Tommy’s Chili (Copycat) is a spot on recreation of the signature beef chili that has had Los Angeles natives hooked on Tommy’s Original for over 70 years!
Part of the reason we love Copycat Recipes is that we can recreate our favorite foods from growing up, like Pioneer Chicken, that you simply can’t get outside of their landmark Los Angeles locations.
TOMMY’S CHILI
Since 1946, Tommy’s Original Burgers has been iconic fast food for Southern Californians. I grew up ordering from their simple menu, enjoying signature burgers and fries made with quality ingredients. Nothing is more iconic and nostalgic to me than their mouth-watering Tommy’s Chili.
Now, if you are a Los Angeles native, you might be a bit skeptical at first when I tell you this copycat Tommy’s Chili recipe is the real deal. I get it, I’ve been looking for years to recreate their delicious, well-guarded recipe and tried my fair share of flops before I finally perfected it.
The thing that makes Tommy’s Burgers, and Chili, so good and world famous is their uncompromising commitment to quality and consistency. They don’t even sell franchisee licenses because they don’t want their signature dishes messed with or altered.
Whether it’s the original location on Beverly and Rampart, lines around the corner, or one of their over 30 locations spanning to Nevada, you are going to get the same spicy, buttery, meaty chili every time. That’s why it was so important to me to get this right before posting about it.
It didn’t hurt that I got to do a lot, A LOT, of taste testing of my absolute childhood favorite along the way to the perfect Tommy’s Chili Copycat!
I’ve picked up some essential tips to making this copycat recipe spot on and included them below. While your Chili will be delicious without following them, if you want an exact taste and texture (just as important!) to Tommy’s Chili make sure you read up on them before you start this recipe.
POPULAR COPYCAT RECIPES:
Panda Express Orange Chicken (Copycat)
Easy Mongolian Beef Recipe
KFC Original Recipe Chicken (Copycat)
Easy Wendy’s Chili Copycat Recipe
HOW TO MAKE TOMMY’S CHILI
- Process the carrots until very fine.
- Cook beef and carrots together.
- Add in your spices and cook.
- Add in broth and masa harina.
- Reduce to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes.
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HOW TO SERVE TOMMY’S CHILI
The classic way to serve Tommy’s Chili is on top of burgers, fries, and hot dogs, but there are a few key points if you are serious about to recreating these iconic menu items.
- Fries: Use a thicker cut fry, but not steak fries. Thin shoestring fries get soggy too fast and steak fries don’t crisp up enough. We like to use Ore Ida Golden Fries.
- Toppings: Unless you are a chili purest (only chili), the toppings you pick matter. You want dill pickles, diced white onion, and yellow mustard. We don’t know why but when you add these to your Tommy’s Chili, magic just happens.
- Cheese: While there is a hack to use Velveeta slices, we are as uncompromising as Tommy’s Original and only use Extra Sharp American Cheese slices. Always put the chili on top of the cheese – it gets much more melty and gooey that way!
- Hot Dogs and Burgers: Tommy’s uses 100% all beef dogs and burgers and white buns with no sesame seeds.
- Peppers: The pickled yellow peppers that they offer are called Cascabella Peppers. In the grocery store, you’ll find them labeled as “Hot Chili Peppers” in the pickled peppers section (near olives).
TIPS FOR MAKING TOMMY’S CHILI
- Let it sit overnight so all the flavor can absorb. I know it’s going to be hard not to dive right in, and we totally sampled a bunch before letting rest, but it’s so much better once it’s had a chance to come together in the fridge overnight and then reheated.
- Carrots are essential to the base of this chili recipe. You want them to be reduced to flakes to get the right consistency. If you don’t have a food processor, use a fine grater.
- Don’t substitute the Masa Harina (corn flour). You only need a little bit so you might be tempted to just use regular flour. Instead, plan on using Masa Harina in another copycat recipe like Cheesecake Factory Corn Cakes.
MORE POPULAR RESTAURANT COPYCAT SIDE DISHES:
KFC Coleslaw (Copycat)
KFC Potato Wedges (Copycat)
Boston Market Mac and Cheese (Copycat)
Big Mac Sloppy Joes (w/ Secret Sauce!)
