Chili, like a lot of comfort foods, has as many opinions as versions. Maybe your Grandpa DID make the best. I don’t know. What I do know however is that our Chuck Wagon Texas-Style Chili is fantastic and super easy to make. Simply put, “Texas-style” means no beans and when you are in a meat forward home like we are, the ingredients are on hand. Prep the meat and add our chili dump to the rest of the recipe, simmer, and then serve. Great for that Tuesday night dinner or on game day!
Chuck Wagon Texas-Style Chili (Single Batch)
1 lb chopped smoked Bacon
2 lbs Ground Beef (85/15 or Leaner)
1 lb Chopped Yellow Onion
1 lb Chopped White Onion
28 oz Canned Crushed Tomato
7 oz Canned, Diced, and Peeled Green Chiles (optional)
1 tobacco-style tin (or 1.6 oz/47 grams) Chuck Wagon Spice Dump
14.5 oz Beef Broth
In a 4-quart (or larger) pot, render chopped bacon over medium heat. Stir frequently to prevent the bacon from crisping. Once rendered, drain the excess grease from the bacon.
Add ground beef (you can substitute your leftover smoked brisket) and chopped onions to the pot of rendered bacon. Stir and break up the beef until it is fully cooked and consistent in texture.
Stir in crushed tomatoes, green chiles, and the Chuck Wagon Texas-Style Chili Dump (from our farm) until well combined.
Stir in beef broth and bring the mixture to a boil.
Reduce heat and simmer covered for one hour, stirring regularly and scraping the bottom of the pot to deglaze and prevent burning.
Your chili can be eaten after a short simmer (and we have seen many people do this!), but it is best after the vegetables have had an opportunity to cook down fully.
Note: You can do this in the crockpot as well but you will have to render the bacon, brown the burger and sweat the onions FIRST, then add to the crock with everything else and let it go rest of the day.
Yield
The above will yield a chili batch of approximately 2.5 quarts. Simply double, triple, or quadruple your ingredients to produce a larger batch.
