Shredded chuck roast chili
with l'épicier
- Preparation 30 min
- Cooking 3 hr 30 min
- Servings 8 to 10
- Freezing Absolutely
Ads
🌶️ A shredded beef chili that starts with a whole chuck roast
Long before we get to the part where the meat falls apart on its own, there’s a small kitchen luxury I’ve grown attached to: not having to think about groceries. That’s what my partnership with l’épicier actually buys me. Fewer trips, less noise in my head, and the ingredients already sitting there on the day I feel like cooking something that takes four hours. Which brings us to this shredded beef chili. It’s the pot you make when you want something solid, filling and loud on flavor.
🔥 Why a chuck roast chili beats the ground beef version
Most chili starts with ground beef. This one doesn’t. A chuck roast goes into the Dutch oven in four big chunks, takes a real hard sear, then braises three and a half hours in crushed tomatoes, red beans and warm spices until two forks pull it apart into strands. That is the whole difference: texture. Ground beef gives you pebbles floating in sauce. Braised chuck gives you long ropes of beef that hold onto everything around them. And you shred it right in the pot, never on a board, so every strand drinks the braising liquid back up instead of drying out on the counter. The corn and the red bell pepper get their own pan at the end. That one is mine, and I’ll defend it.
❄️ Built for the freezer, better on day two
This is a Sunday pot. Eight to ten servings, four or five days in the fridge, and it freezes without complaining. Honestly it tastes better the next day, once the spices have had a night to settle. Serve it in a bowl with sour cream and cilantro, over couscous, folded into quesadillas, dumped over nachos, in a burrito bowl, split over a baked potato, or ladled on a hot dog. It goes everywhere.
Ads
Ads
🥩 Sear the chuck roast like you mean it
Give it 10 to 12 minutes before any liquid touches the pot. Hot Dutch oven, a film of olive oil, and the four pieces of chuck laid down with space between them. Crowd the pan and they steam instead of browning, which is exactly how people end up with a flat chili and no idea why. The darker the crust, the more caramelized the finished pot tastes. Let each side sit still long enough to release on its own. If you’re pulling at it and it sticks, it isn’t ready to turn yet.
🧂 Salt in layers, not at the end
An underseasoned chili is just flat, no way around it. Season the meat generously as it sears, taste again after the broth goes in, taste after the braise, and taste one last time before it hits the bowls. The herbes salées du Bas-du-Fleuve already bring salt of their own, so go bit by bit. That final pinch is often the whole difference between good and legendary.
⏰ Three and a half hours, and how to know it’s done
Covered, at 350°F (180°C), stirred once at the halfway mark. Forget the clock and watch the meat instead: stick two forks into a chunk, pull them apart, and it should come apart without fighting back. Still resisting? Another 30 minutes, lid back on. Internal temperature lands around 200°F (95°C), which is where collagen turns to gelatin. Overcooking a chuck roast in a pot full of liquid is close to impossible, so err long rather than short.
🍴 Shred in the pot, never on a board
Two forks, straight into the hot braising liquid. Every strand soaks the juices back up instead of drying out on a cutting board like a pulled pork. No stand mixer either. It shreds the meat too fine and you lose the strands. And if you’re wondering about the wording: pulled beef and shredded beef end up in the same place, the difference is mostly which cut and which sauce, not the technique.
🌽 The corn and the pepper get their own pan
This is the part that makes it mine. Frozen corn goes into a hot skillet with a splash of oil for 4 to 5 minutes until it picks up some char, then the diced red pepper joins for 2 more. Only then does it go into the chili. Throw them in the Dutch oven at the start and three and a half hours later they’re mush, gray, and gone. Sautéed separately they keep their bite and their caramelized sweetness, and that little bit of crunch against the shredded beef is what keeps the bowl interesting to the last spoonful.
🌫️ Heat is a decision you make at the table
I rarely put the cayenne in. Between the cumin, the smoked paprika and the salted herbs, there’s already plenty going on. If you want it hotter, add the cayenne a teaspoon at a time and taste as you go. Or leave the pot alone and put a bottle of hot sauce and some crushed red pepper flakes on the table so everybody fixes their own bowl.
🫙 The meal prep and freezer champion
Four to five days in the fridge, and it freezes as well as anything I make. Portion it into airtight containers before it goes in, single servings or two at a time, and future you will be grateful on a Tuesday. Reheat in the microwave or covered in the oven at 375°F to 400°F (190°C to 200°C), with a splash of broth or water if it thickened up in the cold.
✅ What to serve with my shredded beef chili
Honestly, a deep bowl with sour cream and cilantro needs nothing else. But this chili is a base as much as a meal: spoon it over couscous, fold it into grilled quesadillas the way I do in my beef and red beans chili quesadillas, pile it on kickass nachos with sour cream and salsa, build a burrito bowl with rice and avocado, split a baked potato over it, or turn it into chili dogs. On the side, black beans and sweet corn rice stretches the pot even further, and a batch of cheesy garlic bread exists for one reason, which is mopping the bowl clean.
