How to Make the Best CHIPOTLE CHEDDAR BEEF CHILI in Your City

Your City: There’s nothing like a bowl of thick, smoky, fork-tender beef chili with sharp cheddar melted right into the pot so every spoonful pulls a little cheese with it.

What Most People Don’t Know About Making Chipotle Cheddar Beef Chili

• Bloom the spices in the beef fat, not the liquid. Chili powder, cumin, and chipotle are loaded with fat-soluble flavor compounds that never fully release in a tomato broth. Frying them in the rendered beef fat for 60 seconds before any liquid hits the pot is the single biggest flavor jump you can make, and it’s why restaurant chili tastes deeper than yours.
• Soy sauce and cocoa are doing the heavy lifting. A tablespoon of soy sauce adds glutamates that make beef taste beefier without tasting like soy, and a spoon of unsweetened cocoa adds the bitter backbone that dried chiles have and chili powder lacks. Neither is detectable on its own; together they’re the difference between “good chili” and “what did you put in this?”
• Toss the cheddar with masa before it goes in, and go in off the heat. Cheddar stirred into hot liquid breaks into grease and strings. Coating the shreds in a tablespoon of masa harina keeps the proteins from clumping, and adding it off the heat lets it melt into the chili instead of boiling out of it. You get a creamy, cheese-rich body instead of an oil slick.

Ingredients

For the chili:

• 2 pounds boneless beef chuck roast, trimmed and cut into 3/4-inch cubes
• 1 pound 80/20 ground beef
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon Bald Buck Seasoning, divided
• 2 tablespoons neutral oil
• 1 large yellow onion, diced
• 1 poblano pepper, seeded and diced
• 6 garlic cloves, minced
• 3 tablespoons chili powder
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
• 1 teaspoon dried Mexican oregano
• 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
• 3 tablespoons tomato paste
• 3 chipotle peppers in adobo, minced, plus 2 tablespoons adobo sauce
• 1 (12-ounce) bottle lager beer
• 1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
• 2 cups low-sodium beef broth
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
• 2 (15-ounce) cans pinto beans, drained and rinsed

For the finish:

• 8 ounces sharp cheddar, shredded from a block (about 2 cups)
• 1 tablespoon masa harina
• 2 tablespoons masa harina, whisked with 1/4 cup warm water
• 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

For serving:

• Extra shredded cheddar, sour cream, diced white onion, sliced jalapeño, Fritos or cornbread

Instructions

• Season and sear the chuck. Pat the chuck cubes bone dry and toss with 1 tablespoon Bald Buck Seasoning. Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high until shimmering. Sear the cubes in two batches in a single layer, not touching, and leave them alone for 3 to 4 minutes per side until deeply browned on at least two sides. Transfer to a bowl.
• Brown the ground beef in slabs. Add the ground beef to the pot and press it flat like a giant patty. Let it sit undisturbed 4 minutes until a dark crust forms underneath, then flip it in large pieces and brown the other side 3 minutes. Break it into rough chunks, not pebbles. Leave the fat in the pot.
• Sweat the aromatics. Lower the heat to medium. Add the onion and poblano with the remaining 1 teaspoon Bald Buck Seasoning and cook 6 to 7 minutes until soft and the fond on the bottom starts to loosen. Stir in the garlic for 30 seconds.
• Bloom the spices in the fat. Push the vegetables to the sides and add the chili powder, cumin, smoked paprika, oregano, cocoa, and tomato paste into the fat pooled in the center. Stir constantly for 60 to 90 seconds until the paste darkens to brick red and the spices smell toasted, not raw. Stir in the chipotles and adobo sauce.
• Deglaze and build. Pour in the beer and scrape every brown bit off the bottom. Let it reduce by half, about 3 minutes. Add the crushed tomatoes, beef broth, soy sauce, brown sugar, and the seared chuck with all its juices. Bring to a boil.
• Simmer low and uncovered. Reduce to a bare simmer (a bubble every second or two), cover with the lid cracked, and cook 2 hours, stirring every 30 minutes. The chuck is done when a cube falls apart under light fork pressure. If it resists, give it another 20 minutes.
• Add the beans and thicken. Stir in the pinto beans and the masa-water slurry. Simmer uncovered 15 minutes until the chili thickens enough to mound slightly on a spoon and the raw corn taste cooks out.
• Cheese in off the heat. Turn off the burner and let the pot sit 2 minutes. Toss the shredded cheddar with 1 tablespoon masa harina until every shred is dusted, then stir it into the chili a handful at a time until fully melted and glossy. Stir in the lime juice and black pepper. Taste, and remember Bald Buck is your salt if it needs a little more.
• Rest before serving. Let the chili sit off heat 10 minutes. It thickens further and the chipotle heat settles into the background where it belongs.

Make-Ahead Option

This chili is better on day two. Cook through step 7, cool, and refrigerate up to 4 days. Reheat gently over medium-low, then finish with step 8 right before serving so the cheese stays creamy. Freeze the base (before cheese) up to 3 months.

Enjoy Your Chipotle Cheddar Beef Chili!

Ladle it thick, pile on the toppings, and don’t expect leftovers.