r/chili Jun 04 '25

Texas Red 180 year recipe TX chili

Post image

Not a bean in sight

637 Upvotes

76 comments sorted by

68

u/thedawgmaster Jun 05 '25

Here is the recipe guys, from my grandma's book, just to show you how much I appreciate you!

Frontier-Style Chili Recipe (circa 1840s)

📜 Ingredients:

2 lbs coarsely chopped beef (usually venison or buffalo was used back then, but beef brisket or chuck works well)

2 tbsp suet or lard (beef fat was the standard)

4 dried chili peppers (like ancho or pasilla), stemmed and seeded

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 large onion, chopped

1 tsp oregano (wild Mexican oregano if possible)

1 tsp cumin seeds, toasted and ground

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

1 cup water or bone broth

Optional: 1/4 cup masa harina (for thickening, used by some early Mexican-influenced recipes)

🔥 Instructions:

Prepare the chilies:

Toast dried chilies lightly in a dry pan until fragrant (30 seconds per side).

Soak them in hot water for 15–20 minutes until soft.

Blend into a paste with a little water.

Render the fat:

In a heavy pot or Dutch oven over a fire or stovetop, heat suet/lard until melted.

Brown the meat:

Add chopped beef and sear until browned on all sides.

Build the base:

Add chopped onions and garlic. Cook until translucent.

Stir in chili paste, cumin, oregano, salt, and pepper.

Simmer:

Add water/broth and bring to a simmer.

Cover and cook slowly over low heat for 2 to 3 hours, stirring occasionally, until meat is tender.

Optional thickener:

If needed, sprinkle in masa harina in the last 15 minutes to thicken.

12

u/Interesting-Lynx-989 Jun 05 '25

That would rock on hotdogs!

3

u/jfbincostarica Jun 07 '25

You’d need to cut the meat much smaller or used ground, but it’s close to one of my chili dog meat sauce recipes.

1

u/cavalierV Jun 07 '25

It's similar to a Greek sauce recipe I use (basically hotdog chili here in PA). Except we use ground beef, and some variations add tomato paste.

3

u/ormond_villain Pepper Enthusiast 🌶️ Jun 07 '25

How exactly can you simmer this for 3 hours with only 1 cup of liquid? Seems like it would burn or turn into a dense paste without at least a quart of liquid.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 08 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/Present-Bill9581 Jun 08 '25

Chatgpt response thats how

1

u/Some1IUsed2Know99 Jun 19 '25

Right, and adding masa harina to thicken? I think it would be pretty thick without

6

u/hombre74 Jun 05 '25

Awesome, thank you!

Did it mention tons of cheddar and sour cream? Like every up votes inspiring post needs that for some reason. 

2

u/chillfi420 Jun 05 '25

Thanks. I will definitely give this a try.

2

u/Weekly_Opposite_1407 Jun 08 '25

You’re not OP 🤔

1

u/gossamer_life Jun 14 '25

I feel a little silly asking. But I am new here - what is Texas Red? Is it just chili with no beans and real peppers in it?

1

u/thedawgmaster Jun 15 '25

Yes exactly, the red peppers are charred, placed in hot water for 20 minutes and blend into a paste then strained through a mesh and added to the sauted onion, garlic and jalapeño peppers. Spices are salt, black pepper, cumin and oregano.

Meat is whole chunks of beef chuck or pork shoulder and it basically looks like this, no beans though.

https://www.dadcooksdinner.com/texas-red-chili/

1

u/NeatoC Jul 06 '25

I can smell the photo

0

u/JackFromTexas74 Jun 06 '25

This is a great base recipes that gets back to the roots

I like mine with more chilis and I use a little curry powder

And my wife prefers me to add tomatoes

She is a yankee though

2

u/jfbincostarica Jun 07 '25

For sure more chilis, in volume and variety.

I also like the addition of a little cocoa powder and a splash of vinegar at the end.

11

u/tstahlgti Call the Fire Department That’s Spicy!! 🚒 🔥 Jun 05 '25 edited Jun 05 '25

Came here for a recipe. All I got was sadness.

Edit: Thanks for posting it!

7

u/tonegenerator Jun 05 '25

They’ve now posted it here.

1

u/Lost_Ad_4882 Jun 10 '25

It's fine, I don't have 180 years to cook chili.

6

u/PsychologyNo950 Jun 06 '25

Much Better than my 170-year-old chili

5

u/CoolSwim1776 Jun 05 '25

Waaaah I dunno how to edit the post. Anyway now that the mods are letting me post I will post the recipe in another post. It is a bit more complex than the one posted below.

1

u/Weekly_Opposite_1407 Jun 08 '25

Did you post that on your alt account 😂

5

u/Ghost_Poison Jun 06 '25

I usually let mine cook about 12 hours but I'll try 180 years next time...

3

u/TheBalatissimo Jun 05 '25

This looks like the chili of legendary gods!

3

u/Matty_Boombalaty Homestyle Jun 05 '25

Looks fire

3

u/nudist83 Jun 06 '25

And look NO beans! Imagine that.

5

u/Fit_Opinion2465 Jun 06 '25

I put beans in mine because it’s one of the healthiest foods you can eat and I want to fill it out and have leftovers for like 3-4 days. idc what anyone says.

