Original Tommy's Chili Recipe

Original Tommy's Chili Recipe

by Liv | Published on June 4th, 2007, 7:22 pm | Food

Original Tommy's Chili Recipe
Ingredients:
7 Beef Patties (Ground Up)
Flour (Amount equal to drained fat of beef)
14.5 oz can of beef broth
1 cups water (est.)
3 tablespoons chili powder
1/4 teaspoon of cayenne powder
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1/4 of a whole onion diced
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon onion flakes
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon of cumin
Pinch of black pepper

I've finally decided to come back and re-visit the Tommy's Original chili page. Hopefully this well help displaced Los Angelians and their habits for Tommy's chili. Here's how to do it:

The Beef:
Originally I used "Ground Beef" (About 1-1.5 LBS), and while the chili was good, it wasn't exactly what I was looking for. I was looking for that "Original Tommy's" taste, and after an epiphany one day, I hit it perfect. "Burger joints don't have ground beef", they have flash-frozen patties.

Now you've got to be careful here if you're not familiar with "Flash Frozen Beef". Not all of it's the same. For instance you can go into the local supermarket here in town and buy "Beef" Burgers which are actually beef hearts, brains, and various other crap, and then you can buy the "Real" Beef. Not that it will be the same where you live, but here, the Frankenmeat comes in an orange box, and the first ingredient on the list is "Beef hearts." DO NOT BUY THIS CRAP! No, you want to find the one labeled "100% Pure Beef Patties". At the local Supermarket they come in a box of 32 for 24.00, but go to Walmart and you'll find the following for only $12.00.

What makes this even more interesting is you can use the patties also for the burgers you'll make. You'll need about 7 to make this recipe just for the chili. Feel extra rebellious and add an eighth. Throw 4 of them on a plate and nuke on high for a minute, flip, and repeat. They should be fairly defrosted and ready to toss in the pan.

The Roux:
This is where things have changed. Rouxs burn easily, and not-cooking it properly leads to that raw flour taste.
Here's a simple solution. Take the beef, cook and crumble then drain the fat into a glass measuring cup. Add equal amounts of flour, mix, and microwave on high. Time varies but the Roux should turn reddish brown in about 3-4+- minutes. (Don't over cook here, as soon as it starts to change colors:) Return the roux to the meat and finish cooking.

Once the chili is compiled with the flour, and all its ingredients reduce the heat to about a 3 (medium low) and toss a lid on the pan and simmer for about 5-10 minutes.

It should look like this:

Notice the little red puddles of chili goodness? The flavor should be rich, and tender... not pasty.

It's at this point I think we need to discuss how to construct a proper burger. In this case you need to be thinking "Double Cheese" unless you have some medical rubber band around your stomach whereby this recipe is sure to kill you.

Bottom Bun ->
Beef Patty ->
Cheese ->
Beef Patty ->
Cheese ->
Chili ->
Onion ->
pickles ->
Mustard ->
Tomato ->
Top Bun

Think of the Mustard as a salad dressing. You want it around your vegetables to bring out their taste. The onions you want on the chili so the heat can permeate into it, and release the oniony goodness. I should also note, on this type of burger they should be "chopped" not sliced. On a chili burger, the onion should be white, or yellow.

In this particular recipe we don't use lettuce, and if you even mention the "K" condiment around a Chili burger, you should be slapped back into your mothers womb and aborted. If you really feel the need to experiment, then toss the buns into the oven and toast them.... maybe even slap some light butter on them. Buns are a unique, and often forgotten skill for the Chili ninja. A good cook can take a dry store bought bun and toast it over a grill with an ice-cube to get a moist rich bread that provides that extra special touch to your burgers. Buns should be crisp and fresh and slightly toasted and soft in the middle. You should, never, ever just slap a store bought bun on the meat. This is an atrocity, and you should be stoned to death if you do.

One last note is pickles. DILL people, DILL! If you're one of the numb-nuts who has or does put some other variation of pickle on their burger, then I hope your sexual organs dry up and you go sterile. I remember going into restaurants as a child and occasionally getting a burger that had been randomly assembled with a sweet pickle. Oh, no... no. no. I weep for you who adore these blasphemous pickles.

Refusal to follow my instruction limit your ability to fully enjoy the greatest chili burger ever made. I take no responsibility if you go mucking up perfection because you "like a little more here, and a little of this here".

Good luck.

[BecauseHeLives]

Ever try frying your chili meat till its only a little pink in the middle and then taking it outside on the charcoal grill and smoke it for 10 minutes? It gives your chili some really nice smoke-grilled taste. Pretty unique in chili circles.

