Make Instant Pot chili for dinner tonight. This Original Tommy’s chili recipe has no beans or tomatoes. As a result, it’s thick and hearty – the perfect chili for hot dogs!
What is Original Tommy’s?
This Instant Pot chili is a favorite of Dave’s, as he grew up in the LA area where Original Tommy’s Hamburgers started. Los Angeles natives have been eating this up for years and if you lived there and moved away, this is one of those meals you’d miss.
Thomas James “Tommy” Koulax opened the first location in 1946, on the corner of Beverly and Rampart boulevards, and it grew from there.
Known as the best place to go for a chili dog or burger at the end a late night of festivities, it is also a great lunch spot.
Coming from San Francisco I had never heard of it until I was taken to one restaurant in San Diego. I had to have it all, too, as instructed; a hamburger with chili and a chili cheese dog with pickles.
I make a great Tex Mex Chili con Carne that’s chunky and delicious, but it’s a complete opposite of this chili recipe.
Tommy’s chili sauce, as it’s known, is a smooth, thick chili recipe, no beans or tomatoes. I think this copycat recipe comes pretty darn close to the original. Plus, it’s made in an Instant Pot for a quick meal in no time.
Thick, almost spreadable, my copycat Original Tommy’s Chili is made using no tomatoes, no beans, uses several chili powders and masa harina to hit the spot. Perfect to top hamburgers, hotdogs, fries and my favorite, crispy tator tots!
Uses for Instant Pot Chili
Because it’s so thick and spreadable, I think the best use for this is chili for hot dogs.
What could be tastier than a chili dog with Original Tommy’s chili, cheese, a squirt of yellow mustard, and onions?! The kicker are dill pickles, a MUST to have on the dogs, as the brine from the pickles counters the heat and richness of the chili.
Other delicious ways to enjoy this chili include:
- Topping for potatoes or sweet potatoes
- On hamburgers
- In chili cheese dog stuffed bread
- Chili cheese dip
Another benefit of this chili recipe having no beans or tomatoes is, it’s lower in carbs than many others. This isn’t to say that it’s low carb chili, because it’s not. There is a little bit of brown sugar in it, as well as a tiny bit of carrot and masa harina (corn flour).
This recipe first appeared on Kevin Is Cooking June 2015 and has been updated with new photos and video.
Watch how to make the Instant Pot chili below!
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Original Tommy's Chili (Copycat recipe)
Ingredients
- 4 garlic cloves
- 2 jalapeños
- 1 carrot
- 1 medium onion
- 3 cups water
- 1 lb ground beef (See Note 1)
- 3 tbsp chili seasoning
- 2 tbsp Chimayo chili powder (See Note 2)
- 1 tbsp Ancho chili powder
- 4 tsp ground cumin
- 4 tsp paprika
- 3 tsp salt
- 2 tsp brown sugar
- 1 tsp Mexican oregano
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 2/3 cup all purpose flour
- 1/3 cup Masa Harina
- 2 cups water
- 1 tbsp cider apple vinegar (or white vinegar)
Instructions
- Peel and cut the carrot into 2 inch pieces. Peel and quarter the onion. Cut the stem off the jalapeños and cut lengthwise. In a food processor add the carrot, onion, garlic and pepper. Pulse until almost a paste.
- To the Instant Pot add the vegetable paste, 3 cups of water, ground beef, chili powders, cumin, paprika, salt, sugar, Mexican oregano and black pepper. Stir to mix and break up the ground beef (See Note 3).
- Close lid and vent. Select Manual Pressure (High) and set timer for 18 minutes. Allow natural pressure release (10 minutes) not a Quick Release.
- In a small bowl whisk together the flour, masa harina and 2 cups of water. Pour this in the chili mixture, stir to mix in and press the Saute option. This will sputter,so if your IP has the option, choose Saute Low, if not cover. Set for 10 minutes, stirring often. This will thicken considerably. Stir in the vinegar and let rest 5 minutes before serving.
- Spoon over hamburgers, hotdogs, French fries, tator tots, or baked potatoes. I also like to have diced onions, mustard and dill pickles alongside.
Slow Cooker Method
- Follow Steps 1 and 2 above. Add ingredients to a slow cooker EXCEPT the flour, masa harina, 2 cups of water and vinegar. Cook 8 hours on low or 4 hours on high in the slow cooker.
- In a small bowl whisk together the flour, masa harina and remaining 2 cups of water. Pour this in the chili mixture in last 30 minutes of cooking, stir to mix thoroughly and cover. This will thicken and sputter. Stir in the vinegar and let rest 5 minutes before serving.
