Texas Chili Recipe (Won over 30 Cookoffs!)

It's the perfect season for making authentic Texas chili, and this award-winning chili recipe has over 100 5-star reviews on the blog, as well as 30 readers who have won their own local chili cook-offs, using this tried and true Texas recipe.

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We think this is the best Texas chili recipe and the internet seems to agree. In this recipe, we use the flat of a brisket for creating tender morsels of chili meat that doesn't come out tasting like pot roast.

This recipe is in the style of Texas barbecue restaurants and is a chili recipe with no beans.

It's a bit like a chile con carne recipe, but we slowly simmer these chunks of beef until they are one solid "soup". In fact, you might find that using an immersion blender after the chili cooking gives you even more of a Texas quality chili. Just buzz it a few times to make it extra broken up and mixed well. :)

Ingredients Used:

• 4 slices thick cut bacon
• 3-4 lb. beef brisket, trimmed
• Kosher salt, pepper, onion powder – for liberally sprinkling on the meat while browning.
• 2 c. white onion, small diced (one large onion)
• 5 garlic cloves, pressed through a garlic press
• 1 T paprika
• 1 T. cumin powder
• 3 ½ T Texas chili powder, such as Mexene or Gebhardt’s
• ½ t. dried thyme
• ½ t. chipotle chile powder
• ½ t. salt
• 1 quart beef broth
• ½ c. strong black coffee (you can save this from your morning coffee)
• 28 oz. can whole tomatoes, in juice

I have full step-by-step instructions on the blog and you can read lots of reviews by readers who have won chili cookoffs using this recipe, made this chili and modified the recipe, or even substituted smoked brisket.

Any questions or concerns about this authentic Texas chili recipe? Leave us a comment and we will get back to you asap! You can also use the contact tab on the recipe website.

Thanks, Sarah Penrod & Team

[SA-hffu]

Don't you just love it when you try a new recipe and it comes out perfectly the very first time?!! That's this! Wow! Thank you!

[zellodine]

I was helping take care of my fiancée's step mother before she passed. (RIP). I did all of the cooking for those couple months and made anything she requested. One night she wanted chili, but I have only made it from scratch once before so I looked up a recipe as a refresher. Came across this one and followed it with some tweaks. It turned out to be the best chili any of us ever ever had!
So thank you for sharing this and helping us deal with a difficult and emotional time.

[Rvideo]

Made this last weekend and my wife (who's family isn't from Texas) and she not only said this was the best Chili she has ever had, but also the best meal I've ever made. Thanks

[JohnRambo-jvbv]

Oh my word, that looks soooo good! I was born and raised in Texas, but married a Florida girl while in the Navy and ending up staying for the last 35 years. Anyway, as I was drooling over this recipe, I said to my wife, “I’m sending this Texas chili recipe to you.” And she said, “Why? Is Texas chili better than Florida chili?” Oh my word….

[jaxfl]

I am a homesick Texan and woke up when I saw this recipe. This is similar to my recipe, so I followed your instructions and added 2 Chipotle peppers in Adobo sauce and 1 eight oz can of tomato paste, then put it on my pellet smoker for 4 hour. WOW!
Realizing I did not make enough, I made another batch with hamburger and Jimmy Dean sausage which I had in the refrigerator, added a beer instead of coffee, 2 Chipotles and tomato sauce and again, wow! Brisket will win awards, hamburger chili ain't half bad either. Thank you!

[ricksundberg]

I just did a chili cook-off with this recipe on Saturday 04/30/23. It was all friends from my hunting club and there were 6 entries. I used a tougher elk roast for the meat which is very close to brisket in texture. Not only did it win, but it was in a completely different category with nothing else even close. People noted that just looking at the color they knew they were in for something good. The others all had beans, some had sausage, all were comparable and tasted pretty good, but this was the clear cut winner. The battle was for second place.

[MkBibble]

Have some questions. A) How do you avoid just eating the bacon after it's browned? B) How do you avoid just eating the brisket after it's browned?