[Liv]

Please understand that the pictures you are about to see, might look.... messy, or disgusting, or oddly unappetizing; but, let me assure you this was the best chili burger I had ever tasted.

Once we got off the plane in San Diego, we went downstairs and got our luggage. Went out to the car shuttle and took a 7 minute ride to the local Alamo, were our reservation was messed up, the counter boy was as dumb as a brick, and the system refused to take my credit card. I was severely exhausted, and was waiting for the opportunity to reach across and strangle this guy when he finally, and miraculously figured out how to rent me the car. I ordered a Chevrolet Equinox, and got a Jeep Liberty. Frankly I didn't care. So we threw everything in the car and headed to the drive-thru of Tommy's San Diego. We ordered the Mega Combo which is a $9.00 value meal with a triple story chili-burger, chili-cheese fries, and enough soda to give an Olympic cyclist a diabetic seizure.

A few minutes later we get to Oceanside, and get into our hotel room at the extended stay America. It was a nice room although not worth the $78.00 they ask on their sign out front. Luckily I payed $38.00.

This is when I got to sink my mouth into this glorious burger. The wonderful, heavenly, chili-burger that North Carolina's cook-out could only dream of! This was frankly the best burger I had ever ate in my life. This is about as close as food can come to orgasmic. For God said giveth her a chili-and-cheese burger, and there was Tommy's, and all that was good in life was at peace, as I laid my head down on my hotel pillow and drifted off the Chili Burger Heaven.

[bajaranger]

Liv,

You have done for me more than you will ever really know. I was raised a block away from a Tommy's in SoCal and am now far away. I've been trying to replicate Tommy's chili for a few years and the consistency was always off. Just have to tip my hat to you in a big way for showing me the light known as flash frozen patties. What a discovery!! It made all the difference.


Thanks again,

baja

[Questioner]

Please tell me you are feeding these cholesterol burgers to your 92 year old rich husband to assist him to his eternal reward before he can change his will, and that a mother with young children is not eating this stuff herself! If you do eat it, do not bother going to the grocery store.

Proceed at your fastest speed to your local ER so you are already in the building when your massive coronary occurs! Unless of course, those are flash frozen 100% soy "beef" patties, the cheese is fat free, the buns are whole grain, and the onion rings are baked instead of fried.

Oye Vey!

[KSparkuhl]

Liv...

I've been eating Tommy's since 1967 when I had my indoctrinal burger at the young age of five... and have been hooked ever since. I moved out of the So Cal area 10 years ago and have been making this recipe for as long as I can remember.

First things first... there IS carrot in the chili. It adds that "something" of a seasoning which is their "secret" ingredient. The carrot is grated and chopped SO FINELY that it resembles minute pieces of orange rice. The carrot will slowly disintegrate into the chili and the seasoning it adds is incredible. About two heaping tablespoonfuls are used in the recipe. If you don't add the carrot, you're missing the point of making "Tommy's Original Chili".

Secondly, when speaking of chili powder, there are many brands that will suffice. But the authentic chili powder used in the Tommy's recipe is "Gebhardts" brand chili powder. If you can't find it locally, but it online whenever you can. It also makes a HUGE difference in the taste of the originality.

Now on to the best part: lard. Lard is used in my recipe at about half beef fat and half lard... and you do this when you make the roux. Your method is a gross short-cut in every sense of you being disgusted by sweet pickles. Grab yourself by the short hairs and do it correctly... you won't be disappointed. You'll also find the lard will brown the flour that much more quickly. And also, make sure to use only the clear portion of the beef fat. The rest is liquid and it doesn't meld with the flour as easily when you cook the roux. Light-caramel colored roux is what you're looking for and no darker. This is a huge step in making authentic Tommy's chili. Also, adjust your flour to masa ration to 3 to 1. 1 to 1 makes the chili taste too much like corn chili.

And finally, the last ingredient I would add is about 1 half teaspoon of ground cumin. Yes, the Gebhardts already has cumin in it, but a little more seems to make a ton of difference.

So there you have it. Try it this way once. You'll never go back.

[KSparkuhl]

I totally understand about the "diet" thing. It is Springtime after all...

Here's the recipe I use, word for word in my recipe folder. Enjoy!!

Kevin S.
Nampa, Idaho, USA

******************************************************************************
Tommy's Original World Famous Hamburgers!

Here' a recipe for Tommy's Original Chili and Burgers that I found on the net four years ago. I've adjusted it and have found this one to be as close as it gets to the actual item.


