The Best Chili You’ll Ever Make (Restaurant-Quality)

Hi, I'm Ann Ziata,

Professional Chef and Culinary Instructor,

and today I'm gonna show you

the best way to make homemade chili.

We'll be going over techniques the pros use

to make a perfect bowl of chili.

This is Chili 101.

[lively upbeat music]

There's so many great versions of chili out there.

Today we are making a classic beef and bean chili.

Making your own chili from scratch is gonna be better

than anything store bought, anything pre-made.

It's just gonna taste really fresh

and the spices are gonna be really bright and flavorful.

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[drum beating]

Most recipes will call for a chili powder,

which is basically a blend of different spices

that's been premixed and you can get it in stores.

They're not nearly as bright and aromatic

as something you can make at home.

Our first step is to toast

some of our spices that are whole.

Heat is usually where a lot of food's flavor

really develops and comes out.

We're gonna start with a hot dry pan.

I'm not adding any oil, I'm not adding any water,

and I don't wanna dissolve any of the flavors.

I just want them to be concentrated in the seed.

I'm gonna lower it just to a medium.

It's gonna cook very quickly and I don't wanna burn it.

So I'm gonna add two teaspoons of cumin seed.

We're just kind of bringing those flavor compounds

into the oils of the seed

and just getting them alive and active.

So, I'm gonna keep this moving.

It'll just become a little bit darker,

a little bit more toasty, and it will smell really aromatic.

It's starting to smell really strong,

and I can even hear it sounds different.

A little kind of squeaky when it moves around the pan.

I don't wanna grind it right away

because it's going to come out a little bit kind of mushy.

Right now, the fats and the flavors

are really active and excited.

So we're gonna bring it down to room temperature

just so they relax a little bit,

so the texture comes out really nice.

So, let's toast the coriander seeds.

We're gonna do one teaspoon.

Okay, starting to smell really nice and floral.

If you can start to see some caramelization happening,

we're ready.

Now we can grind our cumin.

So, I have a mortar and pestle here.

You can also use a spice grinder or even a coffee grinder.

Just make sure it's nice and clean and dry.

And just give it a few pulses until it's nicely ground.

It's gonna press the seeds down and run it in circles.

Now, I can smell it like 20 times more than before.

It smells wildly better than anything pre-ground

you would get at the store.

This looks lovely.

Now, let's do the same with the coriander.

Gonna crush them up.

It smells nice and warm and citrusy.

This is perfect.

I am using Mexican oregano here.

Mexican oregano is a little more citrusy

and it's just very refreshing and delicious.

If you're using Italian oregano, you can skip this step.

But these leaves are a little bit larger

and I'm just gonna break them up a little

and I can smell them already.

And we are done grinding.

So, let's finish our spice blend.

Paprika, I would say,

it still has a nice kinda sweet peppery aroma.

It's basically from dried red peppers.

There's no heat or spiciness to it,

but you still get a little bit

of that smoky, sweet, peppery flavor.

So, because it is one of the more mild spices,

we can use a large amount.

So we're gonna use one tablespoon,

and if it's not exact, that's okay.

Add a teaspoon of smoked paprika.

So, smoked paprika has a pretty strong smoky flavor.

Cayenne pepper.

This is the first pepper that we're adding

that is a little spicy,

but it's not gonna destroy your palate.

I'm gonna do a little less than a quarter teaspoon.

And then, we're gonna add some black pepper.

It's gonna be about a quarter teaspoon.

And whisk it together.

Our chili powder's ready.

Let's make our chili.

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[drum beating]

So, I have everything already cut before I start cooking.

So, I'm using a Dutch oven here.

So, this is a ceramic-coated cast iron pot,

which means it's going to hold heat incredibly well.

It's going to distribute the heat nice and evenly.

If you don't have a Dutch oven,

you can use another thick pot,

especially one with a thick bottom.

So, I'm gonna start by preheating my Dutch oven

at medium high just to get it hot.

And then, I'm probably gonna lower it into medium.

First thing we wanna do is to get all

of our aromatic ingredients sweated and come to life.

This feels nice and hot.

I'm gonna add a few tablespoons of olive oil.

Just enough to barely cover the bottom of the pan.

Onion.

So, I don't wanna caramelize the onions here.

Salt is gonna draw out moisture in the onions,

which is gonna help it sweat.

