When you need to serve a crowd for game day or a casual backyard party, everyone will rave about this smoked chili recipe. You’ll love how every beefy spoonful is full of tender chuck roast and hearty beans in a perfectly spicy, thick red gravy. For a meat-lover’s chili that’s a sure hit at any cook-off, you’ll return to this recipe over and over again.
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Superior ingredients for the best flavor: Many smoked chili recipes are known as over-the-top chili, or OTT chili. This is where you form a ball of ground beef that smokes on the rack above the chili, which then drips into the stew. That’s fine, but this chili is even better.
Instead, we first smoke a chuck roast, dice the beef and add it to the chili, and then finish the whole pot in the smoker. Chuck roast is so much more succulent and flavorful than ground beef. Once you have a good chuck roast chili, you’ll never want to go back to ground beef, and that’s a promise.
As if that’s not enough to make a better chili, we also skip the chili powder and opt for a dried chile paste, which is the ultimate secret ingredient. Chili powder doesn’t come close to matching the depth of flavor of a real chile paste, and the process is surprisingly simple.
Ultra versatile: Of course, you can serve this as a bowl with your favorite toppings, but you also have so many other fun options. You’ll get endless uses for this chili — you’re only limited to your own creativity.
Makes for easy entertaining: Need a dish to feed a crowd? Check. Want to make your chili well ahead of party time? Check. Hosting is always as simple as can be when chili is on the menu.
Related: Put that smoker to use and try my smoked tri tip, smoked brisket and smoked jalapeño poppers.
Ingredients
Chuck roast: Pick up a roast that’s about 3 pounds. If you don’t like beans in your chili and plan on skipping those, you’ll want a 4-pound roast. I do not recommend substituting a top round roast — we want chuck for that wonderful flavor and texture.
Dried chiles: I always use a blend of guajillo and chile de àrbol peppers when making a red chili. The guajillo adds some additional smoky notes with just a touch of fruit for balance while the chile de àrbol gives it some heat.
Chipotle peppers: Look for the canned chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, not just the dried peppers. We also use that adobo sauce to give our chile paste even more depth.
Seasonings: For our chili seasoning, we use a blend of cocoa powder, dark brown sugar, ground cumin, smoked paprika, Mexican oregano, coriander, cayenne pepper, salt, cinnamon, cloves and allspice. Yes, it’s a lot of ingredients, but you likely already have them in your pantry.
Coffee: Those roasted coffee notes give our chili some additional complexity, and it pairs wonderfully with chile spice.
Beef stock: If you have homemade beef stock, that works beautifully. Otherwise, I recommend using Better Than Bouillon for your stock. It’s by far my favorite store-bought stock, and it’s easily available at just about any grocery store these days.
Apple cider vinegar: With all those rich, complex flavors, this adds the perfect brightness.
Step-by-Step Ingredients
Step 1: To start, we season our chuck roast with just salt and pepper (photo 1). Since the roast is going in the chili, we don’t need a ton of seasonings in this step.
Step 2: Now we place the chuck roast directly on the grill grates with a water pan of a 225-degree F smoker and insert a meat thermometer in the middle of the chuck roast (photo 2). We close the lid and let the smoker work its magic until the chuck roast reaches an internal temperature of 155-165 degrees F. So many factors can affect smoking time but expect this to take three and a half to four hours.
Step 3: As the chuck roast cooks, we can multitask and start on our chili base. For this, we toast the dried chiles in a Dutch oven until they turn fragrant and then simmer them in beef broth (photo 3).
Step 4: Once the dried chiles soften, we move them to a blender with the beef stock and blend them with chipotle peppers and adobo sauce (photo 4). This is our red chile paste.
Step 5: From here, we cook plenty of onion and jalapeños in olive oil and then add some fresh garlic cloves in the last 30 seconds (photo 5).
Step 6: Now we pour the beef stock, coffee, apple cider vinegar and red chile paste into our large pot and stir in the diced tomatoes, tomato paste and seasonings (photo 6). At this point, you can turn off the heat and let the chili sit if the chuck roast is still smoking.
Step 7: When the chuck roast is ready, we allow the meat to rest for 10 minutes, cut it into cubes, stir it into the chili base with the beans and bring the mixture to a boil (photo 7).
