My favorite winter comfort food is a bowl of warm, hearty chili with all the toppings. And when it comes to restaurant chains, Texas Roadhouse makes one of the best. If you love chili, this copycat Texas Roadhouse Chili recipe will quickly become a staple dinner meal in your home! It tastes just like what you'd get at the restaurant, but in the comfort of your own home.
I love having warming foods in cold weather, so chili is perfect in winter. You can even make it spicier for even more warming qualities! But don't feel like you can't have it in summer if you want, too. It's a delicious addition to any cookout, but hearty enough to stand on its own as a meal.
You may have seen that I love copycat recipes. This butter cake recipe from California Pizza Kitchen, and these fajitas from Lupe Tortilla's, are two of my favorites, in addition to the chili recipe featured here! They're all great recipes your whole family is sure to love.
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🥘 Ingredients
Although this chili has a number of ingredients, they are all simple to find at your local grocery store, and it doesn't take long to put it all together.
- ground beef
- olive oil
- garlic
- yellow onion
- kidney beans
- tomato sauce
- tomato paste
- crushed tomatoes
- beef broth
- brown sugar
- chili powder
- cumin
- smoked paprika
- red pepper flakes
- black pepper
- salt
For toppings, you may also wish to have:
- shredded cheddar cheese
- diced red onion
- avocado
- sour cream
🔪 Instructions
Making the chili consists of 4 main steps:
In a large pot, heat the olive oil on medium-high heat. Add diced onions and garlic, and cook 3-4 minutes, until onions turn translucent (semi-clear).
Add ground beef, separating into pieces with a spoon, and cook until completely browned. This takes 5-6 minutes.
Add in all remaining ingredients: kidney beans, tomato sauce, tomato paste, crushed tomatoes, beef broth, brown sugar, chili powder, cumin, smoked paprika, red pepper flakes, black pepper, and salt. Stir to combine.
Reduce heat and simmer chili, uncovered, for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and serve!
Once the chili is ready, serve in individual bowls with your favorite toppings. If you get this at Texas Roadhouse, you'll have it served with shredded cheddar cheese and diced red onions. I like to also include avocado slices and a dollop of sour cream. Feel free to get creative - jalapeno slices, green onions, and tortilla chips are all yummy additions!
Substitutions
If you prefer, you can substitute another kind of bean, such as white chili beans or black beans.
Fresh garlic and onions are best, not only for flavor, but for the additional texture they add to the chili. However, if you don't have them on hand, you can use onion powder and garlic powder or garlic salt.
A white onion in place of the yellow onion also works fine.
For vegetarian chili, omit the ground beef and swap out the beef broth for vegetable stock. If you'd like, add in some mushrooms or increase the amount of beans or tomatoes, to make up for the loss of volume.
📖 Variations
Don't like spice? Feel free to leave out the chili powder and/or red pepper flakes. Or, if you want more spice, you can increase the amounts of either. You could also add in fresh peppers while cooking. Good examples are jalapeno peppers, ancho peppers, or ghost peppers. Play around with it to see what your taste buds like best.
🍽 Equipment
All you need to make this chili is a big enough pot! It doesn't require special equipment like an instant pot or even a slow cooker. Just one pot and an stovetop is everything you'll need to make this Texas chili recipe.
What to Serve with Chili
One of the reasons I love chili is that it can be its own meal with a couple of additions, like a side of cornbread, some white rice, or a dinner roll - and maybe a side salad or a steamed green vegetable. Or it can be a side dish or starter itself, where you'd have a small bowl along with roasted chicken or a steak.
🥡 Storage
Store leftover chili in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. To enjoy leftovers, simply reheat in your microwave for 1-2 minutes. You could also reheat on the stove; you may wish to add a little beef broth if the chili is extra thick.
Wait to add toppings (especially cheese) until you've finished reheating, or just during the last few seconds, so it doesn't melt into the chili and disappear!
💭Top tip
Be sure to separate the ground beef while browning, for consistent cooking and so you don't end up with a block of cooked meat! Stir continually to prevent searing the meat, which creates a kind of "crust" that you don't typically want in chili.
❓ FAQ
You can use ground chuck, which has more fat, which has a rich flavor. Or, choose a ground sirloin to reduce fat content while still having a hearty taste. For best results, choose a coarser ground beef.
