Reba McEntire's "Chunky" Chili Recipe From the '90s Is Perfect for a Cold Winter Night
The Happy's Place star's chili recipe was featured in an Oklahoma celebrities cookbook.
When it’s cold and snowy outside, Reba McEntire has a chili recipe that’ll warm you right up. Heck, it might even make you sweat.
Over three decades ago, the Happy’s Place star shared her recipe for “Hot ‘n’ Spicy Chunky Beef Chili,” and it sounds like a bowl full of coziness. Read on to learn all about McEntire’s spicy chili recipe, the vintage cookbook it was published in, and how she fared at a recent chili cook-off.
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Reba McEntire’s “Hot ‘n’ Spicy Chunky Beef Chili” recipe is a classic
While some chili recipes use ground beef and beans, McEntire omits both. The Queen of Country’s recipe, according to Oklahoma City media outlet The Lost Ogle, calls for lean boneless beef chuck cut into pieces, making the dish “chunky.”
McEntire’s chili recipe is also extra spicy as she uses several tablespoons of chili powder and crushed red pepper pods. She also uses garlic, chopped onion, canned plum tomatoes, and green bell pepper. When it’s ready to serve, McEntire recommends topping the chili with sliced green onions and cheddar cheese. Specifically, from Watonga, an Oklahoma-based cheese factory.
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You can find the full recipe for McEntire’s “Hot ‘n’ Spicy Chunky Beef Chili” via The Lost Ogle or in a copy of The Oklahoma Celebrity Cookbook.
Reba McEntire’s chili recipe was published in a ‘90s celebrity cookbook
In 1991, McEntire's chili recipe was published in The Oklahoma Celebrity Cookbook, which also featured recipes from country star Garth Brooks and actor Chuck Norris. Brooks shared his recipe for cabbage rolls while Norris contributed his white enchilada recipe.
McEntire is very proud of her Oklahoma roots. The country superstar was born in McAlester, Oklahoma in 1955 and was raised on her family’s ranch in Atoka County.
Speaking to local Oklahoma City TV station News 9, McEntire talked about how she’s grateful for her upbringing. “I lived on a working cattle ranch all of my life. I was one of Daddy's hired hands, and I was paid by room and board,” she said in 2024. “So it was a rough way of life, but it taught me a lot.”
Nowadays, McEntire owns a restaurant in Atoka, Oklahoma called Reba’s Place, where you can order a bowl of her “Cowboy Chili.”
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McEntire is definitely proud to be an Oklahoman. “It’s the people. I love Oklahoma, the heritage, the history, everything about it I love,” she told News 9, adding, “Except the tornadoes.”
Reba McEntire lost a chili cook off judged by her boyfriend Rex Linn
In January 2024, McEntire and her Happy’s Place co-star and boyfriend, Rex Linn, hosted their third annual “Hillbilly Chili Cook Off” — and The Voice Coach came in last place.
“Well, for some reason, I guess I left out all the spices,” McEntire told CBS Mornings about the contest. “But man, I was dumping chili powder and hatch green chilis in there. And I thought, ‘Man, this is going to do it.’ It was from a Texas recipe. I was so excited.”
McEntire said she was shocked she didn’t win, as the Judges put on their “kid gloves” to let her know the results. “Rex was one of the Judges, and he came and whispered it in my ear. He said, ‘I’m so sorry.’ [I said], ‘Are you gonna tell me who won?’ [He said,] ‘Well, it’s not you.’ So he handed me the trophy, and it was a chili pepper in the toilet," McEntire told CBS Mornings. “And so mine took a dump.”
It should be noted McEntire said she made “a Texas recipe” for the cook off, and not her “Hot ‘n’ Spicy Chunky Beef Chili” recipe. As they say, don’t mess with a classic.
