Recipes / Mains / American Mains Texas-Style Beef Chili Chunks of braising steak rather than mince, dried chillies toasted and blitzed into a paste, and no beans — which in Texas is not a suggestion.
Time 3 hr
Serves 6
Difficulty Medium Ingredients Servings
− +
Quantities for 6 servings
1.2 kg beef chuck, cut into 3 cm cubes 4 dried ancho chillies, stemmed and deseeded 2 dried guajillo chillies, stemmed and deseeded 1 chipotle in adobo, plus 1 tsp of the sauce 2 large onions, diced 6 garlic cloves, sliced 1 tbsp ground cumin 2 tsp dried oregano 1 tbsp tomato purée 500 ml beef stock, plus more as needed 330 ml dark beer or an extra 330 ml stock 2 tbsp masa harina or fine cornmeal 1 tbsp cider vinegar 2 tbsp beef dripping or neutral oil Salt and black pepper Soured cream, grated Cheddar, lime and coriander, to serve
Treat this list as a starting point rather than a shopping order. Swap what you haven't got, leave out what you dislike, add what you love — this is exactly the kind of dish that rewards poking around in the fridge.
Method 1 Toast the dried chillies in a dry pan over medium heat for about 30 seconds a side, until they smell fragrant and turn slightly pliable. Watch them closely — scorched chillies turn the whole pot bitter and there is no fixing it. 2 Cover them with boiling water and soak for 20 minutes, then blitz with 150 ml of the soaking liquid, the chipotle and its adobo sauce into a smooth paste. 3 Pat the beef dry and season well. Brown it hard in the dripping, in batches, in a heavy casserole — a crowded pan steams the meat and you lose the browning that carries the whole dish. Set the beef aside as it's done. 4 Lower the heat, add the onions with a pinch of salt and cook for 10 minutes until soft and golden at the edges. Add the garlic, cumin and oregano and cook 1 minute more. 5 Stir in the tomato purée and cook for 2 minutes until it darkens, then add the chilli paste and fry for 3 minutes, stirring, so it loses its raw edge. 6 Return the beef and any resting juices, pour in the beer and stock, and bring to a bare simmer. Cover and cook very gently for 2½–3 hours, until the beef gives way completely to a spoon. Keep it at a lazy blip; a rolling boil makes the meat stringy. 7 Whisk the masa harina with 4 tbsp of the cooking liquid and stir it back in. Simmer uncovered for 15 minutes to thicken and to round out the flavour. 8 Finish with the cider vinegar off the heat — the acid lifts everything and stops the chili tasting flat and heavy. Taste, adjust the salt, and serve with soured cream, cheese, lime and coriander. Tap a step to cross it off. Your place is saved on this device.
Cook’s notes Genuinely better the next day, and it freezes for 3 months.
No masa harina? A tortilla blitzed to crumbs does the same job, or just simmer it uncovered for longer.
If you want beans in it, that's your business — stir in a drained tin of pinto beans for the last 20 minutes. Just don't call it Texan.
How it should look Photos of the finished dish, so you know what you’re aiming for.
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