Recipes

Chef Jenn’s Texas Chili “NO BEANS”

Texas Chili
Prep: 15 Minutes | Cook: 45 Minutes
Total Time: 1 Hour

Ingredients

Chili Spice:

  • 1.5 tsp Garlic Powder
  • 2 tsp Chipotle Powder
  • 1 Tbsp Smoked Paprika (Pimentón)
  • 1 tsp Guajillo Powder (optional)
  • 2 tsp Kosher Salt
  • 1 tsp Ground Cumin
  • 1.5 tsp Onion Powder
  • ¼ C Chili Powder
  • ½ tsp Aji Pancha Powder (optional)

Chili:

  • 1 ea Medium Tri-Tip (1#), trimmed and small dice
  • 3 ea Dried Ancho Chilies
  • 5 Cups Tomato Passata or Tomato Puree
  • 3 ½ Cups Canned Tomatoes, petite diced
  • 3 ea Bay Leaf
  • 3 ea Dried Guajillo Chilies
  • 4 Cups White or Yellow Onion, small dice
  • 2 Tbsp Garlic, finely chopped
  • 2 QT Vegetable Stock

Preparation

For Chili Spice:

  1. Mix all spices together, set aside.

For Chili:

  1. Bring a small pot of water to a boil. Add dried guajillo and ancho chiles (not powders) to the water and allow to soften.
  2. Put the chiles into a Vitamix or blender and add about ½ c of the water used to soak the chiles. Blend until smooth. Adding water as needed, you should end up with about a cup of puree.
  3. Heat large rondeaux on high heat, add tri-tip and sear, season with s&p
  4. Add the onions and garlic and allow to cook for 1-2 min.
  5. Add the chili spice and bay leaf, stir coating everything well. Cook for 1 minute.
  6. Add the tomato paste and cook for another 1-2 minutes, allowing the paste to caramelize.
  7. Add the puree of the chiles, the passata or tomato puree and the diced tomatoes, stir together well, season to taste, and allow to begin to simmer.
  8. As the chili mixture begins to thicken, stir in the vegetable stock slowly. Once all of the stock has been added, maintain a simmer, stirring every 10 minutes or so, and seasoning with salt to your desired taste.
  9. Allow to simmer for about an hour. Serve with proper chili accoutrement, cheese, onions or your choice, and for Texans, Fritos.

Chef Notes:

The “optional” Chili Powders in the spice base are for Heat. Don’t worry if you can find it.

But I do encourage you to have some spice in the chili. It will actually help accentuate the fruitier notes in the H.O.F.

This is Sous Chef Jenn’s Famous Traditional Texas “bean-less” Chili. Of course, if desired you can add in beans, or serve over white, or Spanish rice.