Beef Stew Meat Tender for Chili

Super easy dump and go chunky stew meat chili. Also known as Chili Con Carne—think of it as almost Texas chili but with beans. Make is smaller chili con carne recipe in your crock pot or on the stovetop for an excellent chili bursting with flavor.

Introduction

It's chili season, but truth be told, every season is chili season. But chili can get a bit boring—chicken or ground beef repeatedly. I have many excellent chili recipes, but one more is always good.

People with small or mini crock pots deserve great chili that doesn't compromise on taste. This easy to make recipe fits a 2 quart crock pot and makes 4 servings but scales up to bigger needs seamlessly for larger needs.

This wonderfully tasty chili brings multiple taste levels with the optional use of different types of chili peppers. Tender chunks of beef will make this chili a favorite.

Some people will call this Texas chili with beans, which is incorrect since Texas chili does not have beans. This recipe is more Chili Con Carne, a northern Mexican chili similar to Texas chili but can have beans—sometimes called Texas Chili Con Carne.

My Rating

An excellent high four or lower five. This is a great hearty chili for tailgating and game day parties.

🐄Ingredients for Stew Meat Chili

Beef

I like to use a well-marbleized chuck roast for this recipe, but many other cuts of beef will work fine.

Precut stew meat is the "easy way out" and usually is just fine. Most stew meat is cut for cheaper cuts of beef that is marbleized. However, you should look over your stew meat for any needed trimming.

When doing a double recipe where I need about 3-4 pounds of meat, I usually do the chuck roast. But for a single recipe requiring only 1 ½-2 pounds. I will be lazy and use precut stew meat.

Chili Peppers

I chose to use a combination of fresh chili peppers here. I have Crock Pot Texas Chili, which had jalapenos, Anaheim peppers, and Poblano peppers, but I don't want to quit that far here. So only the jalapeno and a Poblano. Feel free to add a chopped Anaheim if you have one.

If you don't want the Poblano chili, just skip it. I do suggest you keep the jalapeno.

Seasoning

This recipe uses common spicing for chili—chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, salt, and pepper.

Tomato products

Diced tomatoes, but the most important is the tomato paste, which adds an excellent sweet and intense tomato taste.

👨‍🍳Cooking Stew Meat Chili in a Crock Pot

Brown the meat in a skillet with a bit of oil if you have time. A dusting of flour on the meat will help browning if you want.
Trim and chop the peppers and onion.
Rinse the beans.
Add all ingredients to a 2 to 3-quart crock pot. A double recipe needs 4-quart or larger.
Cook on low for 7-8 hours or high for about 4 hours.

♨️Cooking Stew Meat Chili on the Stovetop

Brown the meat in a Dutch oven with a bit of oil if you have time. Dry the meat with a paper towel before starting. A dusting of flour on the meat will help browning if you want.
Trim and chop the peppers and onion.
Rinse the beans.
Add all the ingredients to the meat in the Dutch oven, bring to a boil.
Turn the heat down to simmer and cover—cook for 1 ½ to 2 hours.oven.

❓FAQs

The chili is very thick. How to thin stew meat chili?

I like my chili thick; if you are a thinner chili person, then a cup or two of beef broth would get you where you want to be. Use low sodium broth, please.

Can I adjust the spicy heat of the chili?

This is not a very spicy chili— only 3/10 hot. You can kick that up by doubling the jalapeno or a little cayenne pepper.

How many servings does this recipe make?

This is a small recipe and makes 6 cups of chili. I call that 4 servings.

A double recipe will make 12 cups and 8 servings of chili.

Should I brown the meat for chili?

In addition to trimming the beef, I like to brown it to create some great flavor with a Maillard reaction.

Use a skillet or Dutch oven with a few teaspoons of oil. Pat dry the beef with paper towels before starting and a light dusting of flour will help the browning.

❄️Storage

Good in the refrigerator for 3-4 days and good in the freezer for 3-4 months.

📖Crock Pot Chili Recipes

Crock Pot Chili

Salsa Verde Chicken Chili a la Crock Pot

Ultra Simple Crock Pot White Chicken Chili

Crock Pot Texas Chili

This recipe is listed in these categories. See them for more similar recipes.

