Dutch Oven Brisket Chili

We take leftover brisket (some of you are asking what that is!?) and warm it up over a bed of sautéing onions. Don’t forget some thick Worcestershire sauce or BBQ sauce. Did I mention this is happening in a Dutch oven over live fire in a Santa Maria grill? Once the brisket is warmed through we add the tomato sauce, chili seasoning, and razor thin sliced/minced onions.  After a couple of hours simmering, three kinds of beans are added to finish off this Dutch oven brisket chili recipe.

Everyone thinks they make the best chili. Usually because we make it for crowds and everyone, after having a free bowl of chili, lauds us with how great the chili is. But we know, in our heart of hearts, that our chili is indeed the best chili and it’s because of the care we take in protecting the secret we slide in when no one is looking.

And no, that secret ingredient is not love, or chocolate, or a cup of bourbon (although all of those things make fine additions to any pot of this reddish brown deliciousness). No, my secret ingredient is more a method than an ingredient. It’s how I cook the meat.

Finally, if you are making chili and can make brisket chili, always make brisket chili. 

Does chili have beans in it?

Also, let’s talk about chili in general. It’s not rocket surgery. It’s meat, tomato sauce, beans and chili seasoning. Yes, chili has beans in it. It was invented in the northern regions of Mexico and it most definitely had beans. The reason it is called chili is because of the seasoning, not the beans.

It’s not called beans. It’s called chili because of the dried chilies used to flavor the stew. 

If you don’t like beans in chili, great, skip the beans. That doesn’t mean they don’t belong or that I am wrong for wanting beans in mine. It means you like it a different way, which is perfectly OK; just don’t push your preference as gospel here.

Only an idiot would argue that the way s/he prefers to eat something is somehow superior over someone else’s preference.

Unless of course you like a well done steak. In that case you deserve the ridicule. JK. I don’t care.

So this Dutch oven brisket chili is a pretty basic recipe, but with a few tricks to make it better than most. Use the tricks and tips on your recipe if you like. And always make brisket chili if you can.

Indeed, it’s head and shoulders above ground beef.

Dutch Oven Brisket Chili Ingredients:

• 1 large onion, rough chopped, with a few slices reserved
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 2.5 pounds of leftover brisket, cubed into big chunks
• 30 ounces tomato sauce
• 1 packet of premade chili mix
• The reserved onion sliced razor thin
• 6 oz thick Worcestershire Sauce, divided (not the thin watery stuff. Sub BBQ sauce if you can’t find it)
• 15 oz dark red kidney beans. drained
• 15 oz black beans, drained
• 1 small can or tube of tomato paste to thicken (optional)
• 15 oz white  kidney/cannellini beans (sub navy beans), drained

How to make dutch oven chili with brisket

Let’s start off with portions here. Most of you go by whatever the back of that little packet of premade chili sauce. Which is 1 lb of ground beef. I like my chili meaty. Sorry. I like my chili MEATY! Like I can’t stress it enough how meaty I like my chili. I need that guy who narrates the Arby’s commercials or maybe James Earl Jones to say it in their rich baritone voices to give it justice.

You can hear them in your head right now, can’t you?!?!

Go with multiple types of beans

I also don’t like to go light on the beans, nor do I like to stick to one variety of beans. Get creative. Go with some different colors and kinds. There’s no wrong answer here. I go with dark red kidney beans, black beans and white beans. More beans means thicker chili, just make sure to drain them.

We want the beans and not the sauce. 

Start by dropping the dutch oven into a nest of hot coals with the coals a few inches away from the outer edge of the cast iron pot. At first I put the pot right in the coals. I poured some oil in there, turned my back to chop the brisket and the oil burst into flames.

I’ll show the coal arrangement and a little about fire management in a minute.

For this cook, I used the Hooray Grill:

What is the best cut of meat to use for chili?