Recipe
Texas Roadhouse Chili
Equipment
- 1 stock pot 6-8 quart size
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef chuck or sirloin
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 onion yellow or white, diced
- 15 ounces red kidney beans rinsed and drained
- 8 ounces tomato sauce
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 15 ounces crushed tomatoes
- 1½ cups beef broth can substitute vegetable or chicken broth
- 1 tablespoons brown sugar packed
- 2 tablespoons chili powder
- 2 tablespoons cumin
- 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 teaspoons salt
Toppings
- ½ red onion diced
- ⅛ cup cheddar cheese
Instructions
- Heat olive oil over medium heat in a large stock pot. Add garlic and onions, and cook 3-4 minutes or until onions become translucent.3 cloves garlic, 1 onion, 2 tablespoons olive oil
- Add ground beef, and cook while stirring and separating meat, 5-6 minutes or until beef is browned.1 pound ground beef
- At this point, you can choose whether to drain off the fat in the pot or not. Whether you need to do this will depend mostly on the fat content of the ground beef you used. Personally, I don't drain the fat.
- Add in all remaining ingredients: kidney beans, tomato sauce, tomato paste, crushed tomatoes, beef broth, brown sugar, chili powder, cumin, smoked paprika, red pepper flakes, black pepper, and salt. Stir to combine.15 ounces red kidney beans, 8 ounces tomato sauce, 2 tablespoons tomato paste, 15 ounces crushed tomatoes, 1½ cups beef broth, 1 tablespoons brown sugar, 2 tablespoons chili powder, 2 tablespoons cumin, 1 tablespoon smoked paprika, ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes, ½ teaspoon black pepper, 2 teaspoons salt
- Reduce heat and simmer chili, uncovered, for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Remove chili from heat, and let rest for 5 minutes before serving.
- Top with shredded cheddar cheese and diced red onions, or other toppings as desired.⅛ cup cheddar cheese, ½ red onion
Nutrition
🦺 Food safety
If you choose a higher fat version such as ground chuck, be careful while browning the meat that it doesn't splatter and burn you. You might want to use a splatter screen, or just make sure to cook on a lower heat setting (don't turn the stove up to the max!)
Wrangler says
Tried this last week and it’s durn close to the Texas Roadhouse in this area. Very good.
Kim says
i drained the meat, onions and garlic. it didn't say in the recipe.
Susan Petracco says
I don't, myself, which is why I didn't think to mention it. I'll edit it to discuss. Thank you for the suggestion.
Kelsey Thompson says
My boyfriend loves Texas Roadhouse chilli so I found this copycat recipe to try without telling him, and he said it tasted exactly like Texas Roadhouse! Definitely saving this for future.
Susan Petracco says
I'm so glad you like it! Thank you for taking the time to leave a comment and rating! :)
Patty says
Husband says it tastes like the chili at Texas Roadhouse! I found it a little "soupy" which he says theirs is. The only thing I would do different next time is to add more meat. I did not add beans, although the restaurants in my area do. Definitely a keeper. Thanks for sharing.
Diane Freeman says
My husband loves Texas Roadhouse chili. We had been using another recipe for many years, but I finally came across this copycat recipe. My husband said it tastes just like Texas Roadhouse chili so it will be a long-standing staple in our household from now on. Thank you so much for offering this recipe!
Susan Petracco says
I love hearing that, Diane! Thanks so much for commenting and reviewing :)
martin pontecorvo says
Not sure when the last was that you went a Texas roadhouse was, nut i go every week and they have not put beans in their chili for years now.
Susan Petracco says
Thanks for the comment, Martin! I'm actually heading there tonight so I will check. But doing some quick online research, I read that it differs by location. I have no idea if that's true or not!
Susan says
It may depend on the location? I was there 2 weeks ago in Northern Virginia and they have beans in their's for at least the last couple of years.
Susan Petracco says
Thank you for chiming in, Susan! I read that online, but it's great to get confirmation that yours does. My local one does not. Personally, I love the beans, but it's good both ways.
Tammy Storts says
I just got home from Texas Roadhouse we are in the DFW area…no beans…I do like beans in my chili so I’m definitely going to try this recipe out!
Susan Petracco says
What a debate the beans have turned out to be! I absolutely loathed beans as a child, so I guess I understand it. I hope you like the recipe, Tammy!
Melissa says
This is no way, shape, or form tastes like Texas Road House chili. The only resemblance this has to Texas Road House chili is that it is also chili
Jan says
I'm curious about the brown sugar. Is it a deal breaker or can it be left out without changing the taste? I do love Roadhoes chili and have been looking for a recipe
Susan Petracco says
Jan, I've not tried it. I suspect it will be fine as long as you don't mind the loss of sweetness. It might change the consistency a bit, but I tend to doubt it since there's only one tablespoon to begin with. If you try it, please let us know what you thought of the change!
Jan says
Haven't tried yet but definitely will!