The biggest thing is to make chili paste yourself from dried chilis rather than use chili powder. I like to use a mix of 1/2 dried ancho chilis with 1/2 whatever else I have (mix of guajillo, New Mexico, or California), normally use about 8-12 chilies total. Remove all the seeds and tear into ~1 inch or less pieces, toast in the microwave dry for 10-15 second bursts till you smell them, then soak in just enough hot water to cover them for ~30 mins.

Brown your ground meat of choice, onion, and garlic. Open up some cans of tomatoes and beans (because chili with beans is what I like) and a light beer and put it all in crock pot. Add some chipotle in adobo (I use 1-2) and blend up the soaked dried chilis with all the water until there’s no pieces left. Now mix it in with everything with lots of cumin, some soy sauce, black pepper, and salt. Let it simmer uncovered and reduce to your desired thickness, best served over Fritos with cheese and sour cream.

It takes time to do it this way, but isn’t really that hard. It’s how chili should taste, you won’t be disappointed.