Nevada Cowboy Chili

This is chuckwagon-style chili cooked for a crowd. The recipe scales for 16 servings and leans into every hallmark of classic cowboy cooking: rendered lard instead of vegetable oil, coarse-ground chuck instead of fine grind, and enough chili heat to get a campfire’s attention.

Ground beef chuck with the larger grind is the right choice here. It gives you chunky, meaty bites instead of the pebble-textured crumble you get from supermarket fine-ground. If you have a butcher, ask them to grind chuck roast once through the coarse plate.

A bottle of beer goes in with the water, lending malty depth that plays off the tomato base. The 3-hour uncovered simmer is where the magic happens. Chili concentrates, meat fibers break down, and the flavors meld into something that tastes like it cooked all day because it almost did.

Pro Tips

• Bloom the chile powders in the hot fat for 30 seconds before adding liquids. Dry spices taste raw and dusty without that step.
• Don’t drain the fat from the browned beef. That’s where a lot of the flavor lives in chuckwagon chili.
• Stir often during the simmer. Tomato-heavy chilies scorch on the bottom if left alone.
• Make it a day ahead if you can. Cowboy chili improves dramatically after a night in the fridge.

Variations

• Swap beer for a cup of strong black coffee for a deeper, slightly bitter backbone.
• Add a square of dark chocolate or a spoonful of cocoa during the last 30 minutes for mole-like richness.
• Stir in cooked pinto or kidney beans at the end if you don’t mind diverging from bean-free Texas-style chili tradition.