HOW TO STORE TOMMY’S CHILI
- Serve: This chili can be kept at room temperature for up to 2 hours. Place in a crockpot on low for 4 hours to keep warm for longer.
- Store: You can keep your leftovers (if there are any!) in the fridge for up to 4 days in a sealed container.
- Freeze: Tommy’s Chili keeps really well in the freezer for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge overnight and heat on the stovetop.
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef , (85/15)
- 1 large carrot
- 3 tablespoons chili powder
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 2 tablespoons masa harina , (corn flour)
- 2 cups beef broth
- 1 tablespoon white vinegar
- 1/4 cup flour
Instructions
- Add your carrots to a food processor until they're very finely chopped and the food processor stops making them smaller.
- Add the ground beef and carrots to a large dutch oven on medium high heat and cook until the beef is no longer pink, breaking it apart as you go, about 5-6 minutes.
- Lower the heat to medium and add in the chili powder, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper and masa harina, stirring well to combine.
- In a small cup whisk together the beef broth, vinegar and flour until the flour is completely absorbed, then add it into the pot.
- Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for an additional 30 minutes to thicken.
Nutrition
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I’ve made a few different world famous Tommy’s my favorite people’s recipes they all are pretty good this one’s really well made too
I made this for dinner tonight, served the chili on hamburger buns broiled in the oven with cheese and bacon. The grandkids scarfed this up. The chili turned out real good, I have never had the original from LA so I can’t compare it but I would recommend cooking this up this week for a quick dinner
Thank you for all the work you put into creating this recipe. It’s a keeper. I’m glad it doesn’t contain tomato. I can make as written or change things up. This is the base recipe I needed to build upon.
From Cali and left when I was 19 and now in my 50’s. Found myself craving Tommy’s and was on a quest to find the recipe. Have tried 8 or so and this one is close as it gets for me. Definately do not eat this on the same day you make it, only the next day. Only thing I did different is added a tablespoon of the hot chili pepper juice and used an immersion blender at the end before putting it in the fridge.
I loved tommys! I left socal in 92. I added .5T of cumin to this recipe.
haven’t made this yet (hence the 3 star rating) – but i NEED to try this. Love Tommy’s, although you left out my absolute fav or theirs — the Tommy Tamales. these are served with their famous chili on top… oh, so good. it’s been years since i have been to the original Tommy’s on Rampart (which, btw, never sold fries – only potato chips – i don’t know if that has changed). i know you can get fries at their other locations, but i always opt for the tamales. thank you for sharing this. i will definitely be trying it.
Kathleen, Rampart no longer sells chips, only fries, but you can still get the tamales.
This is the best chili recipe I have ever made.
Delicious.
I sent it to . MY Daughter so she can make it so. She makes a lot of Chile and cornbread
Make this Chile, it will be the only recipe you need.
So delicious. I have made this at least 10 times now. I will not use another recipe ever again to top my dogs or fries.
I am in ABSOLUTE AGREEMENT with your comment!! Except I have made this WAY more than 10 times!!
Hint: Try using sausage instead of ground beef-Just WOW!!
This is my “Go to” chili recipe, and everybody raves about it!!
Sometimes I add beans-but mostly not.
To God be the glory!!
It doesnt ssid how much harina to use. Or how much of other stuff to add.
This is somewhat close but the beef used here is too lean. Also the Masa Harina is way off and gives the chili a different taste than Tommy’s. It is missing two spices I feel as well. It is close but not close enough. I actually have a recipe given to my grandfather in the 1960’s from a friend he worked with who’s brother worked at the La Habra Tommy’s. It has no carrot, no masa harina and some additional spices combined with 70/30 ground beef. I have made it and my friends thought I had gone to Tommy’s and bought some containers of chili! I do believe the recipe I have is the right one. You absolutely need to make a roux and cook out that raw flour taste and the corn flour makes it taste gritty. Tommy’s is never gritty!
Kathy, I found your comment to be informative. Unfortunately, I’ve lived in Ventura Co and San Bernardino Co and never had the opportunity to taste Tommy’s chili.
