Smoked Brisket Chili

Warm up a big bowl of this award-winning Smoked Brisket Chili, the ultimate comfort food using your favorite BBQ. This recipe is spicy, savory, smoky, and so simple to prepare. Now you have another excuse to smoke too much brisket. Or is it just enough?

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This recipe for smoked brisket chili is handy to have on hand, especially for those times you’re needing an easy meal for the family. BBQ flavors come alive inside the house with minimal effort and maximum flavors.

Key Ingredients

• Smoked brisket flat. It’s best to use brisket that has already been smoked, which not only cuts down on cooking time but infuses the chili with all of the smoked flavors. Using the flat instead of the point ensures the chili doesn’t get greasy, and the flat will break down during the braise very nicely.
• Beer. Use a beer that’s full of flavor and light on bitterness. Amber ale, stouts, and brown ales typically work the best as they are well-rounded with layers of flavor notes.
• Chili powder. This blend of ground chiles and spices can vary greatly from brand to brand. It’s absolutely key when creating a pot of chili, so make sure you’re familiar with the flavors. My Chiles and Smoke Cookbook teaches you how to make your own chili powder, with two recipes for various heat levels.
• Fire-roasted tomatoes. Regular diced tomatoes don’t hold up against these. The simple char brings out significantly more flavor and sweetness.

Important Tips

• Have everything prepped before you start. The involvement of your cooking is really only about 10 minutes of your time, but everything happens back to back. Dicing the vegetables is the hardest part.
• Pour out the beer into a glass or deli container ahead of time. This will agitate the beer and allow it to go flat. Fully carbonated beer can foam like crazy when it hits a hot pan. It also helps to have the beer at room temperature, rather than cold out of the fridge. Adding a cold beer to a hot pan will drastically reduce the temperature and can alter your cooking time.
• Trim excess fat off the edges of the brisket flat. There’s a fat cap that is typically left on the top of the brisket. The smoked fat won’t render down in the chili, instead, it will make the chili somewhat greasy. Trust me, you won’t be sacrificing flavor.
• Toast the spices for a couple of minutes with the meat and veggies before adding liquids. This is a trick I’ve learned from making Indian cuisine, which really opens up the flavors of the chili powder and other spices. The oils are released which intensify the flavors. 
• Serve the smoked brisket chili the following day! I feel like this is an absolute rule, as the flavors really do develop overnight.

Building the Foundation

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Step 1: Crisp up the Bacon

Take your chopped bacon and add it into a Dutch oven on medium heat. Bacon renders down well if you add it into a pan as it’s warming up, which slowly renders out the fat rather than simply searing the bacon. You will have crispier bacon if you do this.

Cook the diced bacon until it’s crispy, which can take about 5-6 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, remove the bacon and transfer it to a paper towel-lined plate. Leave the bacon fat in the pot.

Step 2: Add the Aromatics

Once the bacon has been removed there should be enough bacon grease to saute the vegetables. Add in the diced onion and jalapenos to let them soften and sweat for a few minutes first. Stir to make sure they don’t stick to the bottom.

Add in the minced garlic and chopped chipotle peppers next. Stir, and allow them to cook for about 2 minutes. You’ll start to smell some amazing flavors pretty quickly.

Step 3: Toasting Spices with Brisket

The leftover brisket chili is going to start coming alive. Add in the cubed brisket along with all of the spices at once. Dump them in and stir to coat all of the pieces. Stir frequently to allow the meat and spices to toast on the bottom of the pot.

You’ll start to notice that the spices and fats are sticking to the bottom of the pot. That’s fine, the next step will deglaze the bottom and you’ll scrape all of that back into the brisket chili.

Cook the spiced brisket for about 2-3 minutes until you notice most of the liquid is gone.

Step 4: Add in the Beer

Hopefully, you read the tips and are using a room temperature beer, otherwise, you’ll have another 5-6 minutes extra to wait for it all to heat back up.

I like to add the beer before the other ingredients to deglaze the pot while burning off some of the initial alcohol as well. Once the beer is poured in, scrape the bottom of the pot to release all of those flavors that were stuck on the bottom. Let the beer come up to a low simmer for a few minutes.

Step 5: Add in the Liquids and Tomatoes

You’re at the finish line, now it’s time to add in the rest of the liquids, plus the fire-roasted tomatoes.

Pour in the black coffee, the juicy tomatoes, bacon, and beef broth. Bring the liquids to a low simmer. Stir everything together and make sure the sides are scraped down.

Braise and Season

Sit back and wait impatiently, because you’re pretty much done. Just a couple of hours away from delicious smoked brisket chili!

Place the lid on the Dutch oven and keep it at a low simmer for about 60 minutes at a minimum.

After the time passes lift off the lid and check it, stir, taste, and season. Most likely if you add anything, it might be a touch of salt. The recipe below does NOT include salt as a default because of the beef broth, bacon, and salty smoked brisket. Don’t forget about the seasonings on that bark!

Variations for Brisket Chili

• Starting with raw beef. Many chilis start out by searing beef in the pot and then braising for an extended period of time, such as my Gochujang chili con carne. You can use the same method if you don’t have leftover smoked brisket available. Use either brisket flat or chuck roast, and follow the searing steps in the chili con carne recipe I just referenced.
• Skip the beer. There’s alcohol, but not much. Beer typically has far less alcohol than any spirit you’d be cooking with. It takes a little over 2 hours to fully cook out all of the alcohol, but thankfully this chili happens to braise for that long. Swap out the amount for additional beef broth instead. Adding a little extra coffee also helps to deepen the flavors.
• Different cuts than brisket. You can use different smoked meat, such as smoked chuck roast. I recommend having it cubed in the same way, rather than shredded, which will create the best consistency.

Ideas for Toppings

Smoked brisket chili is pretty amazing on its own, but the toppings are the fun part. What will you choose?

• Cheddar cheese – Absolute classic. Sharp cheddar pairs so well with that smoky, rich meat and stewed tomatoes. Try other cheeses too such as gouda, pepper jack, or even blue cheese.
• Scallions or chives – Finely diced they add a nice textural crunch with each bite. The herbal touch brightens the overall flavors as well which is refreshing.
• Cilantro or herbs – Parsley, dill, or any mix of herbs can work well depending on your preference. Cilantro is classic due to the regional dish.
• Toasted seeds or nuts – Pumpkin seeds (pepitas) work really well, maintaining a nice crunch without being too strong in flavor. Sesame seeds and cashews are some of my other favorites.
• Sour cream – Dollop a healthy spoonful of white cream to throw a bowl of chili over the top

Frequently Asked Questions

Sides to Serve with Brisket Chili

• Creamy Hatch Chile Mac and Cheese
• Grilled Broccoli Crunch Salad
• Southern Macaroni Salad
• Creamy Southwestern Coleslaw
• Spicy Pork Belly Brussels Sprouts

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