Pedernales River Chili Recipe By Lady Bird Johnson

This simple-to-execute chili recipe featuring ground beef is a guaranteed home run for family and guests

This flavor-packed ground beef chili is adapted from a recipe by Lady Bird Johnson, found on a 3×5 inch card in the stacks of the LBJ Library in Austin, TX.

Pedernales River Chili Recipe

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Inspired by a favorite of Lady Bird Johnson, this chili recipe is simple to prepare but full of flavor.

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr 10 minutes mins

Servings: 12 servings

Course: Dinner, Main Course

Cuisine: American

Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

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• 4 pounds ground beef
• 1 large onion
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon cumin powder
• 1 1/2 cups canned tomatoes
• 2 tablespoons chili powder (or less if you do not want as much heat)
• 2 cups hot water
• hot sauce
• Morton Coarse Kosher Salt

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Method

 

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1. Prep. Chop the onion.
2. Press the garlic with a garlic press or mince.
3. Coarsely chop the tomatoes.
4. Cook. Pre-heat a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the meat, chopped onion, and garlic. Cook until lightly browned, stirring frequently.
5. Stir in the oregano, cumin, tomatoes, chili powder, and cups hot water. Bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer, covered, for about 1 hour, skimming off the fat as it cooks. Add salt and hot sauce to taste.
6. Serve. Serve immediately along with extra hot sauce and such condiments as grated cheese, sour cream, and sliced jalapeños.

Notes

About the salt. Remember, kosher salt is half the concentration of table salt so if you use table salt, use half as much. Click here to read more about salt and how it works.

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