This is the BEST homemade chili recipe. Chili is the ultimate comfort food and is made with simple ingredients like ground beef, beans, and tomatoes.
Prep time: PT5M
Cook time: PT45M
Total time: PT50M
Rating
4.8 stars (235 reviews)
Keywords
chili recipe, easy, gluten free
Ingredients
2 Tbsp olive oil ($0.35)
1 yellow onion (small dice, (about 2 cups) $0.74)
2 garlic cloves (minced, $0.12)
1 lb. ground beef ($5.94*)
15.5 oz. can kidney beans (one can, (drained & rinsed) $0.86)
15.25 oz. can black beans (one can, (drained & rinsed) $0.92)
14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes (with juices, (one can) $0.96**)
6 oz. can tomato paste ($0.86)
1 cup water ($0.00)
1 Tbsp chili powder ($0.18***)
1 tsp ground cumin ($0.04)
¼ tsp cayenne powder ($0.02)
¼ tsp garlic powder ($0.02)
½ tsp onion powder ($0.03)
½ Tbsp brown sugar ($0.02****)
1 tsp salt ($0.04)
½ tsp black pepper (freshly cracked, $0.08)
Categories
Dinner
Main Course
Cuisine
American
Steps
Gather and prepare all ingredients.
Dice the onion and mince the garlic. Add both to a large pot with the olive oil and cook over medium heat until they are soft and translucent.
Add the ground beef to the pot and continue to sauté until the beef is fully browned.
Drain and rinse the beans and add them to the pot along with the diced tomatoes, tomato paste, 1 cup/250ml water, and all of the ingredients for the chili seasoning. Stir until well combined.
Place a lid on the pot and allow it to simmer over a low flame for at least 30 minutes, stirring occasionally (the flavor gets better the longer it simmers).
Give the chili one final taste, adjust the salt or seasonings if needed, then serve hot with your favorite toppings.
Nutitrion
Serving Size: 1 Cup
Calories: 398 kcal
Carbohydrates: 30 g
Protein: 23 g
Fat: 21 g
Sodium: 468 mg
Reviews
Josh on 2026-09-19 (5 stars): I've lost track of how many times I've made this. It's a staple!
Jilly on 2026-09-18 (5 stars): Very similar to the chili I make, but I add a can of corn kernels or corn cut off the cob and/or mushrooms. And, if I have it, about 1/2 cup of sweet wine or fresh cider instead of the sugar. Once I had a little Manischevitz blackberry wine left over from Passover and that batch was outstanding!
I have to admit, that no two batches I make are ever quite the same.
Bobby Hill on 2026-09-17 (5 stars): This is very close to the chili I served in my restaurant back in the 20th. I won the newspaper's best chili contest 6 years straight until I retired from the biz.
Here's what you do different scaled down for home cooks. Double the recipe. You also need 1
tablespoon red pepper flakes and a teaspoon of balsamic vinegar. Instead of water and paste, use 2 normal cans of tomato puree; fill each can with water after emptying contents and add it. Use 85/15 and do not drain fat. I use avocado oi now. In the old days I used EVOO. After browning it with the onions and garlic, treat it like taco meat. Set stove temp as you would for the taco meat, stir the spices into beef, and simmer for 10 minutes. This gets the flavor in the beef much faster and you get a little caramelizing and smokiness if you adjust heat without burning the spices and stir frequently. Important you cooked off all the water from the onions during browning. You can add a tablespoon of smoked paprika but that was not part of the annual award winning recipe.
Next add the dice tomatoes, puree, water, balsamic, and beans, bring to boil, then reduce heat and simmer until desired consistency.
Changes for when you want something a little different. Use V8, I prefer spicy or chipotle. Poor an 8oz cup and set it aside. Add the rest in place of the puree and water. You can add the whole bottle, or on the other end, a little less than I do. Again, all about the consistency you like. I sometimes add diced green bell pepper to the onion and garlic, and 2 cans of Rotel instead of diced tomatoes.
Remember: Have fun, chili is ubiquitous and there are a million and one ways to make it.
Chef Dallas on 2026-09-17 (1 stars): If it was truly a "Classic" recipe then it would not be polluted with beans as REAL chili does not contain beans, which were added as a filler during the great depression because of expensive meat was at the time.
Kelly Merhar on 2026-09-10 (5 stars): Added 1 stalk of diced celery with the onion. Drained most of the fat after cooking the beef. Subbed beef broth instead of the water. Splash of Worcester and soy sauce after simmering. Loved it!
Grace on 2026-07-23 (5 stars): I made this on a whim for my daughter tonight. It is my favorite chili I have ever eaten! Just delightful. I have always enjoyed other people's chili more than any I've made myself, but this recipe finally solved that problem. This will now be a staple. My daughter loved it too! Thank you!
Chris on 2026-07-07 (5 stars): This is my go-to chili recipe. It’s so easy! I use ground turkey instead of ground beef, follow the rest of the recipe, and use 2 T of chili powder in place of the listed seasonings.
Elsie on 2026-05-18 (5 stars): Made this today added a red pepper and a can of beans in tomato sauce delicious other then that followed the recipe
Evan W on 2026-02-01 (5 stars): Followed the recipe with a few small changes, like browning the beef more thoroughly first and adding the aromatics after instead of vice versa, and I also included some fresh peppers as I usually do for chili. Not the most tastiest chili I've had, but very much up there when you consider how relatively healthy it is with the beans, how cheap it is, and how dang easy and fast it is.
Definitely something that'll be in my regular rotation!
Sam Nichols on 2026-01-31 (5 stars): I made this tonight and it was fantastic. I added a bell pepper to the veggie saute mix and used half of the olive oil. I replaced the other half with bacon grease with the beef. I also used half beef broth and half water for the liquid. Otherwise followed the recipe exactly. Definitely a winner. Even my four year loved it.
