Abilene Texas Chili

Texas chili purists will tell you real Texas chili contains no beans. They have a point about traditional bowl-of-red, but Abilene is a few hours west of the bean-versus-no-bean dividing line, and West Texas cooks happily put pinto beans or kidney beans in the pot. This big-batch recipe is firmly in the bean-friendly camp.

The vegetable juice (think V8) is the unusual move and it’s clever. The juice base supplies the tomato body plus a savory complexity from the celery, beet, and carrot juices in the blend. The final chili reads richer than one made with plain canned tomatoes.

Mexican oregano is worth seeking out. It’s grassier and more citrusy than Mediterranean oregano, and it’s what gives authentic Texas chili its distinctive herbal edge. If you can only find regular oregano, use it but reduce by half.

The brown sugar might surprise some folks, but it’s traditional in many Texas recipes. Three tablespoons in three pounds of beef won’t read sweet, it just balances the acid from the tomatoes and softens the cayenne.

Four hours of simmering is the minimum. The longer you go, the more the spices marry into the meat. Many cooks make this a day ahead, since chili is one of those dishes that’s genuinely better the next day.

Pro Tips

• Brown the ground beef hard, in batches if needed, to develop a deep crust. Pale beef means pale chili.
• Add the cumin and paprika to the meat as it browns to bloom the spices in fat.
• Skim the foam off the top during the first 30 minutes of simmering for a cleaner finished pot.
• Ladle into bowls and top with shredded cheddar, diced onion, sour cream, and cornbread.

Variations

• Use cubed chuck instead of ground beef for a chunkier, more traditional Texas chili.
• Add 1 chopped chipotle in adobo for smoky heat.
• Toss in 1 bottle of dark beer in place of some of the vegetable juice for a deeper flavor.