Cowboy Chili (Easy Texas Red Chili)
Thick and hearty Cowboy Chili, also known as Texas Red Chili, is a meaty chili without beans or tomatoes. It is sure to stick to your ribs and satisfy any meat lover.
Give Me "A Bowl Of Red": What Is Texas Red Chili?
In America, there are as many variations on chili as there are people who love to dive into a hearty bowl.
The most simple version, and probably the one that started it all, is Texas Red Chili.
No tomatoes. No beans. Just meat.
That's what makes Texas Red Chili stand out from other versions.
Some chili lovers will balk at the idea that you could make chili without beans or tomatoes. But, if you head down to Texas, they'll tell you that a soup with tomatoes and beans is DEFINITELY NOT CHILI.
This thick, stick-to-your-ribs chili is also known as Cowboy Chili because it comes from the days of chuck wagons and cattle drives. A look into the origins of the chili tells us a lot about how this meal came about.
Cowboys and Cattle Drives In The Wild West
Imagine it.
It's 1870, and you're headed from Texas to a railway town in Kansas with 2,000 longhorn cattle in hopes of selling the herd so you can bring some money back to your family.
There are 20 or more cowboys in the group, traveling 10-12 miles a day with these cows in a journey that will take 2-3 months to complete.
While the cowboys play a crucial role in the journey, the trail cook was probably the most important member of the group.
All those hungry boys had to eat! And, how do you attract and keep the best cowboys for your team?
Good food!
Chuck Wagon Cooking
With the help of his trail cooks and an old military wagon, Col. Charles "Chuck" Goodnight designed a mobile kitchen that could hold up to life on the trail.
The "Chuck" wagon concept was so successful, that cattle drivers throughout the west began to adopt it.
You wouldn't find ingredients that would spoil, like dairy, eggs, or fresh vegetables in the chuck wagon. (No refrigeration on the trail!)
This left the cook with a small variety of ingredients to keep his hungry crew well-fed and happy. Hearty meat stews and skillet breads were some of the most loved forms of sustenance.
If you need a meal that would stick to your ribs and keep you going, Texas chili is definitely the answer!
Choosing Beef For Your Cowboy Chili
Meat.
That's really what Texas cowboy chili comes down to.
Some people use ground beef for this chuck wagon chili and others use a cubed roast.
We used a Certified Angus Beef® brand top round roast, but a chuck roast would have worked just as well. These roasts are great for braising, which is effectively what we are doing in this chili recipe. The long, slow cooking makes them incredibly flavorful and tender!
When choosing your roast, you want to be sure that there is a good amount of marbling (white flecks) in the lean of the muscle. That marbling leads to lots of flavor, particularly when the chunks of these roasts are cooked nice and slow.
We really liked the way the small cubes of meat cooked down to an incredibly tender consistency after a few hours. You'd almost swear you had started with ground beef!
Cowboy Chili (Texas Red Chili)
Thick and hearty Cowboy Chili, also known as Texas Red Chili, is sure to stick to your ribs and satisfy any meat lover.
This really is a hearty chili, so we find that smaller serving sizes are best with some good skillet cornbread. If you are cooking for hearty eaters, you may want to double the recipe.
Ingredients
- 3 lbs beef chuck roast, trimmed of excess fat and cut into 1 inch cubes
- 1 onion, diced
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 6 tablespoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 c water, (more if necessary)
- 6 tablespoon Masa Harina, (or cornmeal)
Instructions
- In a heavy bottomed soup pot (preferably cast iron) brown the beef cubes over medium high heat, 2-3 minutes.
- Add the onion and garlic and sauté until the onions have softened, 3-5 minutes.
- Stir in the chili powder, cumin, salt, and black pepper. Add the water and bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer, covered, for 3-4 hours, until the beef is incredibly tender and the chili is thick. (Check the chili occasionally and add more water if it looks too dry.)
- Just before serving, mix in the Masa Harina slowly, stirring to let any excess moisture be absorbed, creating a nice, thick chili.
- Serve with cornbread or sourdough bread.
Notes
This chili is wonderful after it has set overnight. If desired, make it a day ahead of time (don't add the Masa Harina) and refrigerate overnight. When you would like to serve it, skim any fat that may have risen to the surface, reheat over medium low, and mix in the Masa Harina when warmed if the chili looks too thin.
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Sarah founded Curious in 2010 as a way to save her recipe creations and share culinary experiences. Her love for cultural cuisines was instilled early by her French Canadian Grandmother. Her experience in the kitchen and in recipe development comes from over 10 years working in professional kitchens. She has traveled extensively and enjoys bringing the flavors of her travels back to create easy-to-make recipes.
Could this be done in a slow cooker? I've made this a few times and it is outstanding. never didn't in a slow cooker before. Would like to try today because we will be in and out all day. Thanks!
