finished smoked chili with toppings
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If you have never made smoked chili before you do not know what you are missing. Here’s my favorite chili recipe, but it’s easily customizable. You can even just cook your favorite chili recipe on your grill and give it a nice kick of smokiness.

And if you are looking for even more Kettle Grill recipes, be sure to check out our recipe collection.

Why You Should Try Weber Kettle Smoked Chili

  • What makes this smoked chili recipe the best chili you will ever eat? – This smoked chili recipe has bold, strong, and robust flavors that will make you say, “What incredible ingredient am I tasting?” I’ll give you a few hints: Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, bacon, fire-roasted tomatoes, and coffee (yes, coffee!).
  • Easy to smoke – This chili recipe is incredibly easy to smoke. Just set the Dutch oven full of chili on your Weber Kettle, close the lid, and walk away. Add more briquets and wood as you need it, and in two hours, it’s done!
  • Fun to make – Let’s face it, there are a lot of ingredients in this chili recipe. But all those ingredients are what makes this chili recipe so darn good. Prepping, cooking, adding the ingredients, adjusting the ingredients, and tasting as you go along make this smoked chili recipe so enjoyable to prepare. And we’ve written the recipe so that it is very easy to follow and uncomplicated!

Ingredients For Weber Kettle Smoked Chili

Directions For Making Weber Kettle Smoked Chili

1. Set up your Weber Kettle for indirect smoking – Fill your charcoal chimney fire starter with charcoal briquettes, and when ready, empty the chimney in the center of the charcoal grate. With tongs, move the charcoal to both sides of the Weber Kettle, creating two equal piles. Add three more charcoal briquets and two small pieces of soaked wood or wood chips to each pile. Add more briquets and soaked wood or wood chips as needed to maintain the maximum smoke.

weber kettle indirect smoking

2. Prepare the meat – Mix the baking soda and cornstarch together, massage into the beef chuck pieces, and set aside. In a Dutch oven,cook the bacon until crispy; remove and set aside. Sauté the ground beef in the bacon fat for 5 minutes. Add and thoroughly mix in the beef chuck, soy sauce, garlic powder, onion powder, and salt and pepper, and sauté until well browned. Remove the meat mixture from the Dutch oven and set aside.

3. Sauté the vegetables – Add the olive oil to the Dutch oven and sauté the onion, green bell pepper, and garlic. Add the meat mixture (not the bacon yet) to the vegetables in the Dutch oven and thoroughly mix.

4. Add the spices to the meat and vegetable mixture – With the Dutch oven on low heat, add all of the spices to the meat and vegetable mixture in the Dutch oven and thoroughly mix together.

5. Add the bulk ingredients – With the Dutch oven on low heat,add all the bulk ingredients to the Dutch oven one at a time and thoroughly mix together, including the cooked bacon. Bring all the ingredients to a low simmer in the Dutch oven.

complete prepped chili ready for smoking

6. Taste for seasoning and adjustments – This is a very important step in the chili cooking process. This is where you make the chili taste just how YOU like it. Taste the chili, and add any of the spices and bulk ingredients to the chili you want until you are satisfied that you like the taste of your chili.

chili ready to smoke on grill grate

7. Transfer the chili to the Weber Kettle – Place the uncovered Dutch oven directly on the grill grate of your Weber Kettle, equidistant between the two piles of charcoal and wood. Close the lid and smoke for two hours, stirring the chili every 15 minutes.

smoking chili on grill grate

8. Take the smoked chili off the Weber Kettle – Carefully and with oven mitts, remove the Dutch oven from the Weber Kettle. Spoon the chili into bowls and serve with your favorite toppings.

finished smoked chili


finished smoked chili in white bowl

Variations And Substitutions For Weber Kettle Smoked Chili

Chili intrinsically lends itself to many alterations of the ingredients. Below is a list of alternate substitutions for the ingredients in this recipe.

Beef chuck – Sirloin, short rib, round steak, rump roast, flank steak, tri-tip, and any game meat.

Ground beef – Ground pork, lamb, game, chicken, turkey, bulk Italian, or even breakfast sausage.

Vegetables – Carrots, celery, corn, green beans, mushrooms, peas, squash, and even asparagus. And there are many varieties of fresh and canned peppers and chilies that you can add as well

Herbs and spices – This list could go on forever! Just use ANYTHING you like, as this is chili, for goodness sake. Just be sure not to add too much heat so you don’t blow your head off.

Kidney beans – Black beans, kidney beans, pinto beans, white beans, red beans, cannellini beans, and even black-eyed peas.

Toppings – Shredded cheese, diced onion, sour cream, green chilies, corn chips, diced green onion, and sliced jalapenos.

Tips And Tricks For Weber Kettle Smoked Chili

Use a Dutch oven – You can smoke the prepared chili in any container or pot that will hold the chili and stand up to the heat in the Weber Kettle. But it’s best to use a Dutch oven or even a very large cast iron skillet for the best smoked chili results. A Dutch oven heats up as it is exposed to the fire on the Weber Kettle, completely surrounding the chili with consistent and even heat.

smoking chili on grill grate

Taste the chili you put it together – This is a good tip! There are many steps along the chili preparation process where you have a chance to taste what you are cooking. Don’t be afraid to check the flavor anytime you desire, and adjust the seasonings and ingredients to your liking. You will be pleased with the end product.