This clone recipe may be for the whole hamburger, but anybody who knows about Tommy's goes there for the chili -- and that's the part of this clone they really want. That's also the part that required the most kitchen sleuthing. Turn out it's an old chili con carne recipe created back in 1946 by Tommy's founder, Tommy Koulax, for his first hamburger stand on the corner of Beverly and Rampart Boulevards in Los Angeles. By adding the right combination of water, flour, broth and spices to the meat, we can create a thick tomato-less chili sauce worthy of the gajillions of southern California college students that make late-night Tommy's runs a four-year habit. And if you don't live near one of the two-dozen Tommy's outlets, you can still get a gallon of Tommy's famous chili shipped to you. But I hope you really dig the stuff: You'll shell out around 70 bucks for the dry ice packaging and overnight shipping. And don't expect to see the ingredients on the label since the chili comes packed in a gallon-size mustard jug. This recipe makes six cups of chili and eight hamburgers.


Chili:

1 lb ground beef, 4 patties, cooked and chopped up.*
1/4 C flour
1 1/4 C flour
1/4 C corn flour (masa)
1 1/3 C beef broth
4 C water
4 tbs chili powder (Gebhardts Brand)
2 tbs finely grated and then chopped carrot
1 tbs white vinegar
2 tsp dried minced onion
2 tsp salt
1 tsp granulated sugar
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp garlic powder


Burgers:

1 1/2 pds ground beef*
8 hamburger buns
8 slices Kraft brand, American cheese singles
1/2 C diced onion
24 to 32 hamburger dill pickles slices
8 slices large beefsteak tomato, cut 1/2-inch thick
1/4 C yellow mustard

1. Prepare the chili by first browning the meat in a large saucepan over medium heat. Crumble the meat as it browns. When the meat has been entirely cooked, pour the meat into a strainer over a large cup or saucepan. Let the fat drip out of the meat for about 5 minutes, and then return the meat back to the first saucepan. Cover and set aside.

2. With the fat from the meat, we will now make a roux -- a French contribution to thicker sauces and gravies usually made with fat and flour. When cooking the meat, the drippings will have liquid and fat content. You should have drained off around 1/2 cup of the stuff. The liguid is not used, so you'll need to separate the beef fat from the liquid and use 1/4 cup of the clear beef fat and 1/4 cup of the lard. Heat the fat in a saucepan over medium heat. When the fat is hot, add 1/4 cup flour to the pan and stir well. Reduce heat to medium/low, and continue to heat the roux, stirring often until it is a light brown caramel color. This should take from 10 to 15 minutes. Add the beef broth to the pan and stir. Remove from heat.

3. Meanwhile back at the other pan, add the water to the beef and then whisk in the remaining 1 1/4 cups flour and the 1/4 cup corn masa. Add the roux/broth mixture and the other chili ingredients and whisk until blended. Make sure your grated carrot is chopped up to the size of tiny grated rice before you add it.

4. Crank the heat up to medium/high. Stir often until you see bubbles forming on the surface of the chili. Turn the heat down to medium/low, and continue to simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, or until thick. The chili should be calmly bubbling like lava as it simmers. When it's done cooking, take the chili off the heat, cover it, and let it sit for 30 minutes to an hour before using it on the burgers. It should thicken to a tasty brown paste as it sits.**

5. To make your hamburgers, use 1/4 pound, 100% pure beef, flash frozen patties. If using fresh beef, you'll first divide 1 1/2 pounds of hamburger into 8 portions of 4 ounces each. Grill the burgers on in a hot skillet or on an indoor griddle for 4 to 5 minutes per side or until done. Use some salt and pepper on each patty.

6. Build the burgers by lightly toasting the faces of the hamburger buns. Turn them over into a hot skillet or a griddle on medium heat.

7. Spread 1 to 2 tsp of mustard over the face of the top bun.

8. Sprinkle about 1 tablespoon of diced onion over the mustard.

9. Arrange 3 to 4 pickle slices over the onion.

10. Place a thick slice of tomato over the pickles.

11. Place one patty onto the bottom bun.

12. Position one slice of cheese on the meat.

13. Spoon about 1/3 cup of chili onto the beef patty.

14. Finish by turning the prepared top bun onto the chili.


Finally, you're going to need a LOT of napkins!


Tidbits

* 100% pure beef, flash frozen patties work best! (Thanks Liv! Great idea!) Make sure the ground beef you use has a fat content of at least 20 percent. This way you'll be sure to get enough fat to make the roux.

** For best results, cook this recipe beforehand and refrigerate it overnight. Something magical happens to the flavors while resting in the 'fridge. Reheat when you're ready to serve.

