Texas Roadhouse Chili Recipe
Posted: 09/12/23
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Is it just us or does Texas Roadhouse have the BEST chili?! Skip the line and make a big batch at home with this Texas Roadhouse chili copycat recipe! Super savory, filling, and just perfectly spiced, make sure you top your bowl with shredded cheddar and chopped red onions… but don’t forget the rolls!
🍲 What Makes This Recipe So Good
- This amazing (and amazingly easy) copycat recipe is the perfect at-home recreation of Texas Roadhouse’s amazing Texas Red chili. Of course, we focused on the classic version with beans, but you can easily make Texas Roadhouse chili without beans if that’s your preference. Whatever you do, just don’t forget the warm yeast rolls and honey cinnamon butter!
- Every bite of savory red chili is packed with mouth-watering flavor. We play up the natural flavor of the ground beef and earthy kidney beans with garlic, onion, cumin, smoked paprika, brown sugar, black pepper, and salt, with a little chili powder and crushed red pepper for kick. It’s wonderfully savory, with just the right amount of sweet.
- You can take the layers of flavor even further with your toppings. Cheddar cheese and diced red onions are a must, but you don’t have to stop there. Sour cream, green onions, even diced jalapeños would all be great additions!
To Bean, or Not to Bean?
Did you know? You typically won’t find beans in a traditional Texas chili!
Texas Roadhouse was founded in Indiana and is headquartered in Kentucky, so their Texas Red chili isn’t necessarily an authentic Texas chili, despite the name.
That’s not all! To make the great beans-in-chili debate even more fun, Texas Roadhouse offers different versions of this chili depending on the location! One of our Easy Healthy Recipes team members lives outside New Orleans, and her local Texas Roadhouse only offers the Texas Red chili without beans. Here in Memphis, though, my closest Texas Roadhouse only offers this chili with beans!
Which option does your Texas Roadhouse location serve? Leave us a comment at the end of this post and let us know!
👩🏼🍳 Chef’s Tips
- The spices play a big role in this Texas Roadhouse chili recipe, so it’s really important that you’re using fresh ones! Most spices keep well for 6 months or so, with a noticeable decline in quality after that. Double check the expiration dates on your spices. If they don’t have dates or if you can’t read them easily, you can go by their scent instead! Older spices will have very faint scents, while fresh spices will be very vibrant and pungent. The more intense the scent, the more intense the flavor! If you’re at all unsure about the age or quality of your spices, I recommend just grabbing some new ones at the store if you can. That way you know you’re starting out on the right foot.
- One of the recognizable qualities of Texas Roadhouse chili is its thick, almost stew-like consistency. You don’t need to add any flour or cornstarch to get that result, though. The longer the chili simmers, the thicker it’ll be. If it’s just not getting as thick as you want it, you have a couple of options. First, you can add more kidney or pinto beans. Be sure to rinse them well and drain them completely first – if too much liquid is the problem, you don’t want to add more! Another option, instead of adding more beans, is to remove some of the ones already in the dish. Just for a minute, though. Spoon some of the beans and a little liquid into a bowl, then mash them with a potato masher or fork to release more of their starches. Stir the mashed beans back into the chili and voila! Naturally thickened with no added ingredients.
🥣 Other Recipes Perfect for Soup Season
- Seafood Chili
- 15-Bean Soup
- Instant Pot White Chicken Chili
- Tomato Florentine Soup
- Instant Pot Clam Chowder
- Chickarina Soup
- White Bean Chili
- Creamy Cajun Chicken Pasta Soup
- Slow Cooker Turkey Chili
- Instant Pot Chicken and Rice Soup
- Pumpkin Bisque
- Chili’s Southwest Chicken Soup
- Mexican Chili
Texas Roadhouse Chili Recipe
Savory, satisfying, and perfectly spiced. Skip the line and make a big batch of Texas Roadhouse chili at home with this spot-on copycat recipe! Don't forget the rolls!
servings
Ingredients
For the Chili
- 2 tablespoons neutral oil olive oil, avocado oil, etc.