It looks great for burgers and dogs. If I use 70/30, do I make the roux out if the drippings or do I use butter? I’m sure you cherish your recipe. Would you share what spices you think are missing. If not, that’s okay. I’ll play with it and see what I come up with. I’ve yet to find a chili I’m impressed with for hamburgers and dogs. This should give me a good start. I’ve read the other comments and am going to be cautious with the salt and chili powder. I’ve never used this masa harina before, so I won’t miss not having to buy it.
Miss Kathy,
Would you care to SHARE……. I lived in LA for a long time and there’s nothing more LA to me than Tommy’s. Please for the sake of those of us who are CRAVING a taste of LA…..
Would you mind sharing the recipe for Tommy’s chili that you have from your Grandfather? I would love to try it.
Love and miss Tommy’s. Can you share your recipe?
I grew up on Tommy’s burgers. This recipe is good but not Tommy’s. Would you please send me your recipe?
Thanks
Hi Kathy,
Can you share your recipe? I’d be super grateful. Living in Washington state where there’s no Tommy’s and I miss it so much. Thanks again!
Please share your recipe!
Would you not want to add a bit of oil to the Dutch oven before cooking the ground beef and carrots?
You can but I prefer to leave only the oil provided by the beef
Not sure what happened. I followed the recipe exactly, to the letter and it tasted nothing like Tommy’s Chili. We lived in L.A. for 30 years and big fans of Tommy’s all that time. It did not taste very good at all, I tossed it.
Made the chili yesterday … and tasted it today. Amazing chili and will be making this recipe for the rest of my life. Thank you very much, Sabrina.
This is my go to chili for fries and dogs. I have made it numerous times and it is delicious every time.
Thanks, Matt!
Is this just like Tommy’s? No. Does it taste good? YES! It was a little too salty for me (and I love salt) so next time I think I’ll eliminate the salt and add at the end if I think it’s necessary. Also, I used an immersion blender at the end to make it smoother.
It’s not Tommy’s but I really liked it a lot. It is close but there is just something missing. Great Chili anyway.
I made this recipe last night as a surprise for my wife who used to live in California many years ago. I did everything to the letter and let it sit overnight in the fridge. Tonight I plan to make the chili cheese fries, I’m hoping she’ll be surprised. I never ate at Tommy’s but she said their chili and especially served over one of their cheeseburgers is something she really misses about living out there. I hope this will bring back those memories. I think it came out pretty good I can’t wait!
Can I sub the
White flour for Arrowroot flour (or something else instead – to make
Gluten free? Im corn free so
– is the masa a deal breaker? Anything else we else can sub? What exactly does the masa do?
This recipe was fire! Thank you! The chili cheese fries I made at home using your chili tasted better than the last meal I had from Tommy’s. Again, thanks for sharing! I am an LA native living in Charlotte NC and southern chili is too sweet for my liking. This is that LA savory style chili perfect for fries, burgers or dogs that I’ve been missing. Truly hit the spot. Perfectly cooked air fried fries, layered with tillamook sharp cheddar and then your chili= bomb!
Hi there! Followed the recipe but accidentally messed up the process…I puréed the carrot and added all the dry ingredients mixing them together first. You can’t even tell there are carrots in this Then I browned 3/4 burger1/4 sweet Italian sausage mix.the only ingredients I strayed at. Then added the beef broth to the dry mix… Mixing it thoroughly.Then adding to the browned meat. It tastes great now! Can’t wait until it has rested the day.
I’m a long time lover of the famous Tommy’s on Rampart in L.A.
I’ve always hoped they’d publish their recipe. I made this recipe to the ‘Tee’ but sadly it did not taste like the famous Tommy’s chili. The appearance didn’t resemble it either.
It was a good Chili but not Tommy’s.
Sabrina, Can I sub cornstarch for the flour? I have always found it to be a better thickener in most recipes. Shall make this part of this week’s menu plan…
Of course 🙂
I’m not tried your recipe but it’s not what I’d call good chili since I’m a Texas Red Chilli fan need to try Tolberts in Grapevine , Texas for Texas Red Chilli . That place is Texan all over ace live music at night Texas style . Sorry my opinion
This recipe is the best and closest to Tommy’s chili. Chili Cheese fries for me tomorrow! Thanks. I can’t wait for the sloppy mess I love so much from a Tommy’s chili cheeseburger. Great recipe!
