Mix meat, tomato sauce and a slew of spices and you are well on your way to creating a Texas-sized bowl of chili.

Now that winter is officially here, what better way to warm up than a hearty meal that can be made in one pot, for simple clean up after the holiday rush.

And using just meat, tomato sauce and spices — without the beans — is key for making chili that’s Texas style. Although some argue that’s the only way to make chili, anyway.

“That is how real chili is made,” said Ken Rodd, public relations director for the Chili Appreciation Society International. “Not just Texas chili.”

Annually, the group sanctions more than 500 cookoffs that raise more than $1 million for charity. Rodd won the 2005 Texas State championship and offers his recipe for anyone ready to take the Texas-style chili plunge.

“The very, very most important part, as with making many other things, is to use fresh spices,” Rodd said.

“The spices I use come from Mild Bill’s Spices and Red Lion out of Pennsylvania, and they refrigerate. That is what I do when they get to my house.”

The range of spices gives it an intense flavor, but the kick is worth it. The recipe Rodd shared calls for four types of chili powder, cayenne pepper, paprika and cumin, among other spices.

The ingredients are set up in four parts. The first is the mixture of meat, tomato sauce and one can of beef broth.

“I use sirloin that is put through a meat grinder with a large plate one time,” Rodd said. “That is what most of our cooks use, but you can use other things.”

Mitch Grimes, butcher at Green’s Grocery in Gainesville, said the best meat to use for chili is ground sirloin.

“If you made a hamburger patty with ground sirloin it’s going to be dry,” Grimes said. “But if you use ground sirloin for chili, you have your sauce added to it and you don’t have the fat there. Sirloin is the best for chili.”

The next three parts of the recipe are divided into what Rodd calls “dumps,” which are mixtures of ingredients that are dumped into the meat after a given cooking time.

“Dump one” is a mixture of onion and garlic powder, beef and chicken crystals, paprika, Mexene chili powder (or Red Lion), cayenne, black pepper and Sazon Goya that are added to the browned sirloin. Next, add one can of tomato sauce and compile “dump two,” which is Hatch mild chili powder, Cowtown light chili powder, Mild Bill dark chili powder, cumin and white pepper. Onion powder, garlic salt, cayenne and Cowtown Light chili powder are added for “dump three.”

Before serving, Rodd suggested warming the bowls for the perfect presentation of spicy chili.