Chili seasoning mix is easier to cook with than it looks. Here's how to choose, use, and store it, what to substitute, and 28 recipes to get you started.

What is chili seasoning mix?

Chili seasoning mix is the one-packet shortcut to a pot of chili.

It is a dry blend built on chili powder and ground cumin with garlic, onion, paprika, oregano, and salt, plus usually a little cornstarch or flour to thicken the pot as it simmers. One packet seasons about a pound of meat, the standard batch for a weeknight chili.

Some brands add cayenne or red pepper flakes for heat. A few include sugar or masa for body.

It is a chili shortcut first, but it doubles as a general Tex-Mex seasoning for far more than the namesake bowl.

How to Use It

The classic move is to brown a pound of ground beef and drain the fat. Then stir in the packet with a can of tomatoes and a can of beans. Let it simmer 20 to 30 minutes so the cumin and dried chili bloom and the starch thickens the liquid.

That one-packet method is exactly how Cheap Easy Chili and Aaron's Hillbilly Chili come together fast. Crowd-pleasers like Vortex Firehouse Chili build on the same base, then layer in extra spices and a splash of beer for depth.

Stir the powder in early, not at the end. The cumin and chili need a few minutes in fat or simmering liquid to wake up; dumped in at the finish they taste raw and dusty.

The packet is not just for chili. It seasons the meat layer in Cheesy California Tamale Pie and Crockpot California Tamale Pie, and it spices the filling for Cobble Corn Chili Tacos.

Off the stove entirely, it flavors Flavored Popcorn and a chili cheese log, where it goes in dry as a punchy seasoning.

Cooking & Pairing

The blend was built for ground beef, but it works on ground turkey, chicken, pork, and a meatless pot of beans just as well. It belongs with tomatoes, onions, peppers, and either kidney or pinto beans, topped with cheddar and sour cream.

Bloom it in the fat for a richer result. After the meat browns, push it aside, add the packet to the hot drippings for 30 seconds until it smells toasty, then add your liquid. That quick toast deepens the flavor more than simmering alone.

The most common mistake is trusting the packet to carry a long-cooked pot by itself. Commercial mixes lean mild and salty, so a chili left to reduce for hours often tastes flat and oversalted at once.

Hold back salt, and wake the finished pot back up with extra cumin or a spoon of vinegar for acid.

The second mistake is skipping the simmer. The starch in the mix needs heat and time to thicken; cut it short and the chili stays thin and the spices stay sharp.

Substitutes

No packet on hand? Mix your own from the spice rack. For one packet, start with 1 tablespoon chili powder, 1 teaspoon ground cumin, and 1 teaspoon paprika.

Round it out with ½ teaspoon each garlic powder and onion powder, ½ teaspoon oregano, ¼ to ½ teaspoon salt, plus cayenne to taste for heat.

If you want the thickening the commercial mix provides, stir in 1 to 2 teaspoons of cornstarch or masa harina with the spices. That gives the pot the same clingy body without the packet.

Plain chili powder alone will season a basic chili in a pinch, since it is the dominant note in the blend anyway; just round it out with a little cumin and garlic.

Taco seasoning is a close cousin and works too, though it usually runs sweeter, so go easy and taste as you go.

Buying & Storage

Packets and shaker jars both work. Single packets are pre-portioned for one pound of meat, while a jar lets you scale up for a big pot or down for popcorn and dips, which is handier if you cook chili often.

Sealed and dry, the mix keeps in the pantry well past a year. There is no fat to go rancid, but the volatile oils in the cumin and chili fade, so an old packet seasons weakly no matter how much you add.

Store it airtight, away from heat and the steam of the cooktop. Moisture is the main threat: the salt and starch draw it in and clump the powder into a hard lump that will not measure or dissolve evenly.

If a jar smells faint or looks dull rather than warm red-brown, the spices have given out. Rub a pinch between your fingers, and replace it once the aroma goes flat.

Quick facts

In Chinese

辣椒调味料

British (UK) term

Chili seasoning mix

en français

assaisonnement au chili mélange

en español

mezcla de condimentos de chile

Recipes using chili seasoning mix

There are 28 recipes that contain this ingredient.

All 28 recipes