Our Smoked Over the Top Chili is full of tomatoes, onions, and beans, and gets its unique name from having a seasoned ground beef meatball cooked right over the top of the chili pot right in your pellet grill. 

Traeger Over the Top Smoked Chili Recipe

This recipe has been making the rounds on Facebook, TikTok, and Reddit for quite a while. The method itself was rumored to be started over in a Big Green Egg group, but it has taken on quite a life of its own in the few years since. 

I can’t believe it took us so long to try!

I took my Brisket Chili recipe and turned it into this Over the Top version, and added in a couple of different rubs to the mix.

More Easy Traeger Recipes here!

Over the Top Chili Shopping List

Want to know if you have to hit the store? Check out the list below!

• Onion – Yellow, white, or sweet onions work best for this recipe.
• Diced Chilies or Peppers – Hatch, jalapeño, or bell peppers are good options!
• Diced Tomatoes – Hunts is my favorite brand of diced tomatoes, but they are all decent. Just pull out any skins that remain in the can.
• Stewed Tomatoes – I like the kind with the celery, onion, and bell peppers. There are other great options available, though.
• Rotel – Whichever flavor is your favorite works here!
• Chili Beans – The canned kind in chile sauce works the best.
• Chili Seasoning Mix – Your own blend works here, but I like the one I linked by Carroll Shelby.
• Ground Beef – I like using a lean ground beef for this recipe. 90/10 is a good mix of flavor and fat.
• Chili Powder – Whatever you have on hand works!
• Hatch Chili Powder – Optional, but we love the incredible flavor of Hatch chiles. If you can’t find the powder, you can use fresh hatch chiles in the base for a similar effect.
• Jalapeño Lime Pilsner rub – This is optional, but adds great flavor!

More Traeger Beef Recipes here!

How to Make Over the Top Chili

Over the top chili is actually easier to make than regular chili, and is much more hands off. With this unique method, a giant seasoned ground beef meatball is smoked over the top of the chili pot with the chili base in it.

If you have a grill with a top shelf, you can position the meatball on the top shelf above the pot. Mine doesn’t, so we just used a baking rack on top of our Dutch oven for that part. Make sure to spray it with cooking spray first!

Here’s the run-down on the process so you know a bit about what you are getting into, but make sure to read the recipe card at the bottom of the post for the FULL instructions.

1. Sauté the vegetables – Saute the onions and chilis in the Dutch oven until they are softened.
2. Finish the sauce – Add the rest of the chili base ingredients to the pot and heat to a simmer.
3. Make your meatball – Form the meatball. Place on a rack on top of the Dutch oven.
4. Smoke it – Place the whole shebang onto your pellet grill that’s set to 275°.
5. Let it ride – Smoke at 275° for 45-60 minutes. Turn up the heat to 325° and cook until the meatball reaches 145-150°. Stir it periodically and watch that the chili base doesn’t reduce too much or burn. Add a little more water, if necessary.
6. Break it up – Put the meat into the chili base and break it up.
7. Finish – Cook another 20 minutes or so, and serve hot.

Serve with our Jalapeño Cheddar Cornbread!

Smoked Chili Substitutions & Variations

As with the vast majority of my recipes, ad-libbing is basically required. No recipe is going to be perfect for EVERYONE since we are all so unique and have very different preferences, so I always encourage people to make it their own and adjust according to their own tastes.

Some easy substitutions and that can be made are listed below:

• Throw in some more vegetables, like bell peppers, celery, etc.
• Love garlic? Toss some in with the onions!
• Make it spicier! Hot sauce would make this even better!
• Use your own chili spice mix.
• Leave out the beans or add in more.
• Think coffee or chocolate make chili amazing? Toss some in, if you are brave.
• Roast some peppers like Anaheim, poblano, or jalapenos, and add them to the mix!

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What can you serve with Smoked Over the Top Chili?

My favorite thing to serve with chili is Griddle Corn Cakes. We serve those with whipped honey butter and it is basically my favorite thing, ever.

If you have a special love for jalapenos, you might want to try our Jalapeno Cheddar Cornbread Muffins too!

I also have a pretty cool Instant Pot Cornbread recipe.

Try our Pulled Pork Chili, sometime!

What cocktails are best with chili?

With anything spicy, I like to get the shaker out and whip up a margarita. Even though that is traditionally served with Mexican dishes, it works really well with chili too.

My Classic Margarita is traditional, bright, and perfect. Use fresh limes and good tequila for the best results!

Like something a little fruity? I have a Raspberry Margarita and Blackberry Margarita too.

Try our Over the Top Sloppy Joes too!

How can you get extra smoke into your chili?

If you LOVE chili and want to really maximize the smoke flavor you can also pre-smoke the onion and chilies before tossing them in the pot, instead of sautéing them.

I think this was the perfect level of smoke for the dish, though!

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Featured Reader Reviews

Ive been smoking for a while and i just won 1st place in the chili cook off at my kids’ school. Smoked with hickory chunks and everyone came back for seconds. The first time I made chili in my life was 9 days ago. I know its not that competitive, but I’m still proud, and almost 300 people liked my chili the most out of 30 people.

Tweaked this recipe a little and added garlic with the onions, smoked the chilies first before adding them (anaheim, peblono, jalapenos), and used extra beans.

Brandon Cutler – chili cookoff champion

This was phenomenal! I used Sam Adams lager in place of the water and added extra hatch chiles. I smoked the onion & peppers before hand as well. It was SPICY but so so delicious.

Marina – on pinterest