Step 8: We’re ready to place the pot of chili back on the smoker's grill grate (photo 8). For this phase, we want to raise the heat to 275 degrees F and leave the chili uncovered. Allowing the chili to smoke uncovered infuses more smoky flavor and reduces the sauce to a thicker gravy.
After two to three hours, we have the perfect bowl of chili. Grab a spoon and enjoy every meaty bite and that delicious smoky flavor.
Note: This recipe was tested on a vertical pellet grill, but you can use any type of smoker. If you don't have a dedicated smoker, here's a resource on how to turn your gas grill or charcoal grill into one.
How to Serve
Of course, a hearty bowl of chili piled with your favorite toppings and a side of cornbread and homemade honey butter is the perfect way to serve your guests. Who doesn’t love a chili bar for game day? For a few topping ideas, these are some of my go-to garnishes, but feel free to get creative.
- Smoked cheddar cheese
- Red onion
- Jalapeño slices
- Sour cream
- Guacamole or avocado slices
- Crushed tortilla chips
- Fresh cilantro sprigs
- Lime
In addition to serving as a stew, you can smother this chili on so many other dishes or use it to make a chili cheese dip. These are some other great ways to use leftover chili.
- Topped on a hotdog — bonus points for picking up high-quality hot dogs from a butcher shop
- Smothered on nachos
- Spooned onto smoked burgers
- Poured over frito pie
- Mixed into queso
- Made into chili mac
How to Store, Reheat and Freeze
Once the chili completely cools, keep it in an airtight container in the refrigerator. You should be able to store it for up to four days. When it’s time to reheat the chili, simply warm it on medium heat on the stove or cover it and pop it in the microwave.
For freezing, you can keep it in a freezer-safe container for four to six months. Technically, it’s still safe to eat after that, but you may notice the quality isn’t quite as good. To thaw, you can leave it in the refrigerator for 24 hours or use the thaw setting on your microwave.
Recipe FAQs
My favorite wood for smoking chili is hickory, though oak would work nicely as well. I would save your fruit wood chips or pellets for lighter dishes.
Yes, this chili definitely has a spice kick. After all, chili is supposed to be spicy. Otherwise, it’d just be a bland bean and beef stew.
While this is a spicy chili, I find most people can handle the heat just fine. If anyone is especially sensitive to heat, make sure you have plenty of sour cream and cheese on hand. Dairy helps cut heat.
Instead, you can use a disposable aluminum Dutch oven liner or a deep aluminum pan. If using a liner, you might want to double up to ensure it's sturdy enough. For reference, I used a 7-quart Dutch oven for this recipe.
I used pinto beans, but so many different types of beans work. Think red kidney beans, white cannellini beans, black beans or even a combination. Of course, if you want to make this as a Texas-style chili, you’d skip both the beans and tomatoes. But when I’m not making a Texas chili, I love the heartiness they add.
Substitutions and Variations
- If you prefer shredded beef, like in my Dutch oven chili and short rib chili, you can skip cubing the chuck roast and place it whole in the chili. After a couple hours of smoking, you can remove it, shred the beef and add it back to the pot.
- Swap the guajillo chiles for dried New Mexico chiles or dried cayenne peppers for chile de àrbol if need be.
- Substitute coffee for a stout — both add lovely roasted notes.
- For extra spice, use serrano or habanero peppers, or you can cool the heat by substituting a poblano pepper for jalapeños.
- Try another sweetener for the brown sugar, such as molasses.
Expert Tips
Discard fat while trimming: Most of the chuck roast will be usable, but if you get any bits of pure fat, don’t add those to the chili.
Make at least a day ahead if possible: The chili is delicious right after smoking, but giving it a day in the refrigerator allows the flavors to meld even better.
Use kitchen gloves: You want to wear kitchen gloves when handling the jalapeños. The pepper oil can otherwise irritate your skin, and if you touch your eyes with the oil on your fingers, it will burn.
Rinse the beans: This gets rid of excess sodium by removing that starchy liquid.
Keep your Dutch oven well seasoned: If using a cast-iron Dutch oven, make sure it's well-seasoned to protect it from the acidic tomatoes. Just to be safe, I like to rub it with an extra layer of canola oil before cooking.
