Brisket Chili
Flavorful chili with tender chunks of smoky brisket, the perfect combination of spices, tomatoes, and America’s best beans. This is quickly going to become your favorite chili recipe. And you can make it in either a pressure cooker or slow cooker, to accommodate your time and schedule.
Smokey, hearty, and incredibly delicious, this brisket chili is the perfect way to use leftover brisket. In fact, you might find yourself smoking a brisket JUST to make this delicious chili. Yep, I said it!
Now you might be wondering…
But Who Has Leftover Brisket?
I know, I know, when you take the time to smoke a delicious brisket, the chances of having enough leftover to make chili seem remote. But trust me, there will come a time when you make a brisket and have leftovers. Maybe because you smoked a bunch of other stuff too, or your are trying to perfect your brisket recipe, or *gasp* you just don’t eat it all.
And THIS is the recipe you want in your back pocket when that day comes.
What You Need for Brisket Chili
Ingredients
- Beans: 1 pound Chili Bean Mix or Italian Bean Soup Mix. My recommendations are the Chili Slow Cooker Mix or the Italian Bean Soup Mix, which both feature kidney beans.
- Brisket: There are tons of different ways you can cook brisket, my preferred method for this recipe is smoked brisket, but it doesn’t matter how you get there, just that you do, so cook it and chop it into cubes, discarding any fatty pieces.
- Onions: For this recipe I use both Yellow Onion and Red Onion because it adds flavor, and tastes so good.
- Tomatoes: Tomato Paste, Tomato Sauce, and Diced Tomatoes are all used:
- I suggest: Fire Roasted Diced Tomatoes. You want them diced, and while you can use just regular petite diced or diced tomatoes, the fire roasted ones just give you a little more flavor!
- Chili Sauce: Homemade Chili Sauce- This is a brand/name of chili sauce, not a recipe for homemade chili sauce. Do not make the mistake of using the Asian chili sauce, which would greatly change the flavor, instead look for the tomato based kind, and use that.
- Liquid: Beef Broth and Water. The beans absorb the water, so don’t be intimidated by the amount. Also, keep in mind, you can sub it for beef broth, beer, etc.
Spices
Spices are what really make chili so fun. This is why people love chili, and you can really play around with the amounts and the flavors. Here is what I would recommend you keep in mind: spice potency varies based on the brand, how old it is, when it was harvested, whether it is stored properly, etc. So taste as you go, and adjust the seasoning to your personal preference to achieve perfection. Here is what we love:
- 2 Tablespoons Chili Powder
- 2 Tablespoons Cumin
- 1 Tablespoon Garlic Powder
- 1 Tablespoon Onion Powder
- 1/2 teaspoon Chipotle Powder
- 1/3 teaspoon Paprika
- 1 teaspoon Salt, more to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon Pepper, fresh ground, black pepper
What is the best secret ingredient for chili?
There are so many ways you can change/customize chili. And there are people who will tell you to add coffee, or chocolate, or beer to get a richer, deeper, chili flavor. And you can. And should if you want. But I wanted to keep it simple, and still incredibly delicious.
The only *secret* ingredient in this recipe is the chipotle powder. You can use chipotle peppers in adobo if you have that instead of the dry powder kind. But that chipotle combined with the smoked brisket is going to give you that depth of flavor and smoky undertones that make this chili so delightful.
The Perfect Beans
The real trick to good chili beyond the spices is the beans! And the quality of bean you use is going to really impact the flavor and overall quality of your chili.
Dry Beans versus Canned Beans
And why am I using dry beans instead of canned? Because dry is:
- Better: They just are. Trust me on this one.
- Tastier: You get to control the flavor with garlic, onion, and seasonings. But also, dry beans really do just taste better than their canned counterparts.
- More Cost Effective: Brisket is not cheap, so using dried beans instead of canned can help make this a cost effective meal with the fun splurge ingredient.
- You Control The Sodium: Beans are so good for you, they are full of vitamins and minerals, a fantastic source of protein and fiber. However, canned beans often have high amounts of sodium. When you cook from dry, you don’t have that issue.
What is Brisket Chili?
Brisket chili essentially a classic chili, but instead of using mince, or ground beef, you use leftover, chopped up, brisket. And that adds such a fun texture and flavor. Now you can use brisket made specifically for this chili. But either way, it is just a different flavor and texture.
Slow Cooker versus Pressure Cooker
For this recipe I am giving you some options for how to cook it. You can cook your chili in the slow cooker, and let it simmer all day, or if you want to speed things along, you can cook it in your pressure cooker.
Dry beans take time to cook, the pressure cooker speeds that up. So either plan on about 5 hours in the slow cooker for the beans to get tender, or 45 minutes in the pressure cooker.
Both are going to produce a flavorful chili, and both are pretty hands off and easy to make. So pick the method that works best for you.
Tips and Tricks
- Evenly dice: When things are roughly the same size, they cook at roughly the same speed. Your overall results will be better if you evenly dice your brisket meat and your onions etc.
- Check your beans: You want your beans to be nice and tender, so be sure to use enough liquid, and simply check the beans. If they aren’t tender enough yet, cook longer!
- Taste and adjust: Spices can differ in potency, so while 2 Tbs of chili powder may be enough for me, you might find you need more to get the flavor you want. Do not be afraid to play with the amount of spices.
- Top: One of the best parts of chili is getting to top it with all of your favorite garnishes. I love jalapenos for a kick of heat, sour cream to add creaminess, and some fresh chopped onions and cilantro. But you can add cheese, bacon bits, green onion, or whatever your heart desires!
Brisket Chili
Equipment
- Pressure Cooker
Ingredients
- 1 pound Hurst's Ham Beens Brand Chili Slow Cooker or Italian Bean Soup Mix
- 4 cups Brisket Cooked, and chopped into cubes
- 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
- 1 Yellow Onion Medium
- 1/2 Red Onion Medium
- 2 Tablespoons Tomato Paste
- 15 ounces Fire Roasted Diced Tomatoes
- 8 ounces Tomato Sauce
- 12 ounces Homemade Chili Sauce (This is a brand/name of chili sauce, not a recipe for homemade) Not the asian kind.
- 3 cups Beef Broth
- 5 cups Water
Spices
- 2 Tablespoons Chili Powder
- 2 Tablespoons Cumin
- 1 Tablespoon Garlic Powder
- 1 Tablespoon Onion Powder
- 1/2 teaspoon Chipotle Powder
- 1/3 teaspoon Paprika
- 1 teaspoon Salt more to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon Pepper fresh ground, black pepper
Instructions
Pressure Cooker Instructions
- Prep ingredients: Dice onions, and set aside. Dice brisket, and set aside.
- Sort and rinse beans: pour beans into a colander and sort through, removing any debris. Rinse, set aside.
- Turn a 6 quart or larger pressure cooker on to "Saute" In the liner of a pressure cooker, add olive oil, and onions.
- Saute onions for 1 minute until fragrant, then add all spices, and continue to saute for an additional 30 seconds.
- Add tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, tomato paste, homemade chili sauce, and stir well.
- Open Hurst's HamBeens Brand beans and remove flavor packet, add to pressure cooker if using the Slow Cooker Chili Mix, discard if using Italian Bean Soup Mix. Add beans to the pot.
- Add beef stock, and water, and stir everything together. Bring to a boil on "saute" setting. Then turn pot to pressure cook. Set to cook for 40 minutes. Place lid on pot, lock into place, set valve to the sealed position.
- The pressure cooker will come up to pressure, then cook for the allotted time. When cooking time is up, let pressure naturally release for 10 minutes before turning the valve to allow the pressure to release.
- Check beans, and make sure they are adequately softened. If necessary, add 5 more minutes to the cook time. When beans are softened, turn pot back to "saute", and add in cooked and chopped brisket.
- Bring chili to a simmer, and allow the brisket to heat through. Then remove from heat to serve.
- Serve with your favorite chili toppings: sour cream, jalapeno, cilantro, diced onion.
Slow Cooker Instructions
- Prep ingredients, and sort and rinse beans. To sort and rinse: pour beans into a colander and sort through, removing any debris. Rinse and place in slow cooker.
- Add all ingredients except the cooked brisket to the slow cooker, pouring the water over the top, making sure the beans are totally covered.
- Cover with slow cooker lid and cook on high for 5 hours.
- Add brisket, taste the chili, adjust seasonings to preference. Replace lid and cook an additional hour or until beans are totally soft.
- Serve with your favorite chili toppings: sour cream, jalapenos, cilantro, onion
Nutrition
Our recipe card software calculates these nutrition facts based on averages for the above ingredients, different brands, and quality of produce/meats may have different nutritional information, always calculate your own based on the specific products you use in order to achieve accurate macros for this recipe.
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