Canning Texas chili: A hearty and flavorful staple for your pantry

Jars out of the canner

Texas chili is one of my favorite jars to have waiting in the pantry ;) A bowl of beef, tomatoes and bold spices, ready to heat up on a cold night or for a quick weeknight dinner. Here’s exactly how I make it and get it safely into jars.

And a promise I made to myself: every recipe from now on says how many jars it makes. Nothing annoys me more than a recipe that doesn’t!

Note: This is my own recipe, not a lab-tested one. There’s no USDA-tested Texas chili. The USDA’s chili con carne uses browned ground beef and precooked beans, so I follow the USDA time for cubed beef instead (75 minutes for pints) and stir my beans in when I heat a jar up.

Basket filled with goodness

Why I can Texas chili

I like canning my own because I decide the heat and what goes in it, with no preservatives or mystery ingredients. And making a big batch when beef is on sale means nothing goes to waste.

The right way to can chili

Chili is low-acid, with meat, tomatoes and all, so it has to be pressure canned rather than water-bath canned. A pressure canner is what gets it hot enough to be safe on the shelf.

What you’ll need

Ingredients

Makes about 9 pint jars

• 4 lb beef chuck, trimmed of excess fat and cut into 1-inch cubes

• 3 cups onion, diced

• 2 cloves garlic, minced

• 6 cups canned diced tomatoes

• 3 tablespoons chili powder

• 1 tablespoon smoked paprika

• 1 tablespoon ground cumin

• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional, for extra heat)

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon black pepper

My spice mix

Equipment

• A pressure canner

• Pint mason jars with new two-piece lids

• A canning funnel and a spoon for packing

• A jar lifter

• A clean cloth or paper towel

Step-by-step canning process

1. Mix the chili

Trim the excess fat off the beef and cut it into 1-inch cubes. In a pan, sauté the onion and garlic until fragrant. Put the beef in a big bowl, add the spices, the onion and garlic, and the diced tomatoes, and stir everything around so all the meat gets coated.

Remember to mix well

2. Jars and canner

Wash your jars and keep them warm, and get your new lids and bands ready. Put the rack and the amount of water your manufacturer recommends in your pressure canner and start warming it up.

3. Fill the jars

Use a canning funnel to pack the raw beef mixture loosely into the warm jars, leaving a 1-inch headspace. This is a raw pack, so the beef goes in raw and makes its own juices in the canner. Remove any air bubbles and wipe the rims with a clean, damp cloth.

4. Process in a pressure canner

Place the lids on the jars and screw the bands on fingertip-tight. Put the jars in the canner, lock the lid and let the canner vent a steady stream of steam for 10 minutes before you put the weight on. Process pint jars for 75 minutes at the right pressure for your altitude and canner type (see my altitude chart). I’m at 2,273 feet, so I use 15 lb on my weighted gauge (12 lb on a dial gauge).

5. Cool and store

Turn off the heat and let the canner cool down naturally until the pressure reads zero. Then remove the weight, wait 10 minutes, and open the lid away from your face (that steam is no joke!). Lift the jars out with a jar lifter onto a towel on the counter and let them cool undisturbed for 12–24 hours, then check the seals (the lids shouldn’t flex up and down when you press the center). Take the bands off, then store them in a cool, dark place.

Enjoying your homemade chili

I just open a jar, heat it through and serve it with cornbread, rice, or over a baked potato. And I like to stir in a jar of my home-canned navy beans while it heats up ;)

For the best flavor, I use my jars within a year.

More meals in a jar: try my canned Korean beef, my boeuf bourguignon, or my step-by-step chicken canning guide.