Smoked Over the Top Chili

Smoking the meat “over the top” infuses the beef and chili with smoky flavor as the meat log slowly drips its rendered juices straight into the chili below.

With no browning or stirring required, this method makes a hearty, customizable chili that’s easier than the stovetop version.

Why I love smoking chili ‘over the top’

Smoking the ground beef above the pot adds a depth of flavor that stovetop chili just can’t match. Instead of browning the meat and vegetables for caramelization, the beef smokes over the pot and drips juices into the base, giving the chili a rich, smoky character with less work.

Because the onions and peppers cook right in the pot, there’s no need for constant stirring. You can swap different proteins and adjust the heat level to suit your family.

This is one of my favorite dishes for feeding a crowd. Just leave it holding low on the smoker and top it up with a splash of water or beer, and this chili is ready when you are.

Ingredients you’ll need

• Ground Beef – Chili is most often made with beef, but this recipe works just as well with venison, bison, pork, turkey, or even elk. Both lean and fatty grinds cook well using the over-the-top method. For testing, I used Snake River Farms American Wagyu ground beef.
• Homemade chili seasoning – A simple blend of classic chili spices that gives the meat and base plenty of flavor. You can also use your favorite store-bought chili seasoning if you prefer.
• Chili beans – we know there’s a debate on whether or not beans belong in chili. If you’re team beans, we love to use kidney beans and pinto beans. If you don’t like beans in your chili, feel free to skip out on the beans and double up your protein.
• Tomatoes – canned, paste, and sauce. This is a tomato-heavy recipe! From diced tomatoes to paste and sauce – these ingredients brighten it up and tie it all together. 
• Onions and peppers – Adds sweetness and balance to the chili base as it smokes
• Toppings – top this chili with sour cream, shredded cheese, green onion, and hot sauce to take it to the next level.

Equipment you’ll need

• Smoker – I used my Traeger Timberline XL pellet smoker, but any smoker will work for this recipe.
• Wood – I suggest using hickory, oak, and or mesquite. I used hickory pellets.
• Dutch oven – I used a 5-quart ceramic-coated cast iron Dutch oven for this recipe, but any grill-safe soup pot will do the trick. 
• Meat thermometer – I recommend a wireless or wired probe thermometer to track the temperature of the ground beef while it smokes. However, an instant read thermometer will work fine. I used my Meater Pro Thermometer.
• Baking rack – using a baking rack to smoke the ground beef is recommended to keep it in place.

How to make smoked over the top chili – step by step instructions

1. Fire up the smoker

Preheat your pellet smoker to 250°F, using hickory, oak, or mesquite wood. A sweeter wood like cherry or applewood will give it less of a smoky flavor. I used a hickory and oak blend of pellets. 

2. Make the seasoning

Combine chili powder, garlic powder, red pepper flakes, paprika, black pepper, salt, cumin, and cayenne.

For extra spice, double up the cayenne pepper and or add chipotle powder. You can also use your favorite store-bought chili seasoning.

3. Prep the ground beef log

Add the ground beef to a clean and flat surface. Season with half the homemade chili seasoning (saving the other half for the chili mix). Add tomato paste and, optionally, add diced jalapeños for an extra kick.

Mix until thoroughly combined, and then form the meat into a log and place it on a baking rack.

Place the ground beef log on the top or middle rack of the smoker and place your Dutch oven or soup pot under the meat. If you only have one rack in your smoker, place a baking rack directly on top of the Dutch oven after preparing the chili ingredients. 

4. Prep chili ingredients 

Prepare the chili ingredients by straining and rinsing the canned beans. This helps the beans hold their structure.

Dice the onions and peppers. Add them to the chili pot, followed by tomato paste, diced tomatoes (with the juices), and rinsed and strained beans. Season with the remaining chili seasoning.

Let it smoke for one hour. 

5. Add tomato sauce

After the meat and the chili have smoked for one hour, the meat should start to have a darker color and begin to drip into the chili mix.

Add the tomato sauce to the chili mix and stir until well combined. Smoke for an additional hour.

If you want an even deeper smoke flavor, you can smoke the beef and the chili at 220°F for 3-4 hours versus 250°F for 2 hours. 

6. Combine it

After two hours, either remove the ground beef from the smoker and let it cool, then crumble into the chili pot. Or, if you have heat resistant gloves, you can go ahead and crumble the ground beef up while it’s hot.

This is where you can choose the texture of the meat. I like to crumble half of the ground beef into finer pieces and then crumble the other half into medium-sized chunks.

This will create a couple of layers of texture so that you get meat in every bite. I like to make chili dogs with the leftover chili, so I don’t want to have big chunks in my chili because of that! To each their own.

7. Continue smoking

Continue to smoke the chili for at least one additional hour, not exceeding 4 hours at 250°F.

I let my chili smoke for an additional two hours at 200°F before my family came over so that it would continue to keep warm while adding some extra smoke.

Your chili may thicken up in this process. However, you can thin it out with a splash of water, tomato juice, broth, or beer! I love to thin my chili out with a simple lager. 

Serving over the top chili

We love topping our chili with sour cream, green onion, shredded cheese, and hot sauce. For an extra kick, add fresh jalapeño slices.

I recommend leaving the chili in a big serving bowl and letting people serve themselves with their favorite toppiongs.

Smoked Over the Top Chili Recipe

This Over-the-Top Smoked Chili recipe takes your chili game to a whole new level with smoky, tender ground beef that drips its juices into the chili as it cooks. Don’t forget to check out our Smoked Brisket Chili and Leftover Pulled Pork Chili for more delicious ideas, and please leave a 5-star rating if you enjoyed this recipe!