Pedernales River Chili
Pedernales River Chili was American President Lyndon Johnson's favorite chili con carne recipe. It was named after the location of his Texas Hill Country ranch. The recipe calls for leaving out the traditional beef suet (on doctor's orders after his heart attack while he was U.S. Senate Majority Leader) and also adds tomatoes and onions. LBJ preferred venison, when available, over beef; Hill Country deer were thought to be leaner than most.
Ingredients
- 4 lbs (1.8 ) coarse-ground meat (venison preferred)
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano (preferable to fresh oregano, which grows wild in central Texas)
- 1 teaspoon powdered cumin
- 6 teaspoons chili powder (or more, to taste)
- 2 cans (16-oz/500g) whole tomatoes
- Salt to taste
- 2 cups (470 ml) hot water
Ingredients for 11 servings (3.4 kg) · the original recipe
Method
- 1
Brown meat, onion, and garlic in a large skillet.
Stovetop - 2
Add rest of ingredients and bring to a boil. Lower heat, cover, and simmer for about an hour.
Stovetop - 3
Skim off grease.
Recipe from Wikibooks Cookbook, written by Wikibooks contributors. Used under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence; the ingredient list and method on this page are taken from that page and edited (its notes, tips and variations are not reproduced), and are available under the same licence. The macros, equipment tags and scaling are Ma Kitchen’s own and are not the source’s figures. Ma Kitchen is not affiliated with or endorsed by Wikibooks Cookbook. Copied on 2026-11-12.
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