An incredible use for leftover smoked brisket — Smoked Beef Brisket Chili!
This recipe may be worth even smoking a brisket for, just to use the meat in this (controversial) chili with the leftover brisket.
This chili has not only won us several competitions, but we’ve had several readers email us to tell us this recipe has won chili competitions and cookoffs for them too!!
Believe me when I say it’s amazing. 
Whenever we test another recipe for smoked brisket, or just craving that irresistible flavor, we often come up with leftovers. Quite often we share the leftovers with neighbors. But now that we live in the country, we’re far from neighbors.
So this time, instead of sharing, we froze the leftovers to be used another day. Incidentally brisket freezes quite well without losing much of its flavor. Score!
The inspiration for this recipe came from an old ground turkey chili recipe. I subbed the leftover smoked brisket for the turkey, and added some additional ingredients to compliment the smoky flavors of the meat (like bacon and chipotle). We let the chili slowly cook for a couple hours making our house smell like heaven on a typical rainy fall Portland afternoon.
The best part was that this pot of chili graced us with even more leftovers for the next few days. The leftover from the leftovers that keep on giving. Yessssss. It’s our new favorite chili recipe. You can see an altered version here.
And really, who doesn’t enjoy a good bowl of chili on a rainy day?!
How to make Smoked Beef Brisket Chili
In a large stockpot over medium heat, sauté bacon until crispy. Remove back for later with a slotted spoon. If there is excess bacon grease remove it, otherwise cook the onions in it. Add onions to soften, then bell pepper and garlic. Next add the brisket and dry seasonings to mix and integrate. Then add your liquids and other optional add-ons like beans and corn. I also like to add a small can of green chili for earthiness.
Then simmer away.
Smoked Beef Brisket Chili Recipe
Smoked Beef Brisket Chili
Ingredients
- 3 slices of bacon, diced
- 1 large onion (about 2 cups), chopped
- 1 red bell pepper, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, finely diced
- 2 ½ cups leftover smoked beef brisket, cut up into 1-inch cubes
- 3 tablespoons chili powder*
- 1 tablespoon cumin
- ½ tablespoon dry chipotle seasoning** (or the equivalent in canned chipotle in adobo sauce, adjust amount to your heat preference. A little goes a long way)
- ½ tablespoon smoked paprika
- 1 12 oz bottle beer
- ¼ cup coffee, (cold leftover coffee from your morning pot)
- 1 15 oz can diced tomatoes
- 1 15 oz can tomato sauce
- ½ can black beans, drained and rinsed, used a standard 15 oz can
- ½ can kidney beans, drained and rinsed, used a standard 15 oz can
- ½ can corn, drained and rinsed, used a standard 15 oz can
- 1 small, 4 oz can diced green chili
Instructions
- In a large pot over medium heat, sauté bacon until crispy. Remove bacon with a slotted spoon and reserve for later.
- Add onions and cook until soft (about 5 minutes). Add bell pepper and garlic; cook 1 additional minute to soften.
- Add the meat and all dry seasonings, and cook one minute.
- Add beer and allow it to deglaze the pan and cook off the alcohol (about 1-2 minutes). Then add coffee, tomatoes, beans, corn, green chili, and the reserved bacon. Bring to a low simmer, cover, and cook for a minimum of 30 minutes. The longer it cooks the more integrated and concentrated the flavors get. My recommendation is at least an hour for a nice rich chili. If the stew starts to get too thick, you can add water ½ cup at a time to thin it out.Serve.
Optional Toppings:
- Sour cream (or my preference Greek Yogurt)
- Shredded cheddar cheese
- Chopped cilantro
Notes
So if you're sensitive to spice go easy on the spicy spices at first. You can always add more later! I find that chipotle and cayenne tend to add the most heat. So go easy on them and add slowly.
Nutrition
How to keep Chili Warm
If you’re serving this in a competition, party, or event, it’s easy to transfer into a crock pot or slow cooker and just keep it on low!
Wine Recommendation for Smoked Brisket Chili
One of my preferred pairings is Carmenère. Carmenère can often exude some green pepper notes, which can be off-putting to some. But paired with the right food they can be tamed, thus bringing out some of the other rich and attractive aromas. This is why I like to try Carmemere with this chili. Plus, we put green chilies in the recipe, which would have balanced out any found in the wine. They can also offer lush dark berry fruit, baking spice, herbs, and some spicy oak aromas. Rich enough, yet balanced out by the berry fruit, and spicy enough for the slew of rich flavors found in the chili.
Definitely a nice wine and a great pairing for a chilly (get it) fall evening.
More Recipes for Leftover Brisket
But to start, here’s are recipe and how to guide for Smoked Brisket.
- Smoked Brisket Pizza
- Smoked Brisket Bruschetta
- Smoked Brisket Enchiladas
- Smoked Brisket Nachos
- Smoked Brisket Tacos
- Smoked Brisket Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
- Smoked Brisket Empanadas
If you like this recipe we’d truly appreciate it if you would give this recipe a star review! And if you share any of your pics on Instagram use the hashtag #vindulge. We LOVE to see it when you cook our recipes.
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Brian says
Going to make this tomorrow. Your notes refer to cayanne pepper, but I don’t see it in the recipe I printed, am I missing something?
Sean Martin says
Brian, that was more to offer a varied level of spice for those who were sensitive to the dried chipotle powder. We prefer the chipotle versus cayenne but you can substitute cayenne for the heat element.
William says
I made this with left over smoked t bone steaks a very good rendition. Oh I used fire roasted and smoked tomatoes too.
Dawn says
I made this recipe for our church chili cook-off this past January. At first my husband was a bit appalled that I was using his leftover brisket for chili, but then he tried it. He now says he should smoke more briskets just so I can make this chili. It is spectacular and by the way, I did win the cook-off as well. 🙂
Sean Martin says
YESSSS!!! Another winner in our circle!!!!
Deb says
This was awesome. I made my own chili powder since I was out and I thought it might be too spicy but it turned out fantastic!!
Thank you for such a great recipe.