Uses for leftover smoked beef brisket – Smoked Beef Brisket Chili (recipe and wine pairing)
Oct 04, 2013, Updated Jul 14, 2021
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.Â
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.
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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
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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 EmpanadasÂ
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.Â
We have tried many recipes for leftover smoked brisket. This is by far the best one! I simmered 2 hours and added some beef stock, cut back on the chili powder, skipped the chipotle pepper and diced chilis (used my own homemade pickled jalapenos instead). Absolute winner and could easily be a signature dish at a pub!
Outstanding chili! Will make this over and over again!!! I omitted the red bell pepper because my husband doesn’t care for the, but otherwise followed recipe. I’ve won several chili cook-offs at my office and I definitely be entering this one for the next competition!
Yeah!!! Thank you so much for sharing! We love that you modify to your taste preference which is our goal!!
Just won a Chili Cook off at my church with this recipe, and better yet, I beat my wife who was the reigning 3 time champ! Thank you for helping me to victory with this amazing Chili.
Followed this recipe exactly with the small exception that I did not have the fresh or canned peppers. I added a tablespoon of liquid smoke to up the smokiness element. It was absolutely delicious!
Awesome Bethany!!! Thanks for sharing, we love hearing any mods people are making!
Do you strain the bacon grease for this recipe
If you have a lot of bacon grease I’d recommend straining some of it. You don’t want too much. Different thicknesses of bacon will yield different amounts of grease. I wouldn’t leave more than about a tablespoon in before adding the rest of the ingredients.
Leftovers from the leftovers…yep. that’s smoked brisket, alright. So far we’ve had warmed up brisket, brisket sandwiches, brisket quesadilla, brisket pot pie, and now this chili. I estimate that if you make a brisket once a month, it greatly simplifies meal planning 🙂 Anyway, this chili is delicious. I changed almost nothing except I used fresh tomatoes (had to use them up), just black beans, and no coffee. Excellent–and it should provide another 3-4 meals at least!
Awesome!! We agree…brisket every month, just ’cause!!!! Thanks for the feedback.
This sounds amazing. thanks for putting up this recipe.
Simon
Yeah, this rocks!
This sounds great, but I never use beans, just good old TX style any suggestions.
For a texas style I would leave out the beans and use less liquid to concentrate the flavors more. This one is a little more liquid-y than a traditional TX style.
Yep, usin leftover brisket makes the best chili ever! I have my own recipe, but its similar. I just found yours and wanted to compare. I don’t add any smoky seasonings because the smoked brisket adds plenty of smoke. I only add a few dried peppers. No chipotles or anything. I also don’t use black beans. Just kidney and red beans. I like to use a cans of Rotel, beer, beef broth and lots of fresh tomatoes. I finish it with a palm of brown sugar to give it a very mild sweet finish.
Yep, usin leftover brisket makes the best chili ever! I have my own recipe, but its similar. I just found yours and wanted to compare. I don’t add any smoky seasonings because the smoked brisket adds plenty of smoke. I only add a few dried peppers. No chipotles or anything. I also don’t use black beans. Just kidney and red beans. I like to use a cans of Rotel, beer, beef broth and lots of fresh tomatoes. I finish it with a palm of brown sugar to give it a very mild sweet finish.
Rotel makes a product called “Chili Fix’ns”. It’s just their regular product, but they add chili seasonings. I also add chili powder, cumin, kosher salt, white pepper and brown sugar at the end. For veggies I use the same as you. Onion, red bell and garlic that’s crushed. Basically add your brisket, veggies and seasoning and sauté in pot till veggies are cooked down. Then add the rest and lot cook on medium low. Add brown sugar at end.
I love it! Thanks for sharing your chili recipe! I’ll have to go find some of that Rotel now.
And, great, now I’m hungry for chili! 😉