Perfect Pairing
Beer and chili go hand in hand, especially when it’s a nice stout. A stout features roasted malt, which complements those spices, chile paste and coffee, and it’s big enough to match the hearty beef chuck and beans.
Want to sip on wine instead? You will love a zinfandel on the side. Zinfandels show off both fruity and peppery notes. That touch of pepper is made for the spices while the fruity side offers some contrast to the heat.
Or maybe you’d like a cocktail. My Cadillac margarita is perfect. That zip of lime adds just the right brightness and helps cut through the rich gravy and chuck roast.
When you need a reliable recipe that’s sure to make you the star of your next chili cook-off, I hope you try this smoked chili. With that wonderful smoke flavor, this is a guaranteed crowd pleaser. Don't be surprised if it becomes your new favorite chili recipe.
Cheers!
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📖 Recipe
Smoked Chili With Tender Chuck Roast
Equipment
- 7-quart Dutch oven
- Smoker
- Wood chips or pellets hickory recommended
Ingredients
- 3 pound boneless chuck roast not top round roast
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 2 teaspoons black pepper
- 8 dried guajillo chiles stemmed and seeds removed
- 1 dried chile de árbol stemmed and seeds removed
- 6 cups beef stock
- 4 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce seeds left intact
- 2 tablespoons adobo sauce
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 yellow onions chopped
- 2 jalapeños seeded and chopped
- 6 garlic cloves minced or grated
- 1 cup strong coffee
- 2 (14-ounce) cans diced tomatoes
- 1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
- 1 tablespoon packed 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 ground coriander
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground cloves
- ½ teaspoon ground allspice
- 2 (15-ounce) cans pinto beans drained and rinsed
- Favorite toppings shredded cheese, sour cream, avocado, red onions, jalapeños, lime, cilantro, tortilla chips, etc.
Instructions
- Heat smoker to 225 degrees F. As it heats, sprinkle the chuck roast with salt and pepper on both sides.
- Place the chuck roast in the smoker with a water pan. Insert a leave-in digital meat thermometer in the center of the roast. Close the lid and smoke until the chuck roast reaches an internal temperature of 155-165 degrees F, about three and a half to four hours.
- While the chuck roast smokes, you can take care of the chili base. Over medium-high heat in a large Dutch oven on the stove, 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. Set aside the chile paste.
- Heat oil in the Dutch oven over medium heat. Once the oil is hot, add the onion and jalapeños to the pot. Cook until softened, about four to five minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds, stirring constantly.
- Pour in remaining 4 cups of beef stock, strong coffee and reserved chile paste, scraping up the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon. Stir in the diced tomatoes, tomato paste, apple cider vinegar, cocoa powder, brown sugar and spices. Turn off heat and reserve until the chuck roast is ready.
- When the chuck roast finishes smoking, let it rest for 10 minutes. After resting, turn up the heat on the smoker to 275 degrees F. As the smoker comes up to heat, cut the chuck roast into bite-size cubes and discard any pieces of fat. Add the chuck roast to the chili with the beans. Turn the heat on the stove to medium-high and bring the chili to a boil.
- Remove the chili from the stove and place on the smoker uncovered. Close the lid on the smoker and let the chili smoke for another two to three hours. Stir occasionally. Serve with desired toppings. Enjoy!
Notes
- You can store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to four days. Alternatively, you can freeze it for four to six months.
- If possible, make it a day ahead of serving. While it's delicious right off the smoker, it's even better to give chili a day in the refrigerator to give the flavors time to meld.
- Use kitchen gloves when handling the jalapeños to protect your skin from irritation.
- If using a cast-iron Dutch oven, make sure it's well-seasoned to protect it from the acidic tomatoes. Just to be safe, I like to rub it with an extra layer of canola oil before cooking.
- Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Jeff Hooks says
Sounds great gonna make it for Super Bowl Chili Contest. I'll get back.👍
Amanda McGrory-Dixon says
Best of luck!
CP says
Hi, I just made this recipe and love the flavor but for some reason the dried pepper skins are.like chopped up to little rubbery pieces through out the sauce. I want to correct the issue so I can keep making it. Any idea what caused that?? TIA.
Amanda McGrory-Dixon says
So glad you loved it! It sounds like maybe the peppers needed a little more time to simmer, and then I’d try blending it for a bit longer.
CP says
Not easy but has a fantastic flavor!