Serving up health and fitness insights (daily, of course) with a side of irreverence.
Home » Recipes » Primal Texas Chili
All too often a bowl full of chili is an uninspired blend of ground meat and canned tomatoes overwhelmed by beans. Ask anyone who follows the Primal Blueprint and they’ll tell you that the beans are unnecessary, but ask any Texan and they’ll tell you that putting beans in chili is an absolute travesty. In Texas, a bowl full of beans has no right calling itself chili, even when ground meat is thrown in.
Texas chili doesn’t let anything get in the way of and distract from the two main ingredients, chunks of beef and chili powder. Hearty, heavily seasoned and ranging from a bit of heat to fiery-hot, this is the type of chili that’s so thick you almost need a fork to eat it. Outsiders say it resembles stew more than chili, but it’s doubtful that this squabble over terminology has ever stopped someone from finishing a bowl. Texas chili is simply too good to pass up.
Using a brand of chili powder you like makes a difference – the better the chili powder, the better the chili. In Texas chili, it’s the main seasoning and gives the dish its nickname, “Bowl of Red.” If you’re feeling ambitious, you can make your own chili powder by toasting dried chiles for a few minutes in a pan on the stove then grinding them into powder (a coffee grinder works well for this.) Buy a variety of chiles like New Mexico, guajillo, pasilla, ancho and arbol and then combine the powder of each until the flavor and heat is to your liking. Most types of chili powder also have a bit of cumin, paprika, dried garlic and dried oregano thrown in, and even more of each is added to Texas chili to give the dish it’s intense flavor.
If you’ve never had Texas chili before, start with the recipe below. You won’t be disappointed, although keep in mind it’s only one version of this great dish. Some, but not all, Texas chili recipes contain a tomato product. Some use water as liquid, others call for beef broth. A splash of vinegar isn’t unheard of and either is masa harina, a type of corn flour that thickens the chili but isn’t necessary at all for flavor.
Like many regional specialties, no two recipes for Texas chili are exactly the same and each one claims to be the “real” version. Whatever your opinion is about the exact blend of spices or addition of tomato, one thing is for sure – Texas chili is likely to convince you never to put ground meat (and definitely not beans) in your chili bowl again.
4 –6 servings
Ingredients:
Instructions:
Lightly season beef with salt. Heat animal fat or olive oil in a large pot over high heat. Working in 3 batches, brown beef, about 3 minutes per batch.
Transfer beef to a plate.
Turn heat to medium. Brown onions and garlic, about five minutes. Return the beef to the pot and stir in tomato paste.
Cook 10 minutes, stirring frequently, scraping bottom of pot. Add chili powder, oregano, paprika and cumin (and cayenne, if using).
Add 4 cups of water and bring to a boil.
Reduce heat to medium-low; simmer partially covered, stirring occasionally, until meat is tender, about 2 hours.
Posted By: Worker Bee
Beef Stew and Chicken Soup in 35 Minutes or Less
Filipino Beef Kaldereta
Silky Celery Root Soup
Three Dishes with Three Animal Fats: Lard, Tallow and Duck
You want comments? We got comments:
Imagine you’re George Clooney. Take a moment to admire your grooming and wit. Okay, now imagine someone walks up to you and asks, “What’s your name?” You say, “I’m George Clooney.” Or maybe you say, “I’m the Clooninator!” You don’t say “I’m George of George Clooney Sells Movies Blog” and you certainly don’t say, “I’m Clooney Weight Loss Plan”. So while spam is technically meat, it ain’t anywhere near Primal. Please nickname yourself something your friends would call you.
As a Texan, I’d also like to add that we oftentimes mix up our meats in chili. For example, in my house, we usually throw in a couple pounds of chili grind, a pound of ground, some chunked beef, and the best thing ever…venison. The mixed textures of the meat are really yummy. We usually make a big batch and freeze it for later. So good. I can’t wait until it gets cold again. Yum!
Maybe you could send some of that up here to NY?! Lovin’ all the recipes and variations.
Yes! Texas Chili is the only way to go, and it’s naturally so Primal. However, I recommend fresh hot chilies in the chili (poblanos, jalapenos, serranos) to give it the extra kick that we Texans require. Also, I like to make a 3 meat chili with chorizo, finely diced sirloin and course ground beef (chili grind). Delicious!
Here’s one of my favorite chili recipes:
www.heb.com/recipecat/South-Texas-Three-Meat-Chili/1502812/700026
But I go for more and hotter peppers. The chorizo puts a nice layer of “grease” on it. Yum!
And I don’t mind tomatoes in my chili as long as it’s not obvious and in large chunks.