Thanks for the rave review, Mark!
It looks good but here is not tom. sauce or ketchup
Your missing an ingredient lol. As a former Tommy’s employee that used to make the chili. You’re missing the flour lol!! We put lots of it and that’s what gives it’s consistency
It says 1/4 cup flour. Maybe read the whole recipe before talking? LOL
Seasonings are the right combo. I had to add 8 ozs of tomato sauce and the juice from 1/2 a can of Goya black bean soup plus the beans. Left out the masa since the flour was enough of a thickener.
Tommy’s does not use Beans. Why comment if you did not do the recipe? You make yourself look foolish.
Usually on recipe sites, cooks will report back with any substitutions or changes they made and how successful they were. It’s useful to share this information since many readers will be wondering about possible changes. They may have allergies, taste preferences, or just prefer to use what’s in their pantry rather than make a trip to the grocery store. This recipe is a copycat version so people who want to make Tommy’s chili (as I do) may be less inclined to substitute anything, but even so…it’s just a recipe, not scripture. Joann’s comment is really the norm, and as such, perfectly fine.
This is great. I had been trying to find a chilli for chilli dogs and never been satisfied. This is a winner. I used to go to Tommy’s with my late husband when we visited his Dad in LA. Brings back lots of good memories. Thanks ?!P
Hi Sabrina! You say 1 large carrot? How much exactly does that “big carrot” make measurement wise? 1/8 c., 1/4 ,c.? My son has told me he does not like chili with beans so am looking forward to giving this a go as soon as I find out how much carrot to use…Thanks! Cee
A large carrot is about 7 1/2 inches. I was able to get about 1/3- 1/2 cup of chopped carrots from it. Enjoy!
3 tablespoons of chili powder for 1 pound of meat ? Obviously you’ve never really eaten a Tommy Burger. This recipe is burn your face off spicey. Tommy’s does not burn your face off with heat. I call BS. Lower the chili by 85% and you’ll capture the taste of a Tommy Burger. Apologies to Southern California. I ate at the Santa Monica Tommy’s frequently. I never had after burn heat fire syndrome. You want heat with no taste, use 3 tablespoons of chili for 1 pound of meat.
If you didn’t like it you shouldn’t have commented. This chili is not as spicy as you are saying. My kids even love this.
chili powder is mostly cumin, oregano, garlic and salt with just a bit of actual ground up dried chilis. almost zero spicy hotness, ya wimp.
It calls for chili powder. Chili powder does not carry heat like cayenne. Did you try the recipe before commenting?
Ricky Cleats.. There is not a thing wrong with this recipe and if you would have tried it,instead of just spewing hate,you might have found out it is Pretty good..
What are you adding to your chili? ground cayenne pepper?.. because regular run of the mill chili powder,found in every grocery store in America,is NOT HOT!!. Unless you buy the LABELED HOT or SPICY version of chili powder..
I can’t tell you how many times through the years I’ve come across the same ignorant comment like yours when it comes to chili powder..why you/they think regular chili powder is hot is beyond me..you all mustn’t cook much is all I can come up with.. then you come in here commenting and putting down a recipe like your some expert chef and you don’t even understand or have any clue what your commenting about..just spewing negativity because ya can..go crawl back under the rock you came out from.
LoL chili powder is not spicy. I would love to see you try a jalapeno
I believe it is 3 T for 3 lbs. ground beef. Use just 1 T for one pound and reduce the other items accordingly.
Chili powder does not make things hot usually. Perhaps you are confusing it with Cayenne pepper.
I do not like spicy and my recipe is 3 T. of chili powder. It is not an issue –
perhaps your chili powder is different though I have used different ones and never had problems.
