Best
Beef Chili

Cook's notes

The cocoa and cinnamon are not dessert. Cocoa adds color, body, and a low earthy bitterness that balances the tomatoes; the cinnamon reads as warmth. Nobody will name them — they'll just say it tastes deep.

Heat control lives in three places: the chili powder (start at 2 tbsp), the jalapeño seeds (leave them out for mild), and the chipotle (use half for a gentler pot). Built as written it's a medium — present, not punishing.

The vinegar finish matters. A long-simmered pot goes flat without acid. The 1½ teaspoons at the end won't taste like vinegar — it tastes like everything else, but louder.

The pot: a heavy Dutch oven browns better and simmers steadier than a thin stockpot — this is the same workhorse that makes the pot roast and the no-knead bread.

With cornbread — the skillet cornbread was built for a pot like this.

Want it thicker, the Texas way? Whisk 2 tbsp masa harina (Maseca, international/baking aisle) into ¼ cup cold water and stir it in for the last 10 minutes — it thickens the pot and adds a faint sweet-corn note that points straight at the cornbread.

Even better tomorrow. Like most chilis, it deepens overnight. It also freezes beautifully — flat in zip bags, up to 3 months.