The Best Chili Recipe is one that is loaded with beef and beans and absolutely full of flavor… just like this one! Chili is hands down one of my husband’s favorite meals (and I love it because it’s easy to make)!
This easy chili recipe cooks on the stovetop and is perfect served alongside Homemade Cornbread, buttered toast or Buttermilk Biscuits. Add in your favorite toppings like cheese and onions for the perfect meal.
How to Make Chili
While I sometimes make crockpot chili, this easy version is great for a weeknight meal!
Seasonings:
- The seasonings in this recipe are chili powder and cumin. Store bought or homemade chili powder work well in this recipe.
- What is in Chili Powder? Sweet paprika, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, onion powder, oregano and cumin.
- Mix Chili Powder into the raw ground beef before cooking to ensure every morsel is seasoned to perfection.
Beans:
- I use canned red kidney beans but pinto beans or black beans work as well.
- Rinse beans (unless using chili beans) before adding to remove excess salt and starches.
- Chili beans add great flavor! What are chili beans? Usually either pinto or kidney beans with added flavors in a chili style sauce.
How to Cook Chili
- Brown the beef, onions, garlic and some of the chili powder.
- Drain any fat.
- Simmer Add remaining ingredients and simmer uncovered.
To Thicken Chili
When making chili on the stove, I simmer it uncovered which allows the chili to naturally thicken without having to add cornstarch or flour. While thickening chili by simmering is the best option, you may not always have time to let it reduce. If you don’t have time to simmer it to thicken you can sprinkle in a little bit of cornmeal or make a cornstarch or flour slurry and add it in.
If you can spare a few extra minutes, just let it simmer uncovered.
Variations
Spice Level This chili is just right for our liking but you can increase or reduce the spice level to your liking. For extra heat, leave the seeds in your jalapenos or add a few dashes of hot sauce or a sprinkle of chili flakes.
Ground Beef Any ground meat will work in this recipe from chicken to turkey. If your meat has a lot of fat, be sure to drain it before simmering.
Beer I love the depth of flavor that a bit of beer adds. Feel free to skip the beer and use extra broth.
Swap the Spices Spice up your chili any way you’d like. To make a tex-mex chili, toss in a packet of taco seasoning.
Can You Freeze Chili?
100% yes!!! Chili freezes and reheats beautifully. We freeze it in single sized portions for lunches or in freezer bags for a quick and easy weeknight meal.
Defrost in the fridge overnight and heat in a saucepan (or the microwave) to serve.
More Chili Recipes You’ll Love
- Instant Pot Chili
- Easy Crock Pot Chili Recipe
- Texas Chili
- Green Chili Recipe
- 15 Bean Slow Cooker Chili
- Slow Cooker Chicken Chili
- Slow Cooker Butternut Squash Chili
Ingredients
- 2 pounds lean ground beef
- 1 onion diced
- 1 jalapeño seeded and finely diced
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 2 ½ tablespoons chili powder divided, or to taste
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 green bell pepper seeded and diced
- 14.5 ounces crushed tomatoes 1 can
- 19 ounces canned red kidney beans drained and rinsed
- 14.5 ounces canned diced tomatoes with juices
- 1 ½ cups beef broth
- 1 cup beer
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar optional
- salt and black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Combine ground beef and 1 ½ tablespoons chili powder.
- In a large pot, brown ground beef, onion, jalapeno, and garlic. Drain any fat.
- Add in remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered 45-60 minutes or until chili has reached desired thickness.
- Top with cheddar cheese, green onions, cilantro or other favorite toppings.
Video
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Main Course
Cuisine American, Tex Mex© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
Toppings for Chili
My #1 favorite of course is cornbread or just plain ol’ toast with butter. Pretty much any bread to sop up whatever is left in the bottom of my bowl! 30 Minute Dinner Rolls are great with chili too! If you need to stretch out the meal, serve it over white rice.
I always put out a collection of toppings… and while everyone has a different idea as to what goes with chili I have a few staples:
- sour cream
- red or green onion
- cheddar cheese or monterey jack
- jalapenos
- cilantro, avocado & lime wedges
- croutons or tortilla chips
Is Chili Healthy
Yes, it’s lean beef loaded with tomatoes and beans (and veggies if you’d like). Tons of fiber, protein and flavor all in one bowl! Be sure you’re using lean beef and drain any fat (or use ground chicken/turkey if you prefer).
Choose low sodium or low sugar products to reduce the salt and sugar in this recipe.
It’s absolutely delish!
I just used a bit more crushed tomatoes and chilli powder. Thank you
Sounds perfect Karolina!
Can we use water in place of the beef broth and beer in this recipe?
I haven’t tried it with water but I think it would work. Beer and broth do add a lot of flavor so you’ll likely need to up some of the seasonings & salt.
I had been looking for a chili recipe and figured I would give this a try. Love the variety of ingredients. I did double the chili powder and it was perfect. Will be making this again. Thanks for sharing.
Great food every time we eat .
What if i dont have jalapeno. hi im 10 and want to cook this for my dad but sometimes i dont have the necessary ingredients, what can i substitute for the jalapeno?
Good morning Freya. You can leave the Jalapeno out if you don’t have any.
How many does this recipe feed? Thank you
This makes 8 servings.
I’m 15, and love cooking. I want to stick as close to the original recipe, I’ll attempt to use beer. Is there any brand that you would recommend using?
You can replace the beer with beef broth and still get similar results Loki! I hope that helps.
hