Simple Texas Chili Recipe, Served 3 Ways, PLUS a Virtual Chili Cookoff

This simple Texas chili recipe is a good example of why I want to share our family recipes on my blog.  My father-in-law (George) was a great cook.  He owned and managed restaurants most of his adult life.  He never used a recipe and never wrote anything down.  Since he passed away in 1999 we’ve tried to recreate many of his recipes.  Usually between all the kids we can come up with something close.  It’s that way with my mother’s and grandmother’s recipes, too.  Their recipes were simple and delicious.  Most were easy and cheap to make.  They had to be, they were all working full time with not much money left for fancy meals.

I want my kids and grandkids to be able to create these recipes someday so I’m gonna keep trying to recreate them for my blog.

Now, back to George’s recipe.  I make chili a lot but over the years I’ve gradually adapted it to what my family likes.  George’s chili was simple and he was a bit bullheaded about it.  “Texas chili does NOT have beans,” he would say.  He’d serve beans WITH the chili but never IN it.  And it didn’t have vegetables in it.  (I guess he didn’t count an onion as a vegetable.)

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Simple Texas Chili Recipe

• 1 T vegetable oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 lb ground beef
• 3 T chili powder
• 1 T cumin
• 1 T paprika
• 1 t salt
• 1 t black pepper
• 1/2 t garlic powder
• 1/4 t cayenne
• 4 c water
• 1 t masa

Saute the onion in the oil.  Add the ground beef and scramble fry together.  Add all the spices, stir.  Add water.  Bring to a boil, turn down heat, and simmer for 30 minutes.

Mix masa with about 1/4 c cold water in a small bowl.  Add to chili while stirring.  Simmer another 10 minutes to thicken.  (I’ve used regular white flour when we didn’t have masa.)

Now to let you in on our next family secret.  Here’s how my mom taught us to eat chili:

Yes, that’s catsup.  We would crumble saltine crackers on top and squirt on some catsup.  My mom loved catsup.  She knew that I’d found a keeper when I brought Glenn home and he asked for catsup!

Now that I live in California I sometimes add some veggies to my chili.

This Texas chili recipe is also great on baked potatoes, hot dogs, or enchiladas.

Here’s a list of all the chili recipes in the virtual chili cookoff.  If you’d like to join in, click through and make a few of these, then come back and vote for your favorite! 

If you enjoyed this post, you might also like these:

• Easy Texas Gumbo
• Turkey Taco Soup
• Meatball Minestrone Soup Recipe

‘Til the next bowl of chili,

 Ann @ Duct Tape and Denim

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