*** Tommy's uses XLNT Brand Tamales in their tamale boat. You can do the same! Serve a hot XLNT Tamale in a bowl, top with mustard, onion, pickle and tomato, cover with hot chili and a slice of cheese on top.

**** This chili is also excellent for chili dogs. Don't waste your money on cheap hot dogs. Buy a premium brand... I use Nathan's brand when making chili dogs.

[KSparkuhl]

Yeah... there is a lot of flour in the mix, which is authentic becasue the chili is really thick when it's served. I usually adujst the liquid content to texture after it's been cooking and has simmered some.

By the way... in my recent travails on the net, I discovered something yesterday that's really interesting: Cincinnati is the official "chili" capital of the US. They serve a type of chili that is associated with burgers and hot dogs and not the "tex mex" style chili that the southwest is known for... and get this... in Cincinnati they serve their chili over spaghetti! Who'd have thought that?

Anyway... a lot of the early settlers in Cincinnati were from Greece. Does "Koulax" sound like a Greek name to you? That's right... Tommy Koulax, the inventor of Tommy's Original Chili probably has some of the same roots to the Cincinnati area and might lead to some clues as to what else may be in the recipe. Now as I mentioned above, the chili is about as authentic as I can make it in Idaho... yet to me it seems like I'm 1 or 2 one hundredths away from the real deal. Which leads me back to Cincinnati.

In Greek cooking a lot of spices are used in dishes you might not otherwise think would be included. Take allspice and cinnamon for example. The recipes I found on the net for "Cincinnati Style" chili mostly included both allspice and cinnamon. I made a small batch of seasonings last night... enough to make about a half cup of chili... without the meat... and used a small amount of beef broth instead. This time I added the smallest amount of allspice to the mix... and you know I think I'm on to something here. Next time I make the full recipe, I'm going to add 1/4 teaspoon of both allspice and cinnamon. The sleuth is on!

[Liv]

I'm very familiar with Cincinati Chili. Flew through there last year on the way to Los Angeles. Wrote it up here.

Anyhow. I did have both the Chili on Spaghetti. Which was ok, and their Chili dogs... All good, but nothing compared to Tommy's nor Tony Packos in Toledo.

Still to this day, the best Chili (Stand alone) is from the restaurant "Chili's" in my opinion. At home I make Carol Shelby's which is really good.

But for Condiment Chili... Hands down Tommy's is #1... But then in L.A. Pink's Hot Dogs has almost an identical Chili... and would say it's equal.

[DreadMerlot]

Thanks, Liv, for the recipe!

I never thought of short-cutting the roux, but it makes a lot of sense to me. I grew up in LA, and used to make Tommy's runs on a regular basis, to the original stand (on Rampart?). However, now I live in Moscow (Russia), and you can imagine my withdrawal symptoms! I spent a long time myself replicating Tommy's chili. Now, my fellow American "expats" make runs to MY house for "Tommy's." :)

I have to agree with the "add some cumin" folks. Tommy's chili is more "cumin-y" than other chilis -- it's part of what gives it its specific flavor and aroma -- IMHO.

About the carrot, true, I believe that the original recipe has it, exactly how a couple of contributors to this list have described. I've tried it both ways -- with and without -- and personally didn't notice a huge difference. Perhaps my personal taste buds don't register "carrot" as strongly as do those of others.

Sadly, flash-frozen beef patties are only available in Moscow in bulk -- for fast-food chains, et cetera. (I have connections in this arena, but I don't feel like buying an extra freezer to hold 20 kgs of patties. :) On the other hand, I make the chili with fresh ground beef, and it works for me -- but MOST important, I've found, is that the beef have a high enough fat content -- at least 20% fat, otherwise the roux may not work. (Advice for my brothers and sisters in Eastern Europe: don't buy your beef at cheap-o supermarkets -- that stuff has soy in it, and that can ruin the consistency.)

I agree with you about the dill pickles, Liv, and enjoyed the phrase "blasphemous pickles." :)

Thanks again for your recipe!

[Deb]

Just wanted to let you know I have a batch of your copycat recipe simmering away on my stove right now. I've never actually had Tommy's, but sent my son (who lives five minutes away from one) to try it out after stumbling upon your blog while searching for a killer "condiment" type chili. He called me from Tommy's drive-thru to report and summed it up by saying "Oh, maaaan, this chili is dope!"

