Smoked Brisket Chili – 5 Different Ways

Our chili recipes are some of the most popular out there, so it was time to share our mega tasty Traeger smoked brisket chili! And we are sharing 5 different ways to make it – stove top, oven braised, smoker, slow cooker or Instant Pot.

The smoky flavor of the brisket with those bold chili flavors ands spices makes for an outrageously good bowl of chili. I love to top my bowl with shredded cheddar cheese and some sour cream.

I mean, where do I even start? This smoked brisket chili recipe has been living in my brain for probably the past 5-6 years and it has taken me all this time to get it down on “paper”. How weird that we rarely use paper anymore. Remember all those calendars on walls and sticky notes of reminders?

5 Different Ways

Anyway, I always have leftover brisket, those things are huge and my children are small. Therefore, brisket chili. And you don’t need a ton for this recipe…just 1.5 lbs.

I want to help you out so there will be five different versions explained. Please don’t get bugged! I will get questions about making it different ways so I’m just trying to anticipate that and help. The five different ways are stove top, oven braised, smoked, slow cooker and Instant Pot. Then there will be instructions for both uncooked brisket and leftover brisket for each method. Make sense? Sheesh, I hope so! Here we go…

First, I will start by explaining how to brown uncooked brisket if you’re going to go that route…

How to Brown Brisket for Chili

1. Cube the pieces of raw brisket meat – Trim any hard fat as that will not melt away in the cooking process. Remember, the size of the meat is what you’ll be eating so we want no bigger than 2″ pieces (these will break down so you can smash them a bit, creating smaller pieces once cooked).
2. Season the brisket with salt and pepper.
3. Heat oil in the bottom of a cast iron dutch oven or large pot until shimmering. Cook the brisket in batches, never at once or it will end up cooking in liquid, aka boiled meat. Remove to a plate and proceed with the recipe of your choice, oven braised, smoked, or stove top. 

 Using Leftover Brisket for Chili

If you have leftover brisket either from our smoked brisket recipe or our slow cooker brisket, your steps will be fewer…

1. Because your meat is already prepared, start by cooking the veggies and seasonings first. 
2. Add cubed
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Beef Barley Soup

Beef barley soup is a hearty and comforting soup full of tender beef, pearl barley, wild rice, mushrooms and savory umami flavor.

I didn’t even know that beef barley soup was a thing. I guess whenever I heard someone mention a barley soup I just went into a mindless state because barley didn’t sound delicious. But it’s the best soup I’ve had in years and that says a lot considering how much my family loves soup. Have you tried “The Soup“? Or maybe our roasted tomato basil soup? We love soups!

If you search for beef and barley soup recipes, you’ll find a lot of the same style of soup — carrots, celery, beef, barley, etc. We have changed things up for this. This is a little different, and more scrumptious imho, than anything you’ll find out there.

Why is This the Best Beef Barley Soup?

My friend and I decided that there are a few small things that are musts in a beef barley soup…

1. No carrots or celery. This isn’t stew and we don’t want it to look, smell or taste like stew. That’s a different recipe!
2. Use wild rice along with the barley. It adds a toothy, flavorful oomph that you will miss if you skip it. You can add as much or as little as you’d like.
3. WHOLE ROAST slowly cooked. We aren’t cutting this baby up, though if you were short on time you could certainly use stew meat and half the baking time. But a whole roast slowly cooked will bring out far more flavor and tenderness in the meat.

Ingredients for Beef Barley Soup

At first glance, this list may look long, but don’t worry! Most ingredients are pantry ingredients and everything combined creates a depth of flavor that is heavenly. Here is what you will need…

• Chuck Roast: you will cook this whole like you would a pot roast
• Olive Oil: helps brown the roast
• Salt and Pepper: adds flavor
• Red Wine Vinegar: helps deglaze the pan and adds acidity
• Water: helps deglaze
• Red Onion: adds flavor and caramelization
• Baby Bella Mushrooms: adds earthy flavor and chewiness
• Pearl Barley: you can find this right by the rice at the grocery store
• Wild Rice: adds an extra layer of flavor and different texture to the soup
• Au Jus Packet: adds bold savory flavor
• Onion Powder: adds flavor
• Garlic Powder: adds flavor
• Oregano: you can also use Italian seasoning if you don’t have oregano
• Balsamic Vinegar: adds a slight sweetness and more acidity
• Worcestershire: our favorite brand is Lea & Perrins
• Beef Broth: helps cook

Award Winning Instant Pot Chili Recipe [+VIDEO]

Instant Pot Chili that is award winning and bringing home cook-off victories across the country. You don’t want to miss diving into a bowl of our best chili!

If you want from scratch, our traditional chili is your answer. It took us 10 years to discover an award winning recipe and this is finally it, plus it’s an instant pot recipe which means it’s all done in less than 1 hour (with instructions for cooking on the stove top or crock pot as well)!! It is full of bacon, ground beef, beans, classic chili spices and all the toppings you want!

Let’s talk about how to make this homemade chili step by step, and discuss what goes well with it, and how to freeze it to eat later. So much to talk about, so let’s get going!

We attended a chili cook-off and brought this awesome Cheesy Ground Beef Enchilada Chili. It was so good, but soooo many arteries were clogged that night. It’s pretty unhealthy, but I heard a rumor that if you don’t eat it alone the calories don’t count.

Pretty sure that’s true.

