My Award-Winning Texas Chili Recipe Is No Longer a Secret

With the Ben Richey Chili Super Bowl & BBQ Cookoff coming back to Buffalo Gap over Labor Day weekend, September 5-6, I figured this was the perfect time to pull one of my old secrets out of the recipe box.

Get our free mobile app

If you're looking for an award-winning Texas chili recipe, I'm giving you the one I competed with and won with for years.

Yes, I'm actually giving away my Fearless Dragon's Breath Chili recipe.

The First Thing I Learned About Winning Chili

Ever since I started competing in chili, brisket and steak cookoffs, I've known one thing: Don't make your chili so hot nobody can eat it.

It took me a while to get that through my thick skull.

I used to think a chili called Dragon's Breath ought to make a judge breathe fire. What I eventually learned was that hotter doesn't necessarily mean better. If you overpower the flavor with heat, you may lose the very people you're trying to impress.

Once I backed off the cayenne and concentrated on flavor, consistency and aroma, I started winning.

And I did it time and time again.

I Kept This Texas Chili Recipe Secret for Decades

The second thing I learned was to keep the secret ingredients secret.

For nearly three decades, my Fearless Dragon's Breath recipe was one of the most closely guarded secrets in the Fernandez family.

Eventually, though, I shared it with some Abilene firefighters who were helping cook the Boys Ranch Big Chili Pot to raise money during the Chili Super Bowl.

Now I'm sharing it with you.

The 44th Annual Ben Richey Chili Super Bowl & BBQ Cookoff returns September 5-6, 2026, in Buffalo Gap. The Labor Day weekend tradition raises money for the Ben Richey Boys Ranch & Family Program, and organizers say the event has generated more than $2 million for the organization over its history.

So, if you're thinking about cooking chili that weekend, here's a recipe with a few trophies behind it.

Beans or No Beans in Texas Chili?

Ah yes, the great Texas debate.

Beans or no beans?

At the cookoffs I competed in, my competition chili had no beans. At home, you can do whatever makes your family happy, but this is the recipe I used when I was trying to make the final judging table.

Here's how to make it.

Fearless Fernandez Award-Winning Dragon's Breath Chili

Ingredients

• 5 pounds lean, coarse-ground beef
• 7 heaping tablespoons dark red chili powder, preferably New Mexico red
• Three 32-ounce containers low-sodium chicken broth
• 1-1/2 tablespoons finely ground oregano
• 1-1/2 tablespoons ground cumin
• 2 teaspoons salt, preferably sea salt
• 1 to 3 teaspoons cayenne pepper, added to taste
• 3 cloves garlic
• 3 medium onions
• Three 14-ounce cans tomato sauce
• Red food coloring, optional
• 3 teaspoons ground cumin, reserved for the final 20 minutes
• How to Make Dragon's Breath Chili

Combine the chili powder, oregano, 1-1/2 tablespoons cumin and salt. Peel the onions and garlic and puree them together in a food processor.

Brown the meat in a large skillet, adding approximately half of the dry seasoning mixture and half of the pureed onion and garlic mixture as the beef cooks.

Once the meat is completely cooked, drain the grease and meat juices.

Transfer the beef to a large stockpot. Add about half of the tomato sauce, two containers of chicken broth, and the remaining seasoning, onion and garlic mixture.

Bring everything together and let the chili begin to thicken.

Add additional tomato sauce as needed until you reach the consistency you like.

Here's Where the Dragon Gets Its Breath

Now comes the cayenne.

Cayenne is there for heat, not to overpower the chili. I generally started with only about half a teaspoon because you never knew whether the judges liked hot chili.

In fact, one year I didn't use cayenne at all and still took first place.

You can always add heat. You can't take it back out.

Let the chili simmer for about 45 minutes to an hour, stirring frequently so nothing scorches on the bottom.

Remember that third container of chicken broth?

Here's another one of my old tricks.

Add about seven to 10 drops of red food coloring to some of that remaining broth and slowly stir it into the chili until you get the color you're looking for. The food coloring is completely optional and doesn't change the flavor.

For years, when people asked what made my chili look so good, I jokingly called that my "Cherry Kool-Aid secret ingredient."

As the chili simmers, add more of the remaining broth or tomato sauce as needed to adjust the consistency.

Then, 20 minutes before serving, add the final 3 teaspoons of ground cumin.

That last addition gives the chili another shot of aroma and spice right before it hits the bowl. Stir it thoroughly and let everything simmer together for those final 20 minutes.

Then serve it up.

My Secret Is Officially Out

There you have it.

After keeping Dragon's Breath under wraps for decades, I suppose there's no taking it back now.

Just remember the lesson that took me years of competing to learn: Great chili doesn't have to set your mouth on fire to be great chili.

Start with flavor. Add the heat afterward.

And if you happen to win a trophy with my old Dragon's Breath recipe, I'd sure like to hear about it.

Read More: Check Your Fridge First Beware: Texas Jalapeño Recall Expands