In case you wonder why I was sending him to try a chili I'd never eaten, I was initially hoping to duplicate Wienerschnitzel's chili sauce, but the one copycat recipe I was able to find really wasn't even close (I ended up throwing 3/4 of it away). Luckily though, while I was searching for the Wienerschnitzel recipe I ran across several comments thrown out by different reviewers saying that Skyline Chili or Tommy's Chili were much better. Well, I'm here to say, WOW, it definitely is. The flavor is faaaaaaantastic. It's going to be really hard to wait for it to cook to the right consistency. Oh, speaking of which - I think I added my water too soon - I only printed out the first page of your instructions because I didn't realize there WAS a page two. So now my understanding is that you should do the simmer, stir, cover, simmer, stir, cover for a fair amount of time before adding the water? Correct?

Anyway, thank you SO much for posting this recipe. It really does kick arse!

AnnA

[jason knight]

Liz,

I love the Internet, and I love you and everyone else who contributed to this blog post. I'm from LA - this is the taste of my childhood.

Thanks!

[Liv]

I love you too! ?

[1kqjjo]

The Greeks are great restaurant cooks. Grated chopped carrots are also used in spaghetti sauce. Carrots are high in sugar content,and carmelise easily,adding a nice color.

In french cooking,a mir poix is often used when cooking meats,or making stocks. Onion,carrots,and celery.When making a roat with gravy, a mir poix is used,along with the use of tomatoes in some cases,the roast is pulled out of the roasting pan and all the veggies have carmelised,beef stock and water is added to the roast pan on top of the stove,the sides scraped to deglaze then the stock is reduced and strained,then finally the reduce stock is finished off with a butter roux,white wash slurry or butter that has been kneaded with flour and made into balls.

So there would be a number of ways to tighten up your chili mixture,but carmelised veggies and a rous is what will give you great flavor and velvety texture.

You can also make the whole mess the same way most cooks make creamed beef.Just brown and crumble your ground beef,sprinkle flour over the top as soon as the ground beef is done,stir and cook the resulting glop till the flour has blended and cooked with the ground beef,then slowly add your beef chili seasoned stock until thinned to the right consistancy and has the right gravy/beef ratio.

[mrmike987]

Tommy's Chili Recipe

I really love Tommy Burgers and being 2000 miles away from Cali now I really miss them. 3 Years ago I ordered 1 gallon of chili from Tommy's and had it shipped. I parted out all the chili and froze it. I just made this recipe exactly as the directions said and I've got to say although it's a good chili it's definitely not Tommy's Chili.


-----------------------------------------------------------------

I just received my order of Tommy Jr's Top Secret Chili Spice Mix (owned by the son of the Original Tommy's burger stand founder in L.A)
Fallowed the instructions. Browned 1 pound of ground beef. Added 1.5 cups of water and 1 pack of chili spice mix. Brought it to a boil the reduced till thick.

This stuff is a JOKE. It's the same as a pack of Taco Mix. DON'T BUY IT

[Tim]

I've tried both of these recipes and Livs is closer to the Tommy's from growing up in So Cal.

The one that I quoted here is terrible. It has no flavor and mostly taste like flour. It was just terrible!

[Liv]

I've tried both of these recipes and Livs is closer to the Tommy's from growing up in So Cal.

The one that I quoted here is terrible. It has no flavor and mostly taste like flour. It was just terrible!

I had a few issues with similar recipes like that in the past as well when they suggest an exact amount of flour... and that recipe does have a lot. The rule with rouxs are basically a 1:1 ratio... and I've yet to find a beef product that has that much fat in it. On the other hand... it's possible that Tommy's buys additional beef fat and makes their rouxs seperately, with added fat... but I've not found the need for that. IMO it's not necessary to over-complicate things.

[Tim]

I've tried both of these recipes and Livs is closer to the Tommy's from growing up in So Cal.

The one that I quoted here is terrible. It has no flavor and mostly taste like flour. It was just terrible!

I had a few issues with similar recipes like that in the past as well when they suggest an exact amount of flour... and that recipe does have a lot. The rule with rouxs are basically a 1:1 ratio... and I've yet to find a beef product that has that much fat in it. On the other hand... it's possible that Tommy's buys additional beef fat and makes their rouxs seperately, with added fat... but I've not found the need for that. IMO it's not necessary to over-complicate things.

Yes, Liv, everything I have read is a 1:1 ratio. The only thing I do different then you have suggest is make the rouxs the traditional way, in a pan and slowly adding the flour. It does take longer. I should try your microwave method just see if it does indeed taste the same. I sure would love to cut this process down on time.

But, I did forget to say thank you for the recipe. I just retired from the Army after 24 years and we've not lived in CA since 86. We only go back for visits every 5-8 years so this little gem you posted gives that Tommy's taste while on the other side of the country!

Thanks,
Tim

[genevieve]

thanks. its a great recipe