Chili powder isn’t spicy…unless you’re a wuss…
I moved to Thailand and would have my mom ship frozen containers of Tommy’s chilli to me from Long Beach, California. When I ran out I was screwed. This recipe saved the day, its not Tommys exactly but its the closest I’ve tasted. The texture is perfect, I just made another batch to freeze for the near future, thanks!
Yay!!
I miss the Los Angeles food culture and Tommy’s is definitely a southern California icon. I’ve made this recipe several times now and it really does remind me of the original! Don’t forget to eat your chili burger/fries/tamale with some hot chili peppers (check out Mezzetta Hot Chili Peppers). Thanks for a great recipe!
You’re welcome, Bill.
I am from Cali and I made this recipe for my YouTube channel and while nobody can duplicate Tommy’s Original, this recipe is real close and it turned out sooooo amazing, my family went bananas!! Thank you so much for sharing! I love and use your recipes all the time!
So glad you enjoyed it!
Hi, love the chili-this will be my 3rd time this week making it, my daughter loves it !! My question is the part that says1/4 cup flour do I use the masa or reg flour? I also substituted with ground chicken and chicken broth( I don’t eat red meat and I’m gluten-free) Thank you again for the recipe I haven’t eaten at Tommy’s in a long time….
Wow, three times in one week?? That’s amazing!
Happy New Year, y’all! Just following up on that question as to whether the 1/4 cup flour means regular flour or is also the masa harina? Thanks so much! Looking forward to surprising my husband with a warm treat when he gets home from work today.
So sorry I’m just now seeing this. The flour in this recipe is all purpose flour. Hope you husband enjoyed it!
I’ve made this twice now, following the recipe exactly. Absolutely wonderful. Nice copycat while we can’t get to Tommy’s. Thank you for sharing this recipe. Its my go to chili now!
I’m glad you love it so much! Honored to be a go-to recipe of yours.
This was a great recipe! We had just eaten at Tommy’s yesterday, and thought we’d give this recipe a try to see if it would even come close to Tommy’s! Much to our surprise, it was pretty close! I followed the recipe *almost* exactly. I only had ACV, not white, and only had Organics chili powder, so used 3 tablespoons of that and it wasn’t too spicy. At the end just before serving, I used an immersion blender to try to duplicate the texture, and was glad I did!
My boyfriend loves Tommy’s, so I’m super excited that this recipe was pretty darn close!! Thank you very much!!
Thanks for the suggestion!
Spot on texture and consistency but too spicy for Tommy’s and lacks the depth of flavor.
That’s because they use XLNT chili con carne base, which you can only get in California.
No they use RC provision chili con carne, flour and spices. I used to make the chili when I worked there for 6 years .
Pretty sure it’s RC Provisions chili, cut 1:1 with water and thickened with flour. Also added are some herbs and spices.
If you are lucky enough to be near a Smart&Final you can pick it up in a chub.
So excited to try this, I haven’t had tommy’s in ages! Thank you.
did i do something wrong or read something wrong? i put in 3 TABLESPOONS of chili powder and that’s all that can be tasted. Hot as Heck with no flavor even resembling Tommy’s chili. Did you mean 3 TEASPOONS?
No, it’s 3 tablespoons for a true copycat but you can cut back to fit your palette.
Different brands of chili powder have extremely different levels of spice. I found it out the hard way recently. I write cookbooks and I have only really used McCormick brand chili powder. I have a sauce that used 2 Tbsp of it and it was great. EVERYONE was contacting me saying how insanely spicy it was. So i went and bought a cheap brand chili powder off amazon… and OH MY GAAAWD!!! My mouth was on fire!!!
To get the same amount of heat my sauce had with 2Tbsp of McCormick chili powder…. I used ONLY 1 tsp of the different brand chili powder. It was insane!!!!!
I had to rush back in and edit all recipes that called for chili powder, putting a miiiinum amount, saying to adjust for taste… and put a note in every recipe that different brand chili powders have a wide range of heat, start with a little and add more, to taste.
I felt horrible because that cookbook had been out for 2 years… and I’d been butning the roof off people’s mouths without realizing it 🙁
McCormick is on the milder side of chili powder. That cheap brand I bought, was “US-Farmers” brand… it was like powdered magma.