Notes
- I get a 80/20 ground beef, If you can find it at your market, or ask the butcher, use a "chili grind" ground beef, it's finer consistency than regular ground beef and perfect for this.
- Feel free to substitute Chimayo chile powder with any New Mexico red chile powder if you can't find it. I order online.
- By adding the ground beef to the liquid and NOT browning it allows it to break down easier and the result is a smooth chili.
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist's advice.
Do you remove the jalapeno seeds? Wasn’t sure if you meant the stem and the seeds or just the stem.
The seeds do add some heat, it’s up to you Christine.
Can you freeze it — if so, how long does it last?
I make large batches all the time and freeze for up to 6 months Noah. Guess I’ll thaw a portion out and have this for lunch. Thanks for the reminder. 🙂
Is masa harina you’re talking about the corn masa or wheat flour
Masa harina is NOT wheat flour. While corn flour can be used in this recipe, I prefer masa harina. Note that while both corn flour and masa harina are flours made from corn, masa harina is milled from corn kernels that have been soaked in a slaked lime (calcium hydroxide) solution to remove the hull. Hope this helps.
I’m not thrilled with the sweetness. I am glad I backed way down to a scant teaspoon of the sugar. The Tommy’s chili I have from the Valley is not sweet. But overall, a great recipe.
The sweetness also comes from the carrot, but I don’t find it too sweet. Glad you gave this a go and for coming back to let me know Gary.
Hi Kevin, your version looks much more runny and chunky than real Original Tommy’s. this pic of a real Original Tommy’s. Can yours be made thicker?
Trust me, this does continue to thicken. You could also use an immersion blender to get any desired consistency.
Wow, man. I just made this again, and it is thick as peanut butter. You maybe didn’t cook long enough or have the heat high enough.
Taste and consistency were very close to Tommy’s!! Thank you for sharing!!! I couldn’t find all the spices though. Do you have alternatives to the Homemade Chili Seasoning? You also mentioned 12 ancho chiles, but approximately what size are they? I found that they can range in size from 3 in. to 6 in.
Angela, feel free to use whatever chili powder/seasoning you prefer if not making my blend. I just use 12 dried ancho and don’t measure as they are so varied in sizes. Hope this helps.
Gathering all the ingredients took a minute, but so worth it! This recipe is so right on the money I shared it with my San Fernando valley fb group! I also don’t have a pressure cooker or food processor, finely grating carrot and onion and simmering it in a lidded pot worked just fine!
Fantastic! Love reading comments like this. Thanks for trying and for taking the time to come back and let me know Christel!
I knew Tom. We were competitors in Burbank, CA. I owned “The Hot Dog” on Verdugo and Hollywood Way. We both bought our chili base from RC Provisions in Burbank. The carrots were added to help the flavor. I will have to try your recipe and update my comments. Thank you.
The Chimayo chili makes a huge difference.
LOVE that chili powder!
Is it possible to make without the masa? Can it be substituted with more flour?
You could, or use ground tortilla chips. It’s mainly for the corn flavor and as a thickener.
Okay, I’ve tried this recipe 6 times now. It’s extremely spicy and I never get the redish coloring or texture of what is shown in the pictures. Don’t get me wrong I LOVE spicy, so I’m okay with that…but the texture and look is just not the same. It doesn’t taste like Tommy’s chili to me…HELP! I need a solid chili recipe because there are no good chili places, that I’ve found, in Idaho!
Oh man, I love this recipe and think its pretty spot on myself. Feel free to add a tablespoon of guajillo chile powder instead of the Ancho, but the Chimayo should give you that rich red color. As for the texture, maybe you’ll need to add more or less masa harina to get the desired texture you prefer?
I will play with it more, and take those suggestions! The batch I made the other day was the best yet but still didn’t get that red color. It’s a mental thing for me now haha! Thank you!!
You bet!
We have a local Tommy’s knock-off that has been around for like 27 years. I notice they put a lot of carrots in their chili. I have made this recipe (thank you for it Kevin) about four times now, and it is best when I triple the carrots: perfection.
Wow! I am so glad you have enjoyed it that much Bob! Thank you for sharing this!
Can you explain what the flour does? Trying to make a GF version and I’m now living outside of the US and have no access to GF flour substitute. Is it just to thicken it up? If that’s the case any natural thickener should suffice (chia, flaxseed, potato starch, cornmeal, etc).
Yes its used to thicken. Feel free to use all masa Gavin.