Texas Style Steak Chili
Texas Style Steak Chili is hearty, rich, and full of mild chile flavors. Four chile peppers are the base of this authentic style Texas chili your family will love!
I received samples from Selefina Spices to use but all opinions are my own. Thank you for supporting the brands that support A Kitchen Hoor’s Adventures.
I love chili. A good bowl of chili just makes my soul happy. Like down to my core is just smiling and doing a happy dance when I eat a good bowl of chili. And this is one of those bowls of chili. There is so much flavor in this Texas Style Steak Chili. It is worth the extra effort to make a homemade chili base to make it extra delicious.
Selefina sent me a gift code to purchase some fresh spices for a recipe. When I saw all the freshly dried chilis on there, I knew I had to make a delicious pot of Texas style chili. I say Texas style chili because I cannot have make a chili without some kind of tomato product in there. There’s tomato paste and crushed tomatoes in there along with the chili paste and beef broth.
What makes Texas Style Steak Chili different than other beef chili?
The main difference is beans. Authentic Texas chili has no beans in there. And it has no tomato products in there. Because these are things that cowboys just didn’t have access to when they were driving cattle across the plains. Beef they had access to. I’m sure they had water, maybe some spices, definitely dried chiles, and definitely beef broth.
The dried chiles are the base of any good Texas chili. That’s what really separates Texas chili apart from almost all other chili recipes I’ve tried. For my Texas Style Steak Chili, I used a combination of chipotle, guajillo, ancho, and hatch chiles. It’s a combination of sweet, smoky, and slightly spicy peppers.
The ancho is a dried poblano, which is not very spicy at all. Guajillo peppers are dried mirasol peppers which aren’t too spicy, either. They have a rich flavor that’s very earthy. Chipotles are smoke-dried jalapeno peppers. They can go from slightly spicy to very spicy. Finally, dried Hatch chile peppers are mild and slightly sweet. I debated on adding some chipotle in adobo, too, but was afraid they might be too spicy for me.
How do you make Texas Style Steak Chili?
It starts with the chile paste. I toasted the chiles in a pan before putting them in boiling water to soften. Once soft I cut the stems off and removed the seeds and membrane. Then I put them in a blend. I strained 1 cup of the water into the blender with the peppers and pureed them until smooth. Putting them through a strainer removed any extra membrane or seeds I might have missed. Half the chile mixture went back into the blender with the crushed tomatoes and pureed them until smooth.
I heated some oil in my enamel cast iron Dutch oven to sautéed the onions and garlic. I removed those and then browned the beef making sure to get it good and seared on the outside. The tomato paste goes in next to cook a little before adding in the spices, chile and tomato puree, and the beef broth. Then you simmer and wait.
I tasted my Texas Style Steak Chili after about an hour to see if I wanted to add more of the chile paste. The chili had great flavor and was just spicy enough for me. So I didn’t add any more of the chile paste. I saved it for another recipe. Chimichangas. I used it to make sauce for chimichangas. Because the hubs loves them and I am trying to make them nice and crispy in the air fryer.
Now, if your chili isn’t very thick, you can add some masa to the pot to thicken it up. If you don’t have any then try a little cornmeal or polenta if you have that. Some recipes call for masa and some don’t. I usually have it on hand for tamales. However, mine was thick enough and I didn’t need to add any.
Continue to simmer the chili until the beef is nice and tender. For me that was about the 3-hour mark. I used chuck roast for nice flavor, but it is a little tougher cut of meat. It’s meant to be braised in liquid for long periods of time. All the rich and delicious flavor of the beef melds with the chile flavor and tomatoes. It makes for a rich and delicious bowl of chili.
What does Texas Style Steak Chili taste like?
It’s almost like a stew. There’s rich chile and tomato flavors. Hence the Texas style. Technically there’s not supposed to be tomato products in there at all. There are arguments for and against tomatoes in Texas chili. I am pro-tomato. Maybe one day I’ll try this recipe without the tomatoes.
The beef is tender and rich. Texas Style Steak Chili is full of chile pepper flavor. The broth is thick and stick to your ribs rich. This is definitely one bowl of chili that will warm you up inside and out. It’s such a bowl of comfort that your soul will just be completely happy. I know you think I’m off my rocker in writing that, but it’s true. I savored every last bite of this chili. I even froze the rest to have for later. It was THAT good!
You can see how dark and rich the broth is. And how thick the broth is. It’s truly a stew like consistency and not the chili that we think of. At least not the chili I was raised on. Of course, I had to top mine with some cheese and green onion. The green onion adds a nice crisp flavor and crunch to the chili. And, well, chili and cheese go hand in hand. How can you not top this hearty Texas Style Steak Chili with cheese?
Feel free to add beans if you want. I’d go with a dark red kidney bean or even a black bean. Maybe a pinto? But beans really aren’t needed in this Texas Style Steak Chili. It’s hearty and filling without them. But if you’re dead set on having beans in your chili, then by all means.
I’ve made a few types of chilis on my blog. I grew up with your standard game day chili. But also, we had Cincinnati chili, too. Because Cincinnati wasn’t that far from where we lived in Kentucky. And since I love all things mole, which is sort of like Cincinnati chili, I made a mole chili. That was so rich and delicious, too. And if that wasn’t enough, I kicked up chili and tried a pumpkin chili. I have a couple of other ideas for chili on my list to try. One I did try and will have to revamp to make it more chili like and less stew like.

Texas Style Steak Chili
Texas Style Steak Chili is hearty, rich, and full of mild chile flavors. Four chile peppers are the base of this authentic style Texas chili your family will love!
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 whole ancho chiles
- 2 whole guajillo chiles
- 4 hatch chiles
- 4 whole chipotle chiles
- 3 pounds chuck roast cut into 1" cubes
- 3 cups diced onions
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
- 2 tablespoons ground cumin
- 2 teapsoon ground coriander
- 2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 28 ounces crushed tomatoes
- 4 cups low sodium beef broth
Instructions
- Heat a skillet over high heat.
- Toast the chiles until pliable, about 2 to 3 minutes per side.
- Put the pepper in a heat safe bowl and pour boiling water to cover.
- Let the peppers sit for 30 minutes or until soft and the water reaches room temperature.
- Cut the ends off the peppers and remove as much of the ribbing and seeds as you can.
- Coarsely chop the peppers and put in a blender.
- Pour about 1 cup of the pepper water into the blender and process until smooth.
- Strain the pepper mixture through a fine mesh strainer.
- Pour half of the pepper mixture back into the blender along with the crushed tomatoes. Reserve the remaining pepper mixture for later.
- Puree until smooth.
- Heat a Dutch oven over medium heat.
- Swirl 2 tablespoons olive oil in the pan then add the onions and garlic.
- Sauté the onions and garlic until fragrant and soft.
- Remove the veggies from the pan and keep warm.
- Swirl the remaining olive oil in the pan and brown the beef.
- Add the tomato paste to the pan and cook for 1 minute before returning the onions and garlic to the pan.
- Stir in the spices and cook for 2 to 3 minutes.
- Stir in the tomato chile mixture and the beef broth.
- Simmer for 1 hour then taste the chili. If it's not spicy enough for your taste, add in the remaining chili mixture.
- Simmer an additional 1 to 2 hours or until the beef is tender and the chili is thick.
- Top with chopped onions and/or cheese before serving.
Nutrition Information
Yield
10Serving Size
1Amount Per Serving Calories 462Total Fat 27gSaturated Fat 10gTrans Fat 1gUnsaturated Fat 16gCholesterol 113mgSodium 459mgCarbohydrates 19gFiber 4gSugar 10gProtein 38g