If you have time to smoke the meat, you can also try some lesser cuts to make them magical. Like this Over the Top Chuck Roast Chili or this Bottom Round Roast Crock Pot Chili. 

The brisket needs no seasoning. It was already seasoned when it was cooked. 

Cast Iron Dutch Oven Brisket Chili is the only way to go!

Once the cast iron Dutch oven gets to around 350F go ahead and add the oil:

And then add the onion:

Pro Tip #1 ~ Warm up the meat over a bed of sautéing onions

The onions will steam and infuse the already tasty brisket (or whatever meat you use) with that amazing onion flavor. This works on ground beef or bottom round roast or chuck roast. Whatever. 

Pro Tip #2 ~ Add 4 ounces of the 6 ounces of thick Worcestershire Sauce (sub your favorite barbecue sauce if you can’t find any thick Worcestershire) and close the lid.

The thick BBQ sauce of Worcestershire will also steam and infuse in the meat adding another layer of flavor. The reduced sauce will also flavor the sauce of the chili:

Let the onion steam up through the beef and let the Worcestershire or barbecue sauce infuse into the fibers of the brisket. I call it the White Castle or Krystal effect (depending on your region). It hyper-infuses the onion and sauce flavor into the brisket.

Do this if you go with hamburger or cubed pork loin, or sirloin or whatever.

Once the meat is warmed up and the onion is translucent, drop in the tomato sauce:

Technically, right now, we have Dutch oven brisket chili.

But of course, we prefer beans in our chili at GrillinFools.com. So more on that in a minute. 

And here you can see the fire management. The hot coals are a few inches away from the pot:

Fire Management is a Skill

Pay attention to that fire. Leave the coals too close, and we no longer have slow-cooked Dutch oven chili; we have scorched chili. Also, let the fire die and it will be hours before that chili is done. Every so often, you will need to add a handful of coals here and there. When, and how much is totally a feel thing. I suggest some nitrile gloves because doing this with lump charcoal and tongs is not easy. 

Pro Tip #3 ~ Now that onion I reserved from the stuff I rough chopped I’m going to slice razor thin and mince extra fine.

That super thin onion will melt into the sauce as it simmers. You are already imagining the flavor in your head, aren’t you?

If you can’t see the knife blade through the onion, you are slicing it too thick:

Then finely mince that down to practically nothing. We want that onion to melt into the sauce. So add about 1/4 cup of finely, finely minced onion and the chili seasoning into the Dutch oven brisket chili:

Now stir it in:

Let that cook for a couple hours and thicken up, concentrating those flavors.

Pro Tip #4 ~ Drain the beans completely and rinse the sauce off:

And not just drain, but pour them into a colander and rinse all the sauce off. We want the brisket and the beans to be the show here. If we dump in all the sauce from the beans then a big part of our flavor profile is bean juice.

Think about that for a second. Would you ever put that bean juice in your mouth straight from the can? Of course not. Then why put it in this pot of chili we have worked so hard to give it a multi-layered flavor profile?

Smoked brisket is magical by itself. Let it shine. 

Add the beans:

Since I was doing a photo shoot, I poured all my beans in at once. If I were making this for my family (rather than a camera), I would only pour in the kidney and black beans right now. The white beans are softer and can turn to mush if allowed to simmer too long. Which brings us to:

Pro Tip #5 ~ Reserve the white beans until about 30 minutes before serving.

Allow the red and black beans to simmer in the sauce but add the white beans at the end so they aren’t mush when it’s time to serve. The red beans and black beans are a little more robust. 

Finally, add the remaining 2 ounces of Worcestershire or BBQ sauce and stir it through.

Now just let it simmer with the lid cocked off to the side to allow water vapor to escape, and let the Dutch oven brisket chili thicken:

For me, I do not want my chili soupy. That’s bean soup with meat added.

It should mound on a spoon like this:

The best Dutch oven brisket chili is THICK!

If you need to serve your chili and it hasn’t cooked down enough, add some of that tomato paste in.

