James Coney Island Chili

Submitted by Kim D.

"James Coney Island is a famous hotdog restaurant here in Texas. My family loves their hotdogs and chili, so I found this recipe at copykat.com to try and re-create their chili at home. While I don't think it is the exact recipe, I do think it comes pretty close!"

 

• Ready In: 55mins
• Ingredients: 16
• Serves: 6

ingredients

• Chili Ingredients

• 2 1⁄2 lbs chuck steaks (tenderized and diced finely)
• 2 (10 1/2 ounce) cans beef broth
• 5 1⁄4 cans water
• 4 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 cans whole tomatoes, with the juice (food process,strain seeds and pulp, measure two cups for Chili, save remainder for another recipe)
• 1 tablespoon paprika
• 5 teaspoons chili powder
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 3⁄4 teaspoon season salt
• 1⁄4 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1⁄4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1⁄2 teaspoon msg (optional)

• Thickening Agent

• 5 tablespoons saltine crumbs (finely ground)
• 4 tablespoons mesa flour
• 1 - 1 1⁄4 cup water (use enough water with dry ingredients to mix into a medium thick, smooth sauce)

directions

1. Brown meat in a dutch oven.
2. Add remaining ingredients for chili.
3. Simmer for 30 minutes.
4. Combine ingredients for thickening agent and add to chili.
5. Cook until thickened.

Reviews

[Elizabeth M.]

I followed the recipe to the tee and it was horrible. I don't understand the 5 star reviews (sorry). 1) it was way too runny - that was after using the thickening instructions and then using 3 batches of cornstarch/water slurry of about 2 T each. And maybe it's because 2) what does 5 1/4 cans of water mean?? I figured it meant cups which is what I did. I'm throwing the rest away. Sad face. If you make this, I would not put ANY water in it. I did taste a faint hint of the spices in the JCI chili.

 

[David L.]

This recipe is nowhere even close to what James Coney Island sells. First of all I taste no tomato in their chili and I would also say that the meat is round steak not chuck. Whomever came up with this recipe has never tasted JCI's chili and just posted a basic chili recipe. Add beans & bell pepper and change the chuck roast to unsold cooked hamburger patties and this would be closer to Wendy's chili. There is WAY too much tomato used in this recipe.

 

[p00gJr]

I love James Coney Island so much, and this chili recipe is even better than what they serve! I made 2 changes because I wanted it to be thick. I used less liquid, I just did the 2 cans of tomatoes blended, 1 can of beef broth, and substituted 1 beer for the water. Also, for the thickening agent, I only used 3/4 cup of water, and about twice as much flour (I used corn meal as well). Again though, it was delicious!!!

 

[babytoothdoc]

We made this on July 4th---it was great! James Coney Island is one of our favorite fast food restaurants in Houston and we were pleased to find this recipe. We put the meat in the food processor and used regular flour as was suggested by reviewers. I think that the grinding of the steak makes a big difference in the taste and is worth the little extra effort. Thanks for posting!

 

[neenie bennett]

Great recipe. Followed it exactly with the exception of the masa flour. I substituted cornmeal for the masa and it provided the right texture and the taste was spot on. Thanks for a wonderful recipe.