Ads
Ingredients
- 4 1/2 lb (2 kg) beef chuck roast by l’épicier, cut into four large pieces
- 2 tbsp (30 ml) olive oil
- 4 garlic cloves, chopped
- 1 large yellow onion, diced
- 1 1/2 cups (375 ml) beef broth
- 2 cans red kidney beans, drained (14 oz / 400 g each)
- 28 oz (800 g) crushed tomatoes
- 1/4 cup (60 ml) tomato paste
- 1 tbsp (15 ml) ground cumin
- 1 tbsp (15 ml) onion powder
- 1 tbsp (15 ml) garlic powder
- 1 tbsp (15 ml) dried oregano
- 1 tbsp (15 ml) smoked paprika
- 1 tsp (5 ml) cayenne pepper, optional
- 1 tbsp (15 ml) herbes salées du Bas-du-Fleuve (a Quebec pantry staple: herbs and root vegetables cured in salt; swap in 1 tbsp of chopped fresh parsley, chives and celery leaves plus a pinch of salt)
- 1 tsp (5 ml) salt
- 1/2 tsp (2.5 ml) pepper
- 1 1/2 cups (375 ml) frozen corn
- 1 tbsp (15 ml) olive oil
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- About 1/2 cup (125 ml) beef broth, as needed to adjust the texture
Ads
Preparation
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).
- In a large oven-safe Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the pieces of chuck roast and brown them slowly on every side, about 10 to 12 minutes total. Take the time to get real color on the meat, that is where the flavor comes from. Remove the beef and set aside.
- In the same pot over medium heat, add the garlic and onion and cook 2 to 3 minutes, until lightly caramelized. Pour in about 1/2 cup (125 ml) of beef broth and scrape the bottom of the pot to lift all the browned bits.
- Return the beef to the pot. Add the red kidney beans, crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, 1 cup (250 ml) of beef broth, cumin, onion powder, garlic powder, oregano, smoked paprika, herbes salées du Bas-du-Fleuve, salt, pepper, and the cayenne if you want it. Stir well.
- Bring to a gentle boil, cover, and transfer the pot to the oven. Cook 3 1/2 to 4 hours, until the beef is very tender. Stir once at the halfway mark.
- Take the pot out of the oven. Shred the meat directly in the pot with two forks and stir it through the sauce. Adjust the texture with a little more beef broth if needed.
- In a skillet over medium-high heat with the olive oil, add the frozen corn and let it brown 4 to 5 minutes. Add the red bell pepper and cook 2 minutes more. Stir the whole thing into the chili. Taste and adjust the seasoning.
- Serve as is, in quesadillas, with tortilla chips, or with a spoonful of sour cream.
It’s the best cut for this style of chili, yes. Chuck is packed with collagen and marbling, and after 3 1/2 hours in the oven that collagen turns to gelatin, which is what makes the beef shred into strands and gives the sauce its body. Ground beef can’t do that. If you can’t find chuck, other braising cuts work the same way: rump roast, beef cheeks or boneless shank. Stay away from lean cuts like tenderloin or sirloin, they dry out and go stringy long before they get tender.
Two things, and neither is a spice. First, sear the meat properly, 10 to 12 minutes in a hot pot with room between the pieces. That crust is the entire flavor base. Second, salt in layers instead of dumping it all in at the end. Season the beef as it browns, taste after the broth, taste after the braise, taste before serving. Everything else, the smoked paprika, the cumin, the long slow oven time, builds on those two. And let it rest overnight if you can.
Drain them, yes. The starchy liquid in the can carries a metallic edge and a lot of sodium, and this pot already gets its salt from the seasoning and the salted herbs. Rinsing is optional. I usually just drain and give them a quick shake. What you don’t want is to add the beans late: they go in at the start of the braise so they take on the tomato, the cumin and the smoked paprika over the full three and a half hours.
You can, and the steps don’t change much. Sear the chuck in a skillet, cook the onion and garlic, deglaze with broth, then move all of it to the slow cooker with the spices, tomatoes, beans and remaining broth. HIGH for 6 to 7 hours or LOW for 8 to 10, until the meat shreds on its own. Sauté the corn and the red pepper separately at the end and fold them in just before serving, same as the oven version. I still prefer the oven, because the liquid reduces and the flavors concentrate instead of staying watery.
This is exactly what it’s built for. Made in full, cooled and refrigerated, it keeps 4 to 5 days and it’s better on day two once the spices settle. For the freezer, portion it into airtight containers, single servings or two at a time. Reheat in the microwave or covered in the oven at 375°F to 400°F (190°C to 200°C), adding a splash of broth or water if it has thickened. It comes back exactly as it went in.
Ads
Ads
Ads
Ads
Ads