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, has a smaller national footprint, and runs on a completely separate set of conventions. If you’ve cooked KCBS BBQ and you walk into a CASI chili cook-off, 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 headquartered there, CASI sanctions roughly 400 contests a year across the U.S., concentrated heavily in Texas but with active pods (regional chapters) in dozens of other states. CASI’s marquee event is the Terlingua International Chili Championship each November in Terlingua, Texas — a several-day competition that draws hundreds of cooks each year to a remote ghost town in the Big Bend region, generally regarded as the most prestigious win in red chili.
International Chili Society (ICS) is a separate organization with its own calendar. ICS-sanctioned contests award points toward a different World Championship. The two bodies don’t share results, qualifications, or judging criteria.
Most regional chili circuits — Texas, the Southwest, the Pacific Northwest, the Midwest’s CASI pods — operate under CASI. ICS has a stronger presence on the West Coast and the Northeast. Many cooks compete under both bodies depending on the contest.
Categories at a CASI contest
A typical CASI cook-off judges some subset of:
- Red Chili — the headline category. Meat-based, no beans, no fillers. The classic Texas red.
- Chili Verde — green chili, typically pork-based, often using Hatch or other green chiles. Smaller contest field than red.
- Salsa — a side competition at many CASI events; rules vary by pod.
- Showmanship — campsite decoration, costumes, theme. Frequent fundraiser category.
CASI’s distinguishing rule: no beans, no fillers in red chili. Some regional bodies (and home cooks) treat “chili” as a stew that includes beans; CASI treats that as not-chili.
The “Meat Requirement” field on a CASI event tells you the chili style:
- Open — open-pot red chili, any meat cut, prepared during the contest
- Chili Grind — ground-meat red chili (uses CASI-specified grind size)
- Verde — green chili
What to expect on the day
Most CASI contests run as a single Saturday day. The schedule is roughly:
- Morning, ~9 AM: Cooks meeting. Site assignments, turn-in time confirmation, sanctioning rep introduction.
- Mid-day: Cooking. CASI rules require chili to be prepared at the contest site (no pre-cooked ingredients), and ingredients are typically inspected.
- Early afternoon, ~3-4 PM: Turn-in. Each cook submits a small numbered cup to the judging tent. Judges sample chilies in random order and score 1-10.
- Late afternoon: Awards.
Entry fees run $20-30 in most regional CASI events; the Terlingua Championship and other major qualifiers are higher. Many cook-offs benefit a local charity — a long-running CASI tradition.
”Auto Qualifier” events
Some CASI events are marked Auto Qualifier, which means the winners earn an automatic invitation to the Terlingua Championship. State Championship events, Pod Championships, and a handful of major regional events carry this status. For competitors chasing Terlingua, the Auto Qualifier calendar is the one that matters.
CASI pods
A “pod” is CASI’s term for a regional chapter — usually organized around a city, county, or geographic region. Pods coordinate local contests, train judges, and elect representatives to the CASI board. Joining a pod is the easiest way to get embedded in the regional CASI community — most pods welcome new cooks regardless of experience level, and the social side of CASI (charity benefits, pot-luck cook-offs, ride-alongs) often happens at the pod level rather than at the national contest level.
Where to find chili events on CookoffList
Or filter by state — Texas, New Mexico, and California are the densest chili-cookoff calendars.
Looking for BBQ or steak instead? See our BBQ sanctioning explainer and steak cook-off guide.