Bigly Brisket Chili
Prep
25m
Cook
150m
Total
175m
Bigly says
Sit down for this one. We are doing chili. Not regular chili. Not the sad bean-soup that some so-called chefs serve and have the nerve to call chili — putting beans as the STAR of a chili is a crime, somebody had to say it, beans are a sidekick at best, the Robin to the Batman, you don't put Robin on the cover of the comic book. We are doing BRISKET CHILI. Smoked brisket. Chopped into glorious mahogany cubes. Folded into the most tremendous pot of chili you will ever set a spoon into.
The Texans had this first. The cowboys on the cattle drives, over a hundred years ago, they did NOT have beans, they did NOT have tomatoes, they had meat and dried chiles and whatever spice was in the saddlebag and they made the original chili in a cast iron pot over a fire. Just meat. Just heat. Just men with mustaches feeding other men with mustaches. The tomatoes came later — the tomatoes immigrated in from the Italian wing of the family — and that's FINE, tomatoes are welcome, we are pro-tomato here, but the principle holds: meat first. Meat always. Brisket Chili honors the tradition and then makes it HUGE.
And look — you're reading this here on BiglyEats, and you can SEE the ingredients, right at the top, no auto-play ad screaming at you, no popup begging for your email, no cookie banner from 2018 still demanding you consent to be tracked by 200 advertising partners. Other sites bury this behind 18 popups before you even see the brisket. We don't. Recipe first. Always. That's the deal. You're in good hands here — the greatest hands. It's just a fact.
Ingredients
- 2 lbsmoked or leftover braised brisket, chopped(any beef brisket works, but smoked is the move)
- 3dried ancho chiles, stemmed and seeded
- 3dried guajillo chiles, stemmed and seeded
- 3 tbspolive oil or beef tallow
- 2 largeyellow onions, diced
- 6 clovesgarlic, minced
- 3 tbsptomato paste
- 1 tbspground cumin
- 1 tbspsmoked paprika
- 1 tspMexican oregano
- 1/4 tspground cinnamon(trust me, it's a whisper not a shout)
- 1 (12 oz) bottledark beer (stout or porter)
- 1 (28 oz) canfire-roasted crushed tomatoes
- 3 cupsbeef stock
- 1.5 tsp, plus more to tastekosher salt
- 1 tspblack pepper
- 2 tbspmasa harina(the secret thickener, do not substitute cornstarch)
- as neededlime wedges, diced onion, cilantro, sour cream, shredded cheese (for serving)
Steps
- 1
Toast the dried chiles in a dry skillet over medium heat for 30-60 seconds per side, until fragrant. Transfer to a bowl, cover with hot water, and soak for 20 minutes until softened.
- 2
Drain the chiles, reserving 1/2 cup of the soaking liquid. Blend the chiles with the reserved liquid until smooth. Set aside.
- 3
Heat the oil or tallow in a heavy Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onions and cook 8-10 minutes until deeply softened and golden.
- 4
Add the garlic, tomato paste, cumin, paprika, oregano, and cinnamon. Stir constantly for 1-2 minutes until the tomato paste darkens.
- 5
Pour in the beer and scrape up any browned bits. Simmer until reduced by half, about 4 minutes.
- 6
Add the chile puree, crushed tomatoes, beef stock, salt, and pepper. Stir to combine.
- 7
Add the chopped brisket. Bring to a gentle simmer, then reduce heat to low. Cover partially and simmer for 2 hours, stirring occasionally.
- 8
Whisk the masa harina with 1/4 cup water to make a slurry. Stir into the chili and simmer uncovered for another 15-20 minutes until thickened.
- 9
Taste and adjust salt. Serve in big bowls with lime, onion, cilantro, sour cream, and cheese.
One more thing
That's brisket chili. The real thing. You simmer this on a Sunday afternoon and the whole house smells like a steakhouse and a campfire had a beautiful baby together. The neighbors notice. The dog notices — the dog will not leave your side, the dog has emotionally divorced its own biological family, that's the power of this pot. You ladle it into big bowls, deep bowls, none of this dainty-portion nonsense, you pile on the cheese and the cilantro, you squeeze the lime, you sit. And for fifteen minutes nobody at the table talks because nobody CAN. The chili has the floor. Save me a piece.
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