I’m surprised there is no cumin in the recipe. You can taste it in the original. I assumed it must be in the chili powder. It does list “spices” in the ingredients.
I still plan on trying the recipe as written but first I had to ask if you ever included cumin in previous iterations of this recipe? .
If you decide to try, I’d love to know how much you used and if you thought it was more of a match than this version.
Great work. Came out excellent for fight weekend with the boiiiis
Woohoo! Thanks for the 5 stars, Derek.
My second comment.
I have made this dish-probably 25 times now !!
I follow the recipe EXACTLY– and it is Perfect every time !!!
Never heard of “Tommy’s Chili”, but a lot of my friends know of it now–thanks to you !!
Yay!! I guess you could unofficially rename it to “Rodney’s Chili”, haha!
Can recipe be doubled or tripled for freezing?
Sure 🙂
Used organic Costco hamburger (1 1/3 lbs.) Used 1/3 can of petite diced tomatoes. Also used fresh hatch chilies. Put in a little ketchup. It was delicious.
You made a totally different recipe.
So far looking good. Mine did come out way to thick since I have no grease from my hamburger meat. I just added more beef broth. Taste good. Waiting for supper now and the flavors to marry.
I’ve never tried the original Tommy’s chili, but I can see how it’s so popular if it’s as good as this. This has got to be one of our favorite chili recipes. 🙂
So glad you decided to give it a try. Thanks for the 5 stars.
Nothing better than a warm bowl of chili on a cold day. This chili was easy to make, flavorful and my entire family enjoyed!
I’m so glad you all enjoyed it, Cindy. Thanks for the 5 stars.
The best part of Tommy’s Chili is having it in top of French Fries with Melted Cheese on top. For this if you who have never had Tommy’s, Try this and great on Burgers too with a wedge of Beefsteak Tomato, Mustard and pickles on the Burger… topped with fresh diced onion if you like onions (yum)
Sabrina, do you have a good hack for crispy fries for those of us without air fryers?
Thank you for this recipe!
Yes!! I have a great hack in this recipe
https://dinnerthendessert.com/crispy-sweet-potato-fries/
You can use it for regular fries too not just sweet potato.
Enjoy!
The only way to get true crispy fast food style fries is to double fry them. Meaning, you fry them partially. pull out let cool, then fry again. You will love it
Never been to Tommy’s but I have to say this is the best chili ever and best over spaghetti and on fries. A superb dish for feeding a crowd.
Now I’m hungry, haha! So glad you all loved it.
I can see why the natives were hooked!
Right?!? They know what they’re talking about.
My family is always down for some delicious chili but add this as a topping for french fries, and we’re hooked!
Sounds like perfection!
I have heard of Tommy’s but have never been there. This chili looks amazing and it’s interesting with the added carrot and masa.
I hope you enjoy it, Jere.
thank you, bless you, wonderful, marvelous, fantastic, for a Tommy’s chili-head this is the greatest news.
I couldn’t afford to have the chili shipped to me, and 40 years from the start of my addiction leaves me hankering. And I know about those lines… ugh. Tommy’s chili burger is what I’ve compared all wannabes to the crown. Except for New Mexico’s chile-burger, which is a completely different animal, Tommy’s is the King.
Yay!! I’m so glad to have made your day.
Wow, Wow !! (2Wow Worthy) !!!
This chili is awesome–and I haven’t let it sit overnight yet !!
I have made a thousand chilis, a thousand ways…but this recipe intrigued me.
The masa harina, the flour, and the fact that this contains absolutely no tomato product-prompted me to try this. It is worthy of 10 Stars !!
I had never heard of ‘Tommy’s Chili’, but I will be making this over and over.
Mine got thick quick…I could only simmer for about 5 minutes.
Thank you so much for this, and all of your recipes !!!
Yay!! Thank you so much for taking the time to come back and let me know how much you enjoyed it. You just made my day!
Hey, that’s pretty darn close to Tommy’s! I sweetened it just a tad, and that seemed to offset some of the heat-I think I accidentally added a little more cayenne than what you called for. Thanks for the recipe-couldn’t be easier too!
Thanks for coming back to let me know, Brian.