Hi Dan. We've never tried this chili in a slow cooker, but I don't see why not. For best flavor, I would still sear your beef chunks and saute the onions, then transfer it to the slow cooker on low for 8-10 hours or high for 4-5 hours. If you give it a try, stop back by and let us know how it turns out for you! Enjoy!
I did it in the crockpot on high for 4 1/2 hours it was perfect. Oh yeah…I did one cup of water and one cup of beer
So glad you enjoyed it!
How spicy is this?
Hi Diana. This chili isn't too spicy to our tastes. If you are quite heat sensitive, you can dial the chili powder back while you're cooking it and add more to taste at the end. If you like your chili spicy, you can always kick it up with some cayenne powder. Enjoy!
I'm trying this tomorrow for a chili cookoff on Saturday. (My son is allergic to tomatoes so I'm trying chili without tomatoes for him.) Have you ever tried adding green chilis or jalepenos? I'm not a huge chili powder fan so will probably not use as much as called for, but don't want to sacrifice flavor. Also, have you ever subbed beef broth for the water?
Hi Sharon. We haven't tried either of the substitutions you mentioned. Substituting beef broth for the water definitely wouldn't hurt anything. It would just add flavor. A lot of the flavor of this chili comes from the chili powder, so changing it to green chiles or jalapenos will definitely change the flavor of the chili (not that it would be bad, just a very different flavor). If I were looking to swap something for the chili powder, I would probably first go to a combination of dried ancho and guajillo chile peppers that had been soaked in hot water to soften and then pureed in a blender. You can find more about these chiles here: https://www.curiouscuisiniere.com/dried-mexican-chile-peppers/. These chiles will keep this red chili in a similar flavor profile, and deliver a really nice dept of flavor.
Either way, let us know what you try and how it turns out for you! Best of luck at your cookoff!
Making this for my family tonight for the first time! I wonder...could you use tomato sauce instead of water? Super excited to try this recipe.
Hi Frank. Yes, you could use tomato sauce for the water. It would change the flavor, but I think it would still be quite tasty! Enjoy!
Have made this twice now. Not only is it the best chili I've ever made, it's some of the best I've ever eaten in my life. And so easy! Currently eating a bowl leftover from yesterday, I had let it simmer on the stove for probably close to 5 hours, and as delicious of a dinner as it made last night for taking off the post-snow shoveling chill, it's even better today. I used chuck both times and stuck to the recipe... well, I will admit to doing a very non-Texas thing and adding a can of black beans about an hour before it's done - ! - but other than we like them and they helped make the smallish chuck roast I had go a little further, beans definitely aren't *needed*. This chili is thick, hearty, and full of flavor for sure. Thank you so much for posting this recipe, I am so glad I found it!
So glad you're enjoying this chili Lauren!
I wanted to make chili for about 30 people and I knew how my dad would make big batches of chili but I wasn't sure of the amount of seasoning so I am going to make this chili because it looks and sounds like my dad's chili. He cooked the beans and cornbread separate so people could mix the foods if they wanted or they could have the chili plain. My dad past away in 1976 but the memories remain.
What a great memory! We hope you enjoy the chili!
1/4" cubes of meat? That seems needlessly small.
Typo maybe?
Overall it sounds delicious though. Cant' rate it until I make it, so nothing for ratings at the moment.
Thanks for noticing Brady! Yes that was a typo, 1 inch will suffice :). We've updated the recipe. Let us know what you think when you make it!
Good red chili recipe overall, but I did make one small change: 2 tsp cumin instead of 1. This is Texas- comino is in everything, in great abundance!
Thanks for sharing Dan!
Now this is MY kind of chili! It looks so delicious and flavorful!
It does back lots of great flavor!
I've never tried chili with no beans. Definitely need to try this.
We hadn't ether before making this. It is definitely tasty!
I've never had chili with no beans! This looks so good though, I doubt I'd even miss them.
It was a first for us too! But it was so good!
I love this- the long slow simmer would be an awesome kitchen-smell day! Delicious too!
Oh yes!! The house smelled incredible when this was cooking!
Mmm.... the perfect chili recipe! It looks delish!
Thanks Marye! It is definitely tasty!
The flavors in your chili sound amazing!! I need to wait until the weather cools off, but I am dying to try this!
It's the perfect fall chili!
Your chili looks so hearty! I love a big bowlful anytime. Thanks for the back story on the chuck wagon!
Thanks Cindy!
My family love it with rice and steamed broccoli. I used the left overs as dip for my celery when snacking. Thanks so much! I used only 1 cup water and cooked low for 5 hours. By that time, there really wasn't any liquid left so I skipped the corn meal.
So glad you enjoyed the chili! Great idea to use it as a dip!