[raytribble]

I used a 2.2 lb. Lean Chuck roast and Chugwater Chili (since I am from Wyoming) and copied the rest of your recipe to the letter… there was nothing left as my kids and grandkids devoured it!
Thank you and I will make it again once it gets a little cooler here in south Texas

[pointdexter]

With my wife not being a fan of beans and/or ground beef in chili, I went digging for recipes and stumbled upon this one. Everything looked so good, and the steps were easy to follow. Ordered the Texas spices online, being in Nebraska, and put everything together today. The beef cubes just gave a much better mouth feel compared to ground beef, and added more and better flavor. The spice blend was great too, nothing too spicy, and a nice bite. It exceeded my expectations, and my wife was incredibly pleased as well. This will become a regular going forward!

[shirleydtaylor]

My Dad passed in 1988 Christmas. He spent the first few years of retirement perfecting Texas Chili. He was so happy once he perfected it. It was so good. I did not get recipe before he passed but this looks like it. I’m excited to try it.

[notsparks]

I found this in a box of recipes I think I inherited from my grandmother for a Texas style chili powder similar to Mexene's. I grew up in rural East Texas, and she lived most of her life in El Paso. I don't know if it's her recipe or if someone gave it to her but I use it often as I can't find good Texas chile powder here.

4 dried ancho chiles
2 dried guajillo chiles
2 dried chile de arbol
2 tablespoons cumin seeds
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon dried oregano
2 teaspoons smoked paprika
1 teaspoon salt

Remove the stems and most seeds from the dried chiles. The more seeds, the more intense the heat will be
Tear the chiles into small pieces and set them aside
Heat a skillet over medium heat and add the cumin seeds. Toast until fragrant, about 1-2 minutes, then transfer them to a plate.
In the same skillet, add the chile pieces and toast them for about 30 seconds per side. Be careful not to burn them, as this makes the chili powder bitter.
Transfer toasted chiles to the plate and allow them to cool.
Once the chiles and cumin seeds have cooled completely, place them in a spice grinder. Add the garlic powder, dried oregano, smoked paprika, and salt.
Grind the mixture until it's a fine powder. Do in batches so as not to overfill the grinder
Store in an airtight container in a cool, dark place

Making this in smaller batches as needed is best as it loses flavor once ground up.

[manoweb]

omg you are the first person I've ever heard say Gebhart and Mexene. we've been using these chili powders for more than 45 years! Most people do not realize they have so many, very different types of chili powders, which makes a big difference! My Mom's chili always impressed people and she always used those two brands of chili powders before anything else! She's also would add McCormick's to her chili as since then we've noticed McCormick's has regular and dark chili powders, so weve been using those as well! Great video!!! Thank you! (although your releasing the secret that most never knew!) 5 star video!

[LorettaSalazar-js]

Well, Add another win to the batch! Ive never made chili in my life and I googled this and I won our communities Chili contest!! WHAT?! Beat 9 people! 🏅

[Sniperboy]

I’m a bit of a chili enthusiast and this recipe looks and sounds delicious! The coffee addition is very unique, I’ve never thought about that before!

[timescales]

In my experience in winning A&M Snook Chilifest Gold twice (the only two times entered) the brisket cubes should only be browned on one side and never stirred while browning as that breaks the connection with the pot. They should not be crowded, stacked on top of each other or disturbed during the browning. If they are crowded, stacked or stirred then you are steaming the little steaks and losing valuable liquid. The coffee is a nice tip, our recipe uses a cup of coffee as well. This is a very accurate Texas chili recipe. Thumbs up.

[michaelwhite]

Add a 'cookoff win' to the count! This recipe just won my neighborhood chili cook-off. Great stuff!

[johnnybeams-evpc]

Entered two chilis in our company chili cook off. My recipe won 1st and this recipe won a very close second! Loved both of them. There were 27 judges too!

[sumahuma]

I'm South African and I've always seen depictions of chili on cartoon network...I think it's time to cook this so I can finally taste what the fuss is about!!

[andrew-rrz]

Just want to say thank you for helping me win the chili cook-off for our Xmas party. I changed it up a little by using ribeye steak and a few other changes. But you pointed me in the right direction. Thanks.

[deliasmith]

This is a recipe I will definitely try. Never thought of adding coffee but I have added 1-2 teaspoons of black mole which adds alot of complex chile back flavor without being too sweet or overwhelming