Blue ribbon divider used for visual effect

🖼️Step-by-Step Photo Instructions

NOTE: All images are for a double recipe which I highly recommend.

plate of stew meat with peppers and chili ingredients

Using precut stew meat or a chuck roast trimmed and cut up would also be good.

chopped peppers and onion on black board

Chop ½ large onion. Dice ½ Poblano pepper and mince ½ jalapeno pepper. Skip the Poblano pepper if you want.

chunks of beef on a red board with a knife

Trim 1-pound chuck roast or 1 pound of precut stew meat. I always go through the stew meat for additional trimming and cut bigger pieces in half. I suggest browning the meat over medium-high heat with a few teaspoons of oil. Give the beef a light dusting of flour before browning.

Drain and rinse 1 can of light kidney beans.

adding onion and peppers to the crock pot

Add meat, onion, peppers, and beans to a small crockpot. Add one 14 oz can diced tomatoes, 3 ozs tomato paste, 1 tablespoon chili powder, 1 teaspoon cumin, ½ teaspoon garlic powder, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Stir well.

Cook on low for 7-8 hours or high for about 4 hours. You may add some low-sodium beef broth to thin but wait until near the end of cooking.

📖Recipe

Stew Meat Chili in a spoon over a blue bowl

Stew Meat Chili - Chili Con Carne

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Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 8 hours

Total Time: 8 hours 20 minutes

Servings #/Adjust if desired 6 cups

▢ 1 pounds stew meat - about
▢ ½ large onion
▢ ½ jalapeno pepper
▢ ½ poblano pepper - optional
▢ 14 oz light kidney beans - rinsed and drained
▢ 14 oz diced tomatoes
▢ 3 oz tomato paste
▢ 1 tablespoon chili powder
▢ 1 teaspoon cumin
▢ ½ teaspoon garlic powder
▢ ½ teaspoon salt
▢ ¼ teaspoon pepper
▢ low sodium beef broth - to thin if desired.

Using precut stew meat or a chuck roast trimmed and cut up would also be good.
Chop ½ large onion. Dice ½ Poblano pepper and mince ½ jalapeno pepper. Skip the Poblano pepper if you want.
Trim 1-pound chuck roast or 1 pound of precut stew meat. I always go through the stew meat for additional trimming and cut bigger pieces in half. I suggest browning the meat over medium-high heat with a few teaspoons of oil. Give the beef a light dusting of flour before browning.
Drain and rinse 1 can of light kidney beans.
Add meat, onion, peppers, and beans to a small crockpot. Add one 14 oz can diced tomatoes, 3 ozs tomato paste, 1 tablespoon chili powder, 1 teaspoon cumin, ½ teaspoon garlic powder, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Stir well.
Cook on low for 7-8 hours or high for about 4 hours. You may add some low-sodium beef broth to thin but wait until near the end of cooking.

See the step-by-step photos in the post. Some recipes have an option to display the photos here with a switch above these instructions but the photos DO NOT print.

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Pro Tips:

A full-size recipe needs a 2 to 3-quart crock pot. A double recipe fits nicely in a 4 quart or larger.
I suggest buying a nice chuck roast for the meat if you don't have a good source of pre-cut stew meat.
Adjust the chili peppers to your taste. This is about a 3/10 heat as written. Many will want to double the jalapeno or a little cayenne pepper.
This is a thick chili and you may thin with 4 to 8 ozs of beef broth if you wish.
This is good in the refrigerator for 4 days and the freezer for 3-4 months.
This makes about 6 cups. Most people will eat a serving size of about 1 ½ cups.

Stovetop Instructions

Start with a heavy pot like a Dutch oven over medium-high heat with a few teaspoons of oil. Give the beef a light dusting of flour and brown.

Add all the other ingredients, bring to a boil. Then, turn the heat down to simmer and cover—cook for 1 ½ to 2 hours.

To adjust the recipe size:

You may adjust the number of servings in this recipe card under servings. This does the math for the ingredients for you. BUT it does NOT adjust the text of the instructions. So you need to do that yourself.

Serving size is my estimate of a normal size unless stated otherwise. The number of servings per recipe is stated above. This is home cooking, and there are many variables. All nutritional information are estimates and may vary from your actual results. To taste ingredients such as salt will be my estimate of the average used.

Course : Main Course

Cuisine : American

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Editor's Note: Originally Published February 15, 2018. Updated with expanded options, refreshed photos, and a table of contents to help navigation.

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