- 1 medium yellow onion diced, approximately 2 cups
- 2 tablespoons minced fresh garlic
- 2 pounds lean ground beef 90/10 or higher
- 3 ½ teaspoons cumin
- 2 packed tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons chili powder
- 1 ½ tablespoons smoked paprika
- ½ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper more or less to taste
- 3 ½ teaspoons salt more or less to taste
- 2 14-ounce cans crushed tomatoes
- 3 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 14-ounce can kidney beans rinsed well, drained well; optional, see Notes
- 1 cup low-sodium beef broth
- ⅛ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes more or less to taste, optional
Serving Suggestions (All Optional)
- shredded fresh cheddar cheese
- finely chopped red onions
- thinly sliced green onions
- sour cream
- tortilla chips
- yeast rolls
Equipment
- large dutch oven approximately 6-8 quarts; or large soup pot
- large wooden spoon
Instructions
- Heat dutch oven on stovetop over medium heat. When pot is warm, add 2 tablespoons neutral oil. Continue heating dutch oven, swirling and tilting pot occasionally to distribute oil across entire surface, until oil is hot and shimmery.
- When oil is hot, add 1 medium yellow onion and stir to incorporate. Sauté diced onion 3 to 4 minutes or until translucent, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking.
- Once onions have softened, add 2 tablespoons minced fresh garlic and stir to incorporate. Sauté 30 to 60 seconds, until garlic is just fragrant.
- Add 2 pounds lean ground beef to dutch oven and break ground beef apart into smaller chunks. Cook ground beef 5 to 7 minutes, stirring often and breaking up chunks into smaller pieces, until beef is browned through and crumbled.
- When ground beef is ready, add 3 ½ teaspoons cumin, 2 packed tablespoons brown sugar, 2 tablespoons chili powder, 1 ½ tablespoons smoked paprika, ½ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper, and 3 ½ teaspoons salt. Simmer mixture 30 to 60 seconds, stirring until spices are fully incorporated into ground beef mixture.
- Add 2 14-ounce cans crushed tomatoes, 3 tablespoons tomato paste, 1 14-ounce can kidney beans, and 1 cup low-sodium beef broth to dutch oven. Stir well to fully incorporate all ingredients. If desired, stir in ⅛ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes.
- Reduce heat under dutch oven to medium-low. Simmer chili, uncovered, 20 to 30 minutes or until beans and tomatoes are softened and warmed through and chili has thickened. Stir chili occasionally to prevent sticking or burning.
- Remove chili from heat and set aside to cool 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, portion chili into serving bowls and top with shredded fresh cheddar cheese, finely chopped red onions, thinly sliced green onions, and sour cream if desired. Serve chili warm with tortilla chips or yeast rolls (optional).
Notes
- Beans: Texas Roadhouse offers their chili with and without beans, so we do, too! No big changes or substitutions needed. If you prefer a Texas Red chili without beans, just omit them entirely.
- Leftovers: Let any leftover chili cool completely, then transfer chili to an airtight container. Refrigerate leftover chili up to 4 days. Reheat on the stove over medium-low heat, stirring often, until the chili is warmed through.
- Freezer-Meal Option: Prepare the chili as instructed above. Let the chili cool completely, then portion it into quart- or gallon-size sealable freezer bags. Seal bags completely, removing as much air as possible, and place bags flat on a large baking sheet. Place the baking sheet in the freezer for at least 30 minutes. Once the chili has frozen flat, you can remove the baking sheet and store the freezer bags horizontally or vertically up to 6 months. Defrost the chili in the fridge overnight before reheating on the stovetop.
Nutrition Information
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 487kcal | Protein: 41g | Fat: 21g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Trans Fat: 1g | Total Carbs: 35g | Fiber: 10g | Sugar: 10g | Net Carbs: 25g | Vitamin C: 20mg | Cholesterol: 98mg | Sodium: 1819mg | Potassium: 1506mg | Calcium: 127mg | Iron: 9mg
Number of total servings shown is approximate. Actual number of servings will depend on your preferred portion sizes.
Nutritional values shown are general guidelines and reflect information for 1 serving using the ingredients listed, not including any optional ingredients. Actual macros may vary slightly depending on specific brands and types of ingredients used.
To determine the weight of one serving, prepare the recipe as instructed. Weigh the finished recipe, then divide the weight of the finished recipe (not including the weight of the container the food is in) by the desired number of servings. Result will be the weight of one serving.
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