 Let it smoke – Because the lid is off the Dutch oven, the flavor of the smoke is absorbed into the chili. And the chili is cooking as well as the Dutch oven heats up. The longer the smoking chili is left on the Weber Kettle on a low simmer, the more the flavors will meld together and intensify. So, keep the fire going and let the chili smoke away. Go the full two hours or even more if you desire. Just be sure not to burn then the chili!

smoked chili in white bowl with spoon
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Weber Kettle Smoked Chili

Servings: 12 people
Prep: 1 hour
Cook: 2 hours

Equipment

  • 1 Weber Kettle Grill
  • 1 Charcoal Chimney Fire Starter
  • Charcoal briquets  
  • Wood chunks soaked in water for smoking
  • 1 Dutch Oven, oven-proof
  • 1 Aluminum Drip Pan disposable

Ingredients 

Meat

  • 8 ounces bacon, chopped
  • 1 pound beef chuck, cut into small chunks
  • 1 pound ground beef

Seasoning for the meat

  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon cornstarch
  • 2 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 2 tablespoons garlic powder
  • 2 tablespoons onion powder
  • 1 teaspoon each salt & pepper

Vegetables

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 yellow onion, chopped
  • 1 green bell pepper, chopped
  • 2 tablespoons garlic

Spices

  • 1 tablespoon cayenne
  • 3 tablespoons chili powder, McCormick is best
  • 3 tablespoons cumin
  • 3 tablespoons dried minced onion
  • 3 tablespoons garlic powder
  • 3 tablespoons oregano
  • 3 tablespoons smoked paprika

Bulk ingredients

  • 32 ounces beef broth
  • 2 tablespoons instant ground coffee
  • One, 14.5 ounce can fire-roasted tomatoes
  • Two, 4 ounce cans fire-roasted diced green chilies
  • Two, 14 ounce cans kidney beans in chili sauce
  • 1/4 cup soy sauce
  • One, 7 ounce can tomato paste
  • One, 8 ounce can tomato sauce
  • 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce

Instructions 

  • Set up your Weber Kettle for indirect smoking – Fill your charcoal chimney fire starter with charcoal briquettes, and when ready, empty the chimney in the center of the charcoal grate. With tongs, move the charcoal to both sides of the Weber Kettle, creating two equal piles. Add three more charcoal briquets and two small pieces of soaked wood or wood chips to each pile. Add more briquets and soaked wood or wood chips as needed to maintain the maximum smoke.
  • Prepare the meat – Mix the baking soda and cornstarch together, massage into the beef chuck pieces, and set aside. In a Dutch oven, cook the bacon until crispy; remove and set aside. Sauté the ground beef in the bacon fat for 5 minutes. Add and thoroughly mix in the beef chuck, soy sauce, garlic powder, onion powder, and salt and pepper, and sauté until well browned. Remove the meat mixture from the Dutch oven and set aside.
  • Sauté the vegetables – Add the olive oil to the Dutch oven and sauté the onion, green bell pepper, and garlic. Add the meat mixture (not the bacon yet) to the vegetables in the Dutch oven and thoroughly mix.
  • Add the spices to the meat and vegetable mixture – With the Dutch oven on low heat, add all of the spices to the meat and vegetable mixture in the Dutch oven and thoroughly mix together.
  • Add the bulk ingredients – With the Dutch oven on low heat, add all the bulk ingredients to the Dutch oven one at a time and thoroughly mix together, including the cooked bacon. Bring all the ingredients to a low simmer in the Dutch oven.
  • Taste for seasoning and adjustments – This is a very important step in the chili cooking process. This is where you make the chili taste just how YOU like it. Taste the chili, and add any of the spices and bulk ingredients to the chili you want until you are satisfied that you like the taste of your chili.
  • Transfer the chili to the Weber Kettle – Place the uncovered Dutch oven directly on the grill grate of your Weber Kettle, equidistant between the two piles of charcoal and wood. Close the lid and smoke for two hours, stirring the chili every 15 minutes.
  • Take the smoked chili off the Weber Kettle – Carefully and with oven mitts, remove the Dutch oven from the Weber Kettle. Spoon the chili into bowls and serve with your favorite toppings.

Nutrition

Serving: 10oz.Calories: 319kcalCarbohydrates: 12gProtein: 20gFat: 22gSaturated Fat: 8gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 10gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 65mgSodium: 1255mgPotassium: 635mgFiber: 3gSugar: 2gVitamin A: 1722IUVitamin C: 12mgCalcium: 89mgIron: 5mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Additional Info

Course: BBQ
Cuisine: American
Tried this recipe?Mention @drizzlemeskinny or tag #drizzlemeskinny!

About Keith Morrison

Chef Keith has been a cook, restaurateur, and food writer for nearly 50 years. Since graduating of culinary school, Keith has completed classes at the world famous Le Cordon Bleu Paris, and has been a chef, manager, owner, consultant and recipe developer for dozens of restaurants and catering companies.

One of Keith's many cooking loves is BBQ in general and the Offset Smoker in particular. Keith has participated in competition BBQ for many years.

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