It usually takes about five to seven minutes or so.

And now we're ready to add our garlic.

Minced garlic, but not a garlic paste.

We still wanna be able to see the pieces in there.

And garlic cooks very quickly.

So once we add it, give it a minute.

We just want the garlic to become aromatic.

We don't wanna burn it.

So we have red bell peppers here diced up.

And we have a little jalapeno.

This is gonna add a heat, but nothing insane.

The seeds have been removed

and it's just the outside flesh that we cut up.

Some jalapenos are spicier than other jalapenos.

You can taste it first before you add it

just to see what you're gonna get.

But I like to make life exciting.

So, this is our little sofrito here.

Sofrito is a type of mirepoix,

in that it's gonna be the aromatic base.

I want the peppers to look just a little cooked,

almost like sauteed.

A little tender, a little glossy, and shiny.

So, I wanna make sure all of my aromatic ingredients are hot

before I add the chili powder.

Because the chili powder, it needs to touch a hot surface

in order for the flavors to come out.

If I were to put them first in the pan before anything else,

they would burn.

But here we're gonna get a nice heat

where they can bloom and develop their flavors.

And this is hotter

than when we add our wet ingredients, right?

Anything like tomatoes or stock, anything with water in it.

Water can only get up to like 212 degrees

and that's the highest it's gonna go

before it turns into vapor.

Whereas oil can get a lot hotter, right?

300 or so degrees.

So we wanna add this

before we add anything with water in it.

So, let's add our chili powder.

So, we wanna be sure we don't burn the chili powder,

so we should have enough food in there,

enough moisture in there to keep it from burning.

If there's a little bit of caramelization at the bottom,

you can use a little vegetable stock

or even white wine to deglaze.

So, our tomato paste is gonna go in next.

Some recipes call for tomato sauce,

but I would way recommend using tomato paste.

It's much more concentrated, it's deeper.

You get more of that umami flavor

that's just naturally inherent in tomatoes.

Brown the tomato paste.

And we're gonna get it a little bit deeper in color.

So I have meat here.

And I'm gonna go right ahead and break it up

so it cooks nice and evenly.

I'm using ground beef in this recipe,

but you can use ground turkey, you can use even chicken,

or you can make it vegetarian

and just use a few different types of beans.

I'm adding the beef now

because it's gonna make the temperature drop,

and I'm adding it after all the spices have bloomed, right?

The pan is the hottest it's ever gonna be,

and now it's gonna get a little cooler.

So now, we can start to brown the beef,

which we need to cook it, right?

We don't want it raw.

We're gonna get some caramelization,

the Maillard reaction in the beef.

So, the beef itself is gonna lend,

of course, a ton of flavor to the dish too.

But now we get to season it.

Take your time with this step

to make sure you do get that nice browning on the meat

before we add any water to the dish.

Once we add water, we have lost our window of opportunity.

I'm using red kidney beans.

They hold their shape really well.

They have a delicious kind of meaty flavor.

So, they're my bean of choice,

but you can absolutely use white beans, black beans,

even black eyed peas are great too.

I'm gonna add some fire-roasted tomatoes.

They're gonna add sweetness,

they're gonna add body, a little brightness and acidity.

That's another strong base of this chili.

And lastly, add your beef stock.

If you're making this with turkey or chicken,

you can use chicken stock or you can even use beer too.

Give it a little gentle mix.

So, we can see it's starting to come to a low boil.

Leave it on a simmer for 30 minutes and we're good to go.

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So before you plate, taste it for salt and for heat

and make sure everything is exactly where you want it.

And now we can plate.

Sour cream is gonna help cut some of the spiciness

so it provides a little cooling relief

and a really lovely contrast.

Cheddar cheese also adds some richness.

And who doesn't love cheese?

Fresh cilantro, some scallions, tortilla chips.

It is comfort food after all, and who doesn't love a chip?

And then some fresh squeezes of lime on the side

to add some brightness, freshness,

and a little acidity to the dish.

And that is how you make the perfect bowl of chili.

Chili tastes best when it is made at home.

We want your home to be filling with the aroma.

We want it to be simmering on your stove.

And it's so easy to make in one pot too.

You won't get the whole kitchen messy.

Most importantly, don't stress out

'cause chili should be chill.

Feel free to double or triple the recipe,

make a big pot of it, and freeze some for later.