This Chili Without Tomatoes and beans is a Texas-style chili and has the perfect amount of heat and is super thick with tender chunks of meat. This famous recipe has won multiple chili cookoffs, including a Texas chili cookoff! It's made in one-pot and totally gluten free and paleo. Served with some warm cornbread or tortilla chips, it's the perfect recipe for a cool, fall night.
You can’t get more Texas than a bowl of chili. It’s the official state dish and many people here have recipes that have been in their family for years. But there’s one thing that remains consistent - there are no beans in Texas chili. As quoted by journalist and chili enthusiast, Wick Fowler, “If you know beans about chili, you know chili has no beans”.
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Chili without Tomatoes
Considering that many types of beans are one of the lesser known migraine triggers, this no tomato chili is the perfect route for those on the migraine diet. Another plus is it’s also considered against Texas chili requirements to add tomatoes or beans to the dish. Although tomatoes are allowed on the diet, the higher histamine content can make them an issue for some. They are also a source of natural glutamate. We manage to avoid both potential triggers with this recipe!
Ingredients Needed
A few pantry ingredients make this easy chili recipe delicious!
- Boneless Chuck Roast - Buy this in a whole 3 pound piece and trim the excess fat while chopping into bite-sized pieces. Sometimes the butcher will also chop this for you, but using chuck roast meat will be much more flavorful and tender than pre-packaged stew meat.
- Chili Powder - Many Texas chili recipes require you use an assortment of dried chilis that you grind up yourself, but I don’t know many of us that have time for that. I Morton and Bassett Natural Chili Powder. This chili powder doesn't contain onion powder or cocoa powder. Frontier is also another recommended brand.
- Shallots - These have a softer flavor than onion and don't overpower the meat and spices.
- Spices - Garlic, paprika, cinnamon and cumin round out the flavors.
- Broth or Stock - I typically use homemade chicken stock or vegetable broth. Beef broth would work here as well - whatever you have on hand.
- Butter or Ghee - Butter, ghee, or Earth Balance Pressed Oil will work for dairy free. I prefer the richness of butter or ghee. Another option is to use duck fat, which gives a bacon-like flavor to the dish.
Step by Step Process
- Trim the excess fat from the meat and cut into ½ inch cubes. Over medium high heat, melt fat in a large dutch oven. Add meat, seasoning with salt and pepper, then flipping after a few minutes so all sides get brown. You can do this in batches depending on what size dutch oven you have. It helps to keep everything in one layer.
2. Add shallots and garlic, stirring for 1 minute, then add broth, scraping up any brown bits from the bottom of the pot. The meat should barely be covered by the broth.
3. Add chili powder, paprika, and cinnamon and stir to combine. Do NOT add the cumin here, it will come later (this is because cumin can become bitter if cooked at high heat for a long time). Bring all ingredients to a boil, cover with a tight fitting lid, and turn down the heat to simmer on low.
4. Simmer for 1 hour covered. If there's an excess of liquid after 1 hour, continue to simmer uncovered for another 30 minutes. If there's not enough liquid, add more broth. Add cumin here and continue to simmer another 30 minutes, or until desired thickness is reached. The sauce also thickens as it cools. Taste and adjust any seasonings.
Cooking Tips
As far as servings, you'll want to keep in mind that even though it seems like a lot of meat, you'll lose a big chunk of that in the fat you trim and discard. I ended up getting a 2.5lb boneless chuck roast and it made about 3-4 servings for us. You may want to double the recipe or get a larger chuck roast if you'd like to have leftovers or need to feed more than 4 adults. This recipe doubles extremely well and cooks within the same amount of time too.
Storage and Freezing - This tomato free chili is a great recipe to make ahead and freeze for those days when you just don't feel well or need a quick meal on hand! Microwave it in increments, stirring every so often or add to a covered pot with a little bit of broth and bring it to a low simmer.
Chili Toppings
There's so many wonderful toppings you can add to this! A few of my favorite ones are:
- Chopped green onions
- Grated American Cheese - good quality ones are Andrew & Everett and Boar's Head.
- Crushed tortilla chips
- Chopped red radishes
- Whipped cottage cheese - a great substitute for sour cream.
Side Suggestions
This recipe pairs really well with the pumpkin cornbread muffins I have pictured below! You'll want to pair something cool with this spicy chili so I would recommend a healthy coleslaw or basic salad with ranch dressing.
Cozy Beef Recipes
For more recipes like this award winning chili, check out these posts.
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No Tomato Chili
Ingredients
- 2-3 tablespoons butter or ghee *see notes
- 3 lb boneless chuck roast trimmed and cut into ½ inch cubes
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ⅓ cup finely chopped shallots, about 2-3 small shallots
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 4 cups broth or stock, can be chicken or vegetable
- 1 ½ tablespoons chili powder
- 1 tablespoon paprika I used ½ tablespoon regular and ½ tablespoon smoked paprika
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- Optional: cilantro, chives or green onions, and cottage cheese to garnish
- kosher salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Trim the fat from your chuck roast and cut into ½inch cubes.