1

u/Houston_Skin Jun 07 '25

That's a good reason other than senseless arguing

2

u/maltonfil Jun 05 '25

Damn now I’m hungry

2

u/thepottsy Mod. Chili is life. Jun 05 '25

That looks nice!!

2

u/herewardthewake Jun 06 '25

Thanks for sharing a delicious piece of your family history. I’ve saved this recipe. I’m planning on making. It sounds amazing.

4

u/johnnyribcage Jun 05 '25

Looks great. Going to make this in a week or two and add some beans. 😉

8

u/CoolSwim1776 Jun 05 '25

Nooooooooooooooooooooooo :(

2

u/jujumber Jun 08 '25

I'm going to add some zucchini! /s

1

u/gossamer_life Jun 14 '25

Zucchini is one of my favorite additions. I don't like zucchini plain and I don't like it in much else. But I like it cooked in my chili.

1

u/SuperYachtGuy Jun 06 '25

Just so wrong!

2

u/AugustWesterberg Jun 05 '25

4 chiles to 2 pounds meat is some bland-ass chili.

7

u/thepottsy Mod. Chili is life. Jun 05 '25

I always love these comments from someone who has never posted their own version of chili in this sub. So, put your money where your mouth is!!

3

u/Some1IUsed2Know99 Jun 05 '25

Mine has 16 dried chilis. Is that enough? https://glowupgrub.com/five-fire-chili-2/

2

u/mostlygizzards Jun 08 '25

I am 100% going to make this. Thanks for sharing!

1

u/AugustWesterberg Jun 05 '25

That’s more like it

1

u/WitfulWalrus42 Jun 06 '25

With almost 3 more pounds of food to season 🤣 two cans of beans and a can of tomatoes = about 3 chiles per lb of beef/bean/tomato brother

1

u/jzilla11 Jun 06 '25

Praise the Lard

1

u/Z_double_o Jun 06 '25

Is this the original Drayton Sawyer family recipe 😂😂 ??

1

u/productof237 Jun 06 '25

I got that reference 🤣

1

u/Z_double_o Jun 06 '25

⛓️🪚🥣🫣😵😜😜

1

u/SceneProfessional156 Jun 06 '25

Awesome, saved. Thanks

1

u/LogicalAnesthetic Jun 06 '25

You referenced chili paste as an ingredient, but there wasn’t anything in the recipe list, or Ami blind? In any case, awesome recipe 🤌🏾

2

u/thedawgmaster Jun 06 '25

Not the OP but the recipe I posted saying to prepare the chilles with hot water and blend into a paste, then put into pan after onion and garlic are transparent.

I agree more chilles needed for that spicy kick.

1

u/Itsholyman666 Jun 06 '25

Yeah, times were a lot tougher back then

1

u/Thorns99 Jun 07 '25

Beautiful

1

u/[deleted] Jun 07 '25

Chili

1

u/TheGiant_EnemySpider Jun 08 '25

Augh, that looks BEAUTIFUL. A nice, hearty-looking sauce, and not a single dreaded bean to be seen.

1

u/Garden_Jolly Homestyle Jun 08 '25

Looks great!

1

u/60161992 Jun 08 '25

This is similar to my family recipe from the cow camp days of west Texas. I still use venison, if I was going to use beef I’d use extra lean. Mine also calls for suet, but I cut the amount of fat so as to not have a greasy final product. I use lard at a ratio of a quarter pound to three pounds of meat. Then two pods per pound of meat and three pitines per pound of meat. No cumin. Salt pepper and paprika. Onion and garlic with the chiles.

1

u/mcpryon Jun 10 '25

After 180 years, dinner is finally ready.

1

u/Equivalent-Collar655 Jun 10 '25

Nice recipe, I think I’ll try it next time I make chili. I have a lot of ground venison too. I normally cut it half beef half venison otherwise the venison seems to get a little granular.

1

u/granolaraisin Jun 11 '25

Did they have bone broth in the 1800’s?

1

u/CoolSwim1776 Jun 11 '25

Broth is as old as humanity.

1

u/Kona1957 Jun 11 '25

I would use it 3 ways:

On a hot dog with cheese and onions

On a burrito with creamy refried beans and sour cream

And intravenously

1

u/JamonCroqueta Jun 05 '25

Ooh what's the recipe

0

u/Castle_of_Frank Jun 05 '25

Unfortunately most people eat with their eyes.........you know what I mean if you know what I mean

-1

u/Hangin-N-Bangin-4761 Jun 06 '25

Made this in the toilet this morning.

-1

u/WilliamHarry Jun 08 '25

Looks like diarrhea

-2

u/imnotyourfriendpal46 Jun 06 '25

I'm good on Texas chili. Looks alright though.

-4

u/SuperKingAir Jun 06 '25

What kind of beans do you think would be best in it?

4

u/CoolSwim1776 Jun 06 '25

HERESY!!!!

2

u/Houston_Skin Jun 07 '25

Probably kidney, but i prefer it without

-3

u/ICantLetYouGetClosee Jun 07 '25

Looks like my morning shit