If you want a healthy chili recipe, you should definitely try our award winning healthy turkey instant pot version, which uses ground turkey instead of beef. And imho, all chili, healthy or not so healthy, should be accompanied with a side of cornbread or our crazy easy 7-Up biscuits!

Chili Cook-Off Idea!

• Muffin Tin Trick

Oh! And listen to this, at the chili cook-off a couple of people brought muffin tins and then placed a sample scoop of each kind in the well so they could try them all and vote without going back or over eating. GENIUS. That’s seriously the smartest thing ever.

Next to figuring out this award winning instant pot chili recipe, right?! 😉

We hurried and made you all a video to help with the questions. Thank you for all of your love and support with making this the #1 chili out there!

Ingredients for Instant Pot Chili

• Meat: Ground Beef and Bacon
• Beans: Kidney Beans, Pinto Beans, and Black Beans
• Tomatoes: Fire Roasted Diced Tomatoes and Tomato Paste
• Vegetables: Red Onion, Red Bell Pepper, Garlic, and Jalapeño
• Broth: Beef Broth and Worcestershire Sauce
• Spices: Oregano, Ground Cumin, Kosher Salt, Ground Black Pepper, Smoked Paprika, Chili Powder
• Toppings: Sour Cream,

Award Winning Healthy Turkey Instant Pot Chili

Our Instant Pot Award Winning Chili Recipe is going viral but we couldn’t help but create a healthy instant pot turkey chili recipe for all of you looking for healthy instant pot recipes!

We hear you loud and clear. Cade and I are sitting on the couch watching the Olympics while the kids are in bed (Women’s Snowboarding to be exact, and Chloe Kim is KILLING IT!!!) and writing this Award Winning Healthy Turkey Instant Pot Chili recipe for you all because holy moly, the requests just keep pouring in!!

We almost didn’t post our classic chili recipe because we figured that everyone was totally set in their ways with their own favorite chili recipes, but boy were we wrong! It’s going crazy on our site!

Immediately we started hearing that we needed a vegetarian and a healthy chili recipe, but we can only test so much, so first up, our Award Winning Healthy Turkey Instant Pot Chili! It’s turkey bacon to still give that hint of bacon goodness, but in a more lean way, along with ground turkey, and lots of tomato flavor.

Alright, friends if it was you wanting a healthy Instant Pot dinner recipe, this turkey chili in an Instant Pot is for you!

What’s in Instant Pot Turkey Chili? 

For this healthy Instant Pot chili recipe, you’ll need ground turkey, turkey bacon, a mixture of black and pinto beans, fire roasted diced tomatoes, tomato paste, three kinds of peppers, red onion, chicken stock, and a variety of dried herbs and spices. 

We really wanted to create an Instant Pot turkey chili recipe that could be made with ingredients you already have on hand. You might need to pick up a few of these healthy turkey chili ingredients at the store, but I’m sure you have most of them in your pantry already. Instant pot chili isn’t hard to make, and we wanted to ingredients list to reflect that! 

How to Make Ground Turkey Chili in an Instant Pot

Turn your instant pot to sauté and cook bacon until crisp. Once cooked, remove the bacon and place on a paper towel-lined plate to absorb any extra grease.

Add the onions and peppers to the electric

Best Mashed Potatoes Recipe (Instant Pot)

Buttery creamy mashed potatoes all done in 30 minutes in the Instant Pot! This is the best mashed potatoes recipe for Thanksgiving!

Yes, we have the perfect mashed potato recipe already posted on the blog, but I love that this recipe can all be done in the Instant Pot freeing up the stove top for other things (hello No Fuss Stuffing!). And the flavor of Yukon gold potatoes just can’t be beat!

Use your Instant Pot for these delicious mashed potatoes your entire family will enjoy. This step-by-step recipe will help you get the perfect consistency and taste.

Ingredients for Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes

You only need 5 ingredients to make these perfect mashed potatoes. Here is what you will need:

• Yukon Gold Potatoes: You will need about 8 potatoes (or 4-5 large).
  • PRO TIP: You can also use Russet potatoes if desired, but the taste of Yukon gold is unbeatable.
• Salt: Adds flavor
• Cream Cheese: Use full fat, no low fat or fat free.
• Whole Milk: Cream can also be used.
• Butter: Adds flavor and richness

The measurements for each ingredient are listed in the recipe card at the end of the post.

How to Make the Best Mashed Potatoes

Here are the step-by-step instructions for making mashed potatoes in the Instant Pot. It’s easy peasy!

1. Set the cream cheese out to come to room temperature.
2. Melt the butter on the stove top or in the microwave.
3. Peel and quarter the potatoes.
4. Add the potatoes to the Instant Pot and add enough water to cover them. Add the salt.
5. Put the lid on the Instant Pot and seal it. Set to manual high heat and pressure cook for 8 minutes.
6. Measure the milk in a glass measuring cup and warm the milk in the microwave.
7. When the potatoes are done, quick release the IP and drain the potatoes. Leave the potatoes in the pot and let them steam dry for a few minutes.
8. Smash the potatoes with a potato masher or ricer. Then add the butter and stir, and then add the cream cheese and warmed milk.
9. Season to taste.

The complete instructions can be found in the recipe card at the end of this post. Keep scrolling for all the details!

Best Potatoes for Mashed Potatoes

The best potatoes for mashing are the starchy potatoes – Yukon gold, Russet or Idaho. They have a fluffy texture that breaks down easily while mashing.

Variations

If you want to add additional flavors to the