- Heat 1-2 tablespoons of ghee or butter on medium high in a large dutch oven. Cook meat till browned on both sides. I salt my meat with 1 teaspoon of kosher salt here, but if you're sodium sensitive you can wait till the very end to see if it needs any.
- Add chopped shallots and minced garlic and stir for about a minute. Pour in all 4 cups of vegetable broth. Your meat should be barely covered by the broth.
- Add chili powder, paprika, and cinnamon and stir to combine. Do NOT add the cumin here, it will come later. Bring all ingredients to a boil, cover and turn down the heat to simmer on low.
- Simmer for 1 hour and check. If it looks like there's still too much liquid, remove the cover and allow to simmer for an extra 30 min uncovered. If there's not enough, you can add more broth. Add the cumin here and mix in. Simmer another 30 minutes or until your desired thickness is achieved - I prefer mine a little thicker rather than soupy.
- Add salt, pepper, or any additional spices as you need. Serve warm or cool and add to ziplock bags to freeze and reheat at a later date.
Notes
- You lose about ½ pound of the meat weight when you trim the fat so keep that in mind for serving size
- I prefer to use ½ smoked paprika and ½ regular paprika as I think it adds a great smokey flavor to the dish, but either one will do.
- To make this dairy free, you can use duck fat or earth balance pressed oils instead of butter or ghee. For paleo, use ghee.
Nutrition
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This never thickened up for me even after the suggested hour and a half simmering time. It ended up being chunks of meat in liquid. It tasted good, but it wasn't "super thick" like the description suggested it would be. Any idea what could have gone wrong?
It thickens a lot more as it cools, especially the next day. If you're serving it very hot, it will be a bit more thin. It just has to do with how much liquid is added and gets cooked off. I also usually make this in the winter when it's very dry, versus in the summer it's more humid. So a longer cook time may work better for you, or cutting back on the liquid a bit. If you're not willing to wait, I would recommend adding a tablespoon of flour whisked in and that will help thicken it up more quickly.
Used half the cinnamon and still was to much. Tried to save it with more ingredients of recipe, just didn’t work out.
I'm sorry this wasn't to your liking. I have not received feedback before that the cinnamon was too strong and this has actually won several chili cook-offs so I think someone would have mentioned it. If you're not a fan of cinnamon you could definitely omit it next time. A 1/4 teaspoon would hardly be overpowering - maybe double check the measurements? Did you use tablespoons?
First time making Texas chili! My husband love it!
It's definitely a hit with the husbands! So glad yours loved it too.
I gave this a try to have a no tomato and no bean chili. I really would think of it but it's hands down my favorite chili of all time now. I wish I would've known about this before I got VM. Thanks Alicia!
Thanks, Cherie!
could you make this in a slow cooker and just pre-brown the meat?
I think so! If you try it, let me know how it goes.
This recipe was delish. We had mashed potatoes with it and it was sooo good
Thank you, Anna! Glad you enjoyed!
Can people substitute with regular ground beef if that is what is on hand? Will it still taste good? Thinking about making this today with ground beef that needs to be cooked up today.
It will still taste good but the cooking time would be much less and the flavor wouldn't be as rich. But the sauce itself will taste good.
Should you drain the meat after browning?
If you have a lot of leftover oil then yes, but I find if I space out my meat that I don't have a lot left in the pan. Just enough to saute the shallots in.
Why is the chili that you made so red? Did you use vegetable broth with tomatoes?
It's from the spices. I made the recipe exactly how it is stated.
Paprika
I very much enjoyed this recipe, especially with corn bread!
I have this cooking in my stove right now & it smells amazing. Why isn't the cumin added with the other spices? Thanks!
You can add it in at any time but I find the flavor is better added towards the end of cooking.
Never add cumin at the end. Always toast it either by itself or at the beginning when you add your oil to the pan. Spices always become more aromatic when cooked or toasted first.
Cumin can become bitter if you cook it too long.
Is the majority of the sodium from the broth? I am wondering if a sodium free broth would make my difference in the taste or sodium count.
Yes and I have to use a nutritional counter that just puts in a generic broth and doesn't accurately reflect it. I use homemade broth and season after.
This chili is amazing! Have made it many times and my family loves it!
LOVE this chili. Made this for a potluck- and it was a huge hit, everyone loved it!!! The spices/seasoning in this recipe are amazing. Worked well in the crock pot on low for 8-9 hours (seared the meat first). Soooooo yummy and so easy. Make this you will not regret it! Freezes well too!
Thank you, Jodie! I love the crockpot tips!
SO good! Great for leftovers. Delicious flavors, and cozy textures for a cold night.
The best chili recipe! The flavor is on point!! So good with either cornbread recipe!