It will help. 

Accouterments?

I didn’t list any accouterments for adding to the chili after it’s served. You know better what you and your crew like. I added some rings of baby bell peppers for some color and some crunch. A little sour cream, shredded cheese (not the stuff from the package but shredded myself), green onions and some oyster crackers for everyone. And for me personally, a little hot sauce. 

And if you have a soup crock, that always helps in presentation:

OK, to sum up, here are my tips:

Pro Tip #1:

Warm the meat on top of sautéing onion and close the lid. Let the onion steam up through the brisket (or whatever meat you use).

Pro Tip #2:

Add Worcestershire or BBQ sauce

Pro Tip #3:

Slice some onion razor thin and finely mince so it melts into the chili.

Pro Tip #4:

Drain the beans and rinse them completely of the bean juice from the can

Pro Tip #5:

Reserve the white beans until about 30 minutes before serving.

Dutch Oven Brisket Chili Recap:

You can do this recipe word for word, step by step and it will make great chili. But maybe you have a killer recipe already and you want to adapt a couple of these tips/tricks to your method. Either way works. I hope you learned at least one new trick/tip today.

If you have any questions or comments about my dutch oven brisket chili, feel free to leave them below or send me an email. 

Also, if you could leave us a great review with lots of stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ that would be most appreciated!

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Dutch Oven Brisket Chili with my Secret Ingredient

Dutch Oven Brisket Chili cooked over open fire and infused with my secret ingredient.

Prep Time20 minutes mins

Cook Time3 hours hrs

Total Time3 hours hrs 20 minutes mins

Course: Beans, Chili, Entree

Cuisine: American, American Fare, Beans, Chili

Keyword: Beef Brisket, Bottom Round Roast Crockpot Chili, Brisket Chili, Dutch Oven, Dutch Oven Brisket Chili, Dutch Oven Chili, Live Fire, Santa Maria Grill, Three Bean, Three Bean Chili

Ingredients

• 1 Large onion rough chopped, with a few slices reserved and sliced razor thin
• ¼ cup Vegetable oil
• 2.5 lb Leftover brisket cubed into big chunks
• 30 oz Tomato sauce
• 1 packet Premade chili mix
• 6 oz Thick Worcestershire sauce or BBQ Sauce divided
• 15 oz Dark red kidney beans drained
• 15 oz Black beans drained
• 15 oz White navy or cannellini beans drained (sub navy beans)
• Tomato paste to thicken (optional)

Instructions

• Set the Dutch Oven near the coals and get the pot above 350 but no higher than 400
• Drizzle the oil in and then layer the bottom of the pan with the onion
• Then top with the brisket and 4 ounces of the Worcestershire sauce (or BBQ sauce) and close the lid. Let the onions and Worcestershire steam/infuse the beef
• Once the onion is translucent and the brisket has warmed up, add the tomato sauce and stir it through
• Slice the reserved onion razor thin and then finely mince and add to the dutch oven along with the chili powder packet
• Set the lid on top a bit askew to allow the steam to escape
• Drain the liquid off the beans and add the red kidney and black beans and stir them through
• Add the the remaining Worcestershire or BBQ sauce and blend completely
• About 30 minutes before serving, add the white kidney beans and mix them in, closing the lid but leaving a gap for the steam to escape
• Once the chili has thickened, serve with whatever accoutrements you wish

Video

And here are some more pics that didn’t make the dutch oven brisket chili recipe but are pretty enough for Pinterest!

Scott Thomas

Scott Thomas, the Original Grillin’ Fool, was sent off to college with a suitcase and a grill where he overcooked, undercooked and burned every piece of meat he could find. After thousands of failures, and quite a few successes, nearly two decades later he started a website to show step by step, picture by picture, foolproof instructions on how to make great things out of doors so that others don’t have to repeat the mistakes he’s made on the grill.

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BBQ Grilling

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This article was initially published on: December 5, 2021