Super easy full flavor Texas chili— a no bean chili with a rich and spicy heat from the three types of chili peppers. Cook on the stovetop or perfectly sized for a 2-quart crock pot but easy to adjust up for larger amounts to fit your needs.
Introduction
A great change of pace from more standard chili—bursting with great flavor will warm you to the bone.
This is a smaller Texas chili recipe for when you don't need to feed a crowd. But it scales up easily for any amount you need. Cook it on the stovetop, but it also fits in a smaller slow cooker.
This healthy chili is low in calories and carbs for the keto diet crowd. It will also fit nicely into low fat or lower-sodium diets.
The multiple types of chilies add more than heat. They add different tastes that are very, very nice. Give it a try today.
My Rating
A solid 5. A great taste profile and a great change of pace.
What Makes Texas Chili Different?
Texas chili can be viewed more as a meat dish than traditional chili. There is no "official" version, so it is open to personal preference.
The purest will use just a paste of chiles with the beef and not much else.
No beans seem to be the most consistent part of the definition. Some will insist that there should be no tomato products, but most modern recipes include tomatoes.
If you have a different definition, please post it. But please don't downrate the recipe due to this.
📋Ingredients
What meat to use for Texas chili?
Texas chili is all amount beef and chili peppers. So no substituting poultry or skipping the beef.
Use 1-inch cubes of trimmed beef. I prefer to cut and trim a beef chuck roast, but you can use store-cut stew beef.
I don't suggest ground beef, but brown it in a skillet before adding to the chili to cook with everything else if you do use ground meat.
What chili peppers to use in Texas chili?
I suggest fresh jalapenos, Anaheim, and Poblano peppers. These will provide a nice warm heat with an excellent taste profile. Plus, they are commonly available fresh. Dried chiles are not interchangeable with fresh.
This chili is a 6/10 spicy, about as high as I go. But I'm a wimp, so it is probably fine for most people.
All the peppers should have stems, seeds, and spines should be removed. The jalapeno should be chopped very small, but the other peppers should be medium-sized, more like the onion.
If you haven't cleaned jalapenos before, use tools more than your finger. Follow up with lots of good hand washing.
Should tomatoes be in Texas chili?
While everybody will agree Texas chili has no beans, some will argue there should be no tomato base. I like a tomato base with beef chili.
Diced tomatoes are in the recipe, but tomato sauce or tomato paste can be used if you prefer.
What seasonings to use in Texas chili?
The chili peppers provide most of the seasoning. There is some basic chili powder, oregano, and cumin but not much else. You can add other things like paprika, more chili powder, green chilis, and whatever you want.
How to adjust the heat of Texas chili?
Yes. It is best to add more Jalapeno for hotter or decrease it for less heat. The other chilis will have less effect.
The Scoville heat scale commonly expresses the heat of chilis. The common Jalapeno peppers are 2,500-8,000, green Anaheims run 1,000-1,500, and the Poblano peppers are 500-2,500. So not too hot here.
👨🍳How to Make Texas Chili in a Crock Pot
- This recipe makes about 5-6 cups of chili, as written. It fits in a 2-quart crock pot, but bigger is okay. But cooking small volumes in a large crock pot may cook faster. A double recipe will fit in a 4-quart crock pot. If you want to use a 3 ½ quart crock pot, hold back some beef broth until the end.
- Browning the beef is not required but will add some nice taste. Do not use ground meat.
- Cook for 8 hours on low or 4 hours on high.
👨🍳How to Make Texas Chili on the Stovetop
- Start with a Dutch oven or soup pot. Add a few teaspoons of vegetable oil over medium-high heat.
- Initially, brown the beef chunks in the pan, then remove. Add the onion and peppers to the pot and cook until the onion clears some, then add the crushed garlic for one more minute.
- Add all the ingredients, including the browned meat, stir well, and bring the chili to a boil over medium-high heat. Decrease the heat to simmer, cover and cook for about 3 hours until the meat is tender.
❓FAQs
Many chili recipes use corn flour (masa harina) or corn starch to thicken the chili. This should not be needed here.
This is a very thick chili, and you should adjust the beef broth up or down to get the thickness you want. You can always add more near the end of cooking.
Sure, it is your chili. I suggest rinsing any beans you want to use. Kidney beans would be my choice. Since most people expect Texas chili not to have beans, I would add "with beans" to whatever you call it.
Yes, replace the broth with beer if you wish.
Since this chili has some heat, I like to top a bowl of chili with a good spoonful of sour cream and some shredded cheddar cheese.
Slices of pickled jalapenos, lime juice or slices, and cilantro are common garnishes.
I generally add some tortilla chips or Fritos on the side call it good.
Leftovers can be stored refrigerated for 4 days.
To freeze leftovers, seal airtight, then freeze for up to 4 months. I usually use freezer bags.
