a slow cooker. Here’s how to do just that.

Prepare the recipe through step 5 as directed.
Transfer the yellow onion mixture to a large slow cooker, stir in all the liquids and seasonings and then add the chuck roast.
Cook the chili on low for eight hours.
Pour the cornstarch slurry into the slow cooker in the last 10 minutes of cooking with the beans. Shred the chuck roast as originally directed and add it back to the slow cooker.
Devour this hearty meal — the best step of all.

Keep in mind, you do not want to let chili — or any food for that matter — sit on the Warm setting for more than two to four hours. Your slow cooker model should give specific time recommendations. If it sits for too long, not only can the meat’s texture change but bacteria can begin to form.

Favorite Toppings and Side Dishes

Of course, no bowl of chili is complete without plenty of toppings. These are a few of my favorite chili toppings, but feel free to get creative.

Smoked cheddar cheese
Sour cream or Mexican crema
Guacamole or avocado slices
Freshly squeezed lime juice
Diced red onion or sliced green onions
Hot sauce
Fresh jalapeño slices
Crushed tortilla chips
Fresh cilantro

And then there are the side dishes. Don’t miss these tasty options.

How to Store and Use Leftovers

Let the chili cool completely and then store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator. With proper storage, it should last nicely for up to four days. When you’re ready to reheat it, you can warm it on the stove over medium heat or zap it in the microwave.

This beef chili also freezes nicely. Like refrigerator storage, we want to let the chili cool completely first and then store it in a freezer-safe container for about four to six months.

While you can still eat the chili after that time frame, the meat starts to degrade in quality. To thaw, place the chili in the refrigerator for 24 hours before serving or use the defrost setting on your microwave.

While you can certainly eat leftovers as a big bowl of chili, it’s also great in so many other recipes. These are some of my favorite ways to use up that leftover chili.

Stirred into a meaty queso.
Topped on burgers.
Served as a loaded baked potato.
Smothered on top of nachos.
Used as a burrito filling.
Spoon onto pasta to make chili mac.
Made into the most epic Frito pie.

Recipe FAQs

Is this chili spicy?

This chili certainly has a kick, but it won’t leave your tongue on fire. While heat is subjective, I consider this a medium-spice chili.

What makes the best chili?

A recipe is only as good as its ingredients. That’s why the very best chili comes down to using chuck roast over ground beef and a dried chile paste instead of ho-hum chili powder. Don't skip these for best results.

Should chili have beans?

Whether a chili should include beans depends on the type. Growing up in Texas, I can assure you that my real Texas chili doesn’t include beans, but for other types of chili recipes, like this one, beans are perfectly acceptable and add a nice heartiness.

What kind of Dutch oven should I use?

There are two kinds of dutch ovens — an enamel-coated dutch oven and cast-iron Dutch oven. I like cooking this in my enameled Dutch oven, but you can also use one made from cast iron as long as it's well-seasoned. The acid from the tomatoes can corrode cast iron if it hasn’t been properly seasoned.

Do I have to use a Dutch oven?

If you want to braise the chuck roast in the oven as directed, you need a Dutch oven. That said, you can cook this recipe on the stove with an adjustment. Simply simmer the chili until the chuck roast turns fork tender.

A close-up view of the Dutch oven chili on a wooden serving tray with a silver spoon and sprig of cilantro in front.

Variations and Substitutions

Like any recipe, you’re more than welcome to customize this to suit your taste. Here are just a few ways you can make tweaks to this Dutch oven chili recipe.

Swap the black beans and pinto beans for another variety — red kidney beans and white beans are also great.
Substitute guajillo chiles for dried New Mexico chiles or dried cayenne peppers for chile de àrbol.
Adjust the heat level — amp up the spice with serrano or habanero peppers or tame the jalapeño pepper with a poblano chile or go even milder with one red bell pepper.
Use a coffee stout instead of plain coffee. Beer makes a great addition to a spicy chili.

Expert Tips

Remove excess fat: As you shred the chuck roast, you'll mostly yield delicious meat, but you will get a few fat chunks here and there. Discard those pieces.

Wear kitchen gloves: When handling the jalapeños, I highly recommend gloves to protect your skin and eyes. If you don’t have any gloves, wash your hands well after handling those spicy peppers.

Don’t forget to rinse the beans: We don’t want that starchy, salty liquid in our chili.

Save any extra shredded beef: I find a 3-pound roast is perfect here, but sometimes you have to work with what your grocery store offers. If your store only has a much larger roast, go ahead and use the entire roast, and you can use any extra meat to make some amazing shredded beef tacos.

Use chuck, not a top round roast: Chuck contains a higher fat content. That makes for a richer flavor and better shredded texture.

Plan ahead: Chili is even better the next day after it has time to allow the flavors to meld in the refrigerator. Plus, it makes hosting that much easier.

Perfect Pairing

There’s nothing like a good homemade chili paired with a bold stout. The roasted malt works perfectly with those spices, and it has enough body to stand up to that thickened red gravy and shreds of chuck beef.

For the perfect wine pairing with chili, grab a zinfandel, pour yourself a glass and marvel at how the two work together. Zinfandel comes with some fruity notes as well as a touch of peppery spice to both contrast and complement the chili.

If you’re craving a cocktail, you can’t go wrong with this Texas margarita. A Texas margarita includes both lime and orange juices. You’ll love how the acidity from the lime adds a nice brightness, and the orange flavor is always wonderful with warm spices.

When you need the perfect comfort food, make a batch of this loaded Dutch oven chili. You will fall in love after the first spoonful.

Cheers!

An aerial view of the Dutch oven chili on a wooden board with sprigs of cilantro and tortillas strips around it.

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5 from 225 votes (213 ratings without comment)