Tex-Mex Chili con Carne

About This Recipe

Texas chili con carne — sometimes called 'a bowl of red' — is the dish that launched a thousand cook-offs and remains the official state dish of Texas. The cardinal rules among Texas chili-heads are absolute: no beans, no tomatoes, and the meat must be hand-cut chuck (never ground beef). Everything else — what dried chiles, how much cumin, whether to add a splash of beer or coffee — is open to fierce debate. What unites all serious Texas chili is the chile paste: dried whole chiles (typically anchos, guajillos, pasillas and a few árbol for heat) are toasted, simmered, and blended into a glossy red gravy that defines the dish. The meat — chuck or shoulder cut into 1 cm cubes — is browned hard, simmered in beef stock and that chile gravy for 2–3 hours, and finished with masa harina to thicken and add a corn-tortilla undertone. The dish was born in late-19th-century San Antonio, popularized by the legendary 'Chili Queens' who sold bowls from open-air braziers in Military Plaza by night, and it traveled north and east as a cheap, calorie-dense meal that fueled the Western frontier. Real Texas chili is served in a deep bowl with a single garnish — diced raw onion, grated yellow cheese, a wedge of lime — and saltines or cornbread on the side. Beans, sour cream and avocado are northern affectations.

Ingredients

Serves 6

• 1.5 kgbeef chuck, well-marbled, trimmed and cut into 1 cm cubes (not ground)
• 4dried ancho chiles, stemmed and seeded
• 4dried guajillo chiles, stemmed and seeded
• 2dried pasilla chiles, stemmed and seeded
• 2dried chiles de árbol (more for heat)
• 3 tbsprendered beef tallow or neutral oil
• 1 largeyellow onion, fine dice
• 6 clovesgarlic, minced
• 2 tbspground cumin, freshly toasted
• 1 tbspMexican oregano
• 1 tspsmoked paprika
• 1 tspground coriander
• 1 litrelow-sodium beef stock, warm
• 1 bottle (350 ml)Mexican lager (Bohemia, Modelo Especial), or omit and use more stock
• 2 tbspmasa harina, mixed with 60 ml cold water
• 1 tbspapple cider vinegar
• salt and black pepper
• diced raw onion, grated cheddar, lime wedges, saltines, to serve

Instructions

1. 1

   Toast and rehydrate the chiles

   In a dry cast-iron skillet over medium heat, toast the dried chiles 20 seconds per side until pliable and fragrant — never burned, which makes them bitter. Cover with hot water in a bowl and steep 20 minutes until soft.

   Wear gloves when handling dried chiles, especially árbol — the oils linger on skin.

2. 2

   Make the chile paste

   Drain the chiles (reserve 250 ml of soaking liquid). In a blender combine the chiles, 200 ml of the soaking liquid, the toasted cumin, oregano, paprika and coriander. Blend on high 90 seconds until completely smooth — push through a fine sieve to remove skins for a silky paste. You should have about 350 ml.

3. 3

   Brown the beef hard

   Heat 2 tbsp of the tallow in a heavy 6-quart Dutch oven over high heat. Brown the beef cubes in 3 batches, 5 minutes per batch, getting a deep crust on all sides. Don't crowd the pan or the beef will steam. Transfer browned beef to a bowl as you go.

4. 4

   Sweat the aromatics

   Reduce heat to medium. Add the remaining 1 tbsp tallow and the diced onion. Cook 8 minutes until soft and golden. Add the garlic and cook 60 seconds until fragrant.

5. 5

   Bloom the chile paste

   Pour the chile paste into the pot and cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, 4 minutes — the paste should darken slightly and the kitchen will smell intensely toasty. This step deepens the flavor enormously; don't skip it.

6. 6

   Deglaze and simmer

   Pour in the beer (if using) and scrape the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon. Return the browned beef and any juices. Pour in the warm beef stock until the meat is just covered. Bring to a hard boil, then reduce to a bare, lazy simmer.

7. 7

   Slow cook

   Cover partially and simmer 2.5 to 3 hours, stirring every 30 minutes from the bottom, until the beef is meltingly tender and the gravy has reduced and thickened. If it gets too dry, add stock 100 ml at a time.

8. 8

   Thicken with masa

   Stir the masa harina slurry into the pot and simmer 8 more minutes — this thickens the chili to a gravy-like consistency and adds a corn-tortilla undertone. Add the vinegar, taste, and adjust salt heavily — chili needs more salt than you think.

   If your chili tastes flat, add another teaspoon of vinegar — the brightness lifts everything.

9. 9

   Rest, then serve

   Pull off the heat and rest 15 minutes uncovered — the flavors marry and the surface fat pools so you can skim. Ladle into deep warm bowls, top with diced raw onion, a small mound of grated cheddar and a lime wedge. Pass saltines and ice-cold Lone Star beer.

Variations

• •

  Frito pie: spoon chili over a personal-size bag of Fritos corn chips, top with cheese and onion. The unofficial Texas state lunch.

• •

  Coffee-chocolate chili: stir 1 tbsp instant espresso and 1 tbsp cocoa powder into the chile paste — adds a mole-like depth (controversial in Texas but excellent).

• •

  Smoked-brisket chili: replace 500 g of the chuck with smoked brisket trimmings, added in the final hour.

• •

  Pork-and-poblano green chili: substitute pork shoulder and roasted poblanos for a New Mexico-style green chile (also no beans).

Storage

Refrigerate up to 5 days; flavor peaks on day 2. Freezes excellently 3 months — freeze flat in zip bags, thaw overnight, reheat gently with a splash of stock. Do not add masa thickener if you plan to freeze; add it during reheating.

Frequently Asked Questions