Crock Pot Chilis
Ultra Simple Crock Pot White Chicken Chili
Crock Pot Three Bean Turkey Chili
Crock Pot Pork Tenderloin Chili
Crockpot Southwest Chicken Chili
This recipe is listed in these categories. See them for more similar recipes.
🖼️Step-by-Step Photo Instructions
All discussion and the recipe card are four-serving sizes, but the images are a double recipe I usually cook.
You need about 1 pound trimmed beef cut into 1-inch pieces. You can be lazy and use precut stew meat if you want.
If you want, browning the meat before adding it to the crock pot will add more flavor.
Chop one medium yellow or white onion. Also, clean and dice a jalapeno (finely), an Anaheim pepper, and Poblano pepper.
Combine the chopped onion and peppers with 2 cloves of crushed garlic, 14 oz can diced tomatoes, 1 cup beef broth, 1 tablespoon chili powder, ½ teaspoon black pepper, ½ teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon oregano, and ¼ teaspoon cumin.
Cook a crock pot for 8 hours on low or 4 hours on high. It will fit in a crock pot of 2 quarts or larger.
Stovetop instructions are in the post and the recipe card.
Serve topped with sour cream and cheese to contrast the heat.
📖Recipe
Easy Texas Chili
Ingredients
- 1 pound beef roast - trimmed and cut into 1 inch cubes or use stew meat
- 1 jalapeno - diced small
- 1 Anaheim - diced medium
- 1 poblano pepper - chopped medium
- 1 onion - medium chopped
- 2 cloves garlic - crushed or minced
- 14 oz diced tomatoes
- 1 cup beef broth
- 2 tablespoons chili powder
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- ½ teaspoons cumin
Instructions
- You need about 1 pound trimmed beef cut into 1-inch pieces. You can be lazy and use precut stew meat if you want.
- If you want, browning the meat before adding to the crock pot will add more flavor.
- Chop one medium yellow or white onion. Also, clean and dice a jalapeno (finely), an Anaheim pepper, and Poblano pepper.
- Combine the chopped onion and peppers with 2 cloves of crushed garlic, 14 oz can diced tomatoes, 1 cup beef broth, 1 tablespoon chili powder, ½ teaspoon black pepper, ½ teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon oregano, and ¼ teaspoon cumin.
- Cook a crock pot for 8 hours on low or 4 hours on high. It will fit in a crock pot of 2 quarts or larger.
Stovetop Instructions
- Start with a Dutch oven or soup pot. Add a few teaspoons of vegetable oil over medium-high heat.
- Initially, brown the beef chunks in the pan, then remove. Add the onion and peppers to the pot and cook until the onion clears some (about 5 minutes), then add the crushed garlic for one more minute.
- Add all the ingredients, including the browned meat, stir well, and bring the chili to a boil over medium-high heat. Decrease the heat to simmer, cover and cook for about 3 hours until the meat is tender.
My Private Notes
Recipe Notes
Pro Tips
- You can use pre-cut stew meat or a beef chuck roast trimmed and cut into 1-inch cubes.
- This just fits a 2 quart crock pot, and bigger is fine. A double recipe, which I usually make, fits in a 3 ½ quart crock pot.
- The "heat level" is about 6/10 to me. Adjust the amount of jalapeno for more or less heat.
- The nutrition is calculated for 1 cup. That would be a small serving for most people will want a 1 ½ cup serving.
- Will be good refrigerated for 4 days and freeze well for 3-4 months.
To adjust the recipe size:
You may adjust the number of servings in this recipe card under servings. This does the math for the ingredients for you. BUT it does NOT adjust the text of the instructions. So you need to do that yourself.
Nutrition Estimate
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Originally Published February 25, 2012. Updated with expanded options, refreshed photos, and a table of contents to help navigation.
Barbara
I finally found someone who knows, if is Texas chili it has NO beans in it!!! Thank you Dr Dan. Just a suggestion, if you find it a bit to thin or "soupy" as we down here call it, add some marina masa to the pot about 30 minutes before you serve. Be sure to stir well.
thx A true Texas native.
Philip e Dally
Should be a brisket if it's Texan. I'm trying to figure out if I made this in a cast iron pot if I could smoke it for 8 hours. Never smoked soup before...Love your recipes!
Dr Dan
I was lazy and did not brown but don't forget to trim. In my beef stew, I do brown ahead and I believe it did add some taste. So either should be fine.
Julia Roberts
What a great website! And this recipe looks delicious. Found it when I googled stew meat chili as I've got a ton of stew meat in the freezer. Did you brown the meat first? Doesn't look like it. Does it matter?
Julia Roberts
This looks great! Going to make it this weekend. Did you brown the meat first? Doesn't look like it.
Chris
I like the nice mild heat this one brings to the bowl. Spicy but not flaming miserable.