category-deep-dive
Chili Cook-Offs and CASI
How competitive chili works in the U.S., the two main sanctioning bodies (CASI and ICS), and what to expect at a CASI-sanctioned cook-off.
Competitive chili is older than competitive barbecue, smaller nationally, and runs on its own conventions. Cook KCBS barbecue for ten years and walk into a CASI chili cook-off, and almost nothing carries over except the chairs.
The two sanctions
Chili Appreciation Society International (CASI) is the larger and older of the two. Founded in Texas in the late 1960s and still headquartered there, CASI sanctions roughly 400 contests a year, heavily concentrated in Texas but with active pods (regional chapters) in dozens of other states. Its marquee event is the Terlingua International Chili Championship each November, a multi-day competition in a remote ghost town in the Big Bend region. Winning it is the most prestigious result in red chili.
International Chili Society (ICS) is a separate organization with its own calendar and its own World Championship. The two bodies share nothing: not results, not qualifications, not judging criteria.
Most regional circuits run under CASI, including Texas, the Southwest, the Pacific Northwest and the Midwest pods. ICS is stronger on the West Coast and in the Northeast. Plenty of cooks compete under both, depending on which contest is closer.
Categories at a CASI contest
A typical CASI cook-off judges some subset of these.
- Red Chili. The headline category. Meat-based, no beans, no fillers. The classic Texas red.
- Chili Verde. Green chili, usually pork, often built on Hatch or other green chiles. Smaller field than red.
- Salsa. A side competition at many CASI events. Rules vary by pod.
- Showmanship. Campsite decoration, costumes, theme. Often a fundraiser category.
The rule that defines CASI red chili: no beans, no fillers. Some regional bodies and most home cooks treat chili as a stew that includes beans. CASI treats that as something other than chili.
The Meat Requirement field on a CASI listing tells you the style:
- Open. Open-pot red chili, any meat cut, prepared during the contest.
- Chili Grind. Ground-meat red chili, at a CASI-specified grind size.
- Verde. Green chili.
What the day looks like
Most CASI contests run a single Saturday.
Around 9 AM there is a cooks meeting: site assignments, turn-in times, an introduction from the sanctioning rep. Cooking takes up the middle of the day. CASI requires the chili to be made at the contest site, with no pre-cooked ingredients, and ingredients are usually inspected.
Turn-in falls in the early afternoon, commonly 3:00 or 4:00 PM. Each cook hands a small numbered cup to the judging tent. Judges taste in random order and score 1 to 10. Awards follow late afternoon.
Entry runs $20 to $30 at most regional contests. Terlingua and the bigger qualifiers cost more. A large share of cook-offs benefit a local charity, which is a long-running part of how CASI operates.
Auto Qualifier events
Some events are marked Auto Qualifier. Winning one earns an automatic invitation to Terlingua. State Championships, Pod Championships and a handful of major regionals carry the status. Cooks chasing Terlingua plan their season around that calendar and ignore the rest.
Pods
A pod is CASI’s regional chapter, usually built around a city, county or region. Pods run local contests, train judges, and elect representatives to the CASI board.
Joining one is the fastest way into the regional community. Most welcome new cooks at any experience level, and the social side of CASI happens at pod level: charity benefits, pot-luck cook-offs, ride-alongs with an experienced team.
Finding chili events here
You can also filter by state. Texas, New Mexico and California have the densest chili calendars.
For the other categories, see the guides to BBQ sanctioning bodies, steak and beans, which are usually cooked at the same events as chili.