Spicy steak chili uses diced beef rather than ground meat, with kidney beans, black beans, tomatoes, and jalapeños. The beef needs time to become tender before the ready-to-eat canned beans are added. This changes the old instruction that put everything into a fixed thirty-to-forty-minute simmer.
For spicy steak chili, the cut is now specified as boneless chuck steak in roughly three-quarter-inch pieces. Allow about two hours of simmering plus browning and finishing, and extend if needed for tenderness. A quick-cooking steak or a larger beef chunk would behave differently from this version.
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Why This Recipe Works
Browning beef in small batches gives it contact with the pot instead of steaming one crowded pile. Onion and garlic cook in the same pot, then the tomatoes, broth, and spices surround the meat during a gentle simmer. Spicy steak chili is kept partly covered so it can thicken without drying out.
Adding canned beans at the end protects their shape during the longer meat stage. The two beans are already cooked; they need heating, not the initial preparation required for dry kidney beans. The jalapeño amount remains a range because heat varies.
Ingredients for Spicy Steak Chili
Use one pound boneless chuck steak, trimmed of hard connective pieces and cut evenly. Spicy steak chili includes one fifteen-ounce can kidney beans and one fifteen-ounce can black beans, both drained and rinsed, plus a fourteen-and-a-half-ounce can diced tomatoes with its juices.
The two tablespoons chili powder mean a seasoning blend for chili, not necessarily pure powdered hot chile. Use one or two jalapeños according to preference, removing seeds and membranes for a milder starting point. One tablespoon neutral oil is now listed for the pot, matching the browning step that previously had no measured oil ingredient.
Main Ingredients
- 1 lb boneless beef chuck steak (trimmed and cut into even¾-inch pieces; simmer until tender)
- 1 onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 15-ounce can cooked kidney beans (drained and rinsed)
- 1 15-ounce can cooked black beans (drained and rinsed)
- 1 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes (include juices)
- 2 tablespoons chili powder (chili seasoning blend; check product heat)
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1-2 jalapeños, diced (Adjust for spiciness)
- to taste Salt and pepper
- 2 cups beef broth
Pot preparation and liquid adjustment
- 1 tablespoon neutral oil (for browning beef)
- as needed hot water (small additions if broth reduces before beef is tender)
How to Make Spicy Steak Chili
Heat oil in a heavy pot over medium-high heat. Brown the beef in two batches, turning the pieces and moving browned meat to a plate. The pieces do not have to be cooked through during this surface stage.
Lower the heat slightly and cook chopped onion in the pot until softened. Add garlic briefly, then stir in chili powder, cumin, paprika, and chopped jalapeño. Add tomatoes with their juices, broth, and the beef. Scrape the bottom gently while the liquid loosens the browned bits.
Bring to a boil, then reduce to a gentle simmer and partly cover. Cook spicy steak chili until the meat is tender, checking from about ninety minutes and allowing up to two hours or longer. Stir occasionally and add a little hot water if the broth reduces before the beef is ready.
Add the drained beans and simmer about ten minutes until thoroughly hot. Taste the cooked spicy steak chili before adding salt and pepper, because broth and canned ingredients vary. Divide into four portions; optional table toppings are separate from the recipe quantities.
How to Serve
Serve spicy steak chili hot in bowls with a clean ladle. Bread, rice, or a cool topping can be prepared separately if wanted, but they are not included in the four-serving yield. Share the beans and beef evenly rather than serving mostly broth in the last bowl. For a milder serving, start with one deseeded jalapeño and pass extra heat separately.
Storage
Refrigerate spicy steak chili within two hours in shallow containers and use within three to four days. Reheat leftovers to 165°F, stirring so both broth and meat heat through. Freeze cooled portions for longer storage and thaw in the refrigerator. Add a little water during reheating if the beans have absorbed liquid, rather than repeatedly boiling a thick pot until the bottom scorches.
For clean raw-meat handling, cooling in shallow containers, and refrigeration, follow FDA safe food handling guidance.
Tips and Variations
Texture, not a short timer, decides the beef stage. Spicy steak chili made with chuck may need more than the old forty-minute estimate, especially if the pieces are large. Use a fork to check whether several pieces yield easily, and maintain a gentle simmer while extending time.
Do not use dry beans in place of the cans and keep the same instructions. Dry kidney beans require a separate safe cooking method. Keep raw-meat utensils separate from serving tools, and adjust salt only after the broth and beans have had time together.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which beef cut is specified?
Spicy steak chili uses boneless chuck steak cut into even three-quarter-inch pieces.
Are the beans dry?
No. Use two ready-to-eat fifteen-ounce cans, drained and rinsed.
Why add beans later?
The beef needs a longer simmer, while canned beans only need heating and can break during extended cooking.
Is forty minutes still the full schedule?
No. This spicy steak chili allows longer gentle cooking until the chuck is tender.
Is chili powder pure hot chile?
Use a chili seasoning blend for the listed measure; pure hot chile powder can be much stronger.
More Recipes to Try
- Two Bean Beef Chili with Black and Kidney Beans
- Beef and Sausage Chili with Three Beans
- Slow Cooker Beef Chili Recipe
- Homestyle Beef Stew
Spicy Steak Chili
Ingredients
Main Ingredients
- 1 lb boneless beef chuck steak trimmed and cut into even¾-inch pieces; simmer until tender
- 1 onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 15-ounce can cooked kidney beans drained and rinsed
- 1 15-ounce can cooked black beans drained and rinsed
- 1 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes include juices
- 2 tablespoons chili powder chili seasoning blend; check product heat
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1-2 jalapeños, diced Adjust for spiciness
- to taste Salt and pepper
- 2 cups beef broth
Pot preparation and liquid adjustment
- 1 tablespoon neutral oil for browning beef
- as needed hot water small additions if broth reduces before beef is tender
Instructions
- Brown diced chuck in the measured oil in two batches. Reserve meat and soften onion in the same pot; briefly add garlic.
- Stir in spices and jalapeños, then tomatoes with juices, broth, and beef. Bring to a boil and lower to a partly covered gentle simmer.
- Cook until beef yields easily, checking from 90 minutes and allowing about 120 minutes or more. Add hot water if liquid runs low before tenderness.
- Stir in drained kidney and black beans, simmer 10 minutes until hot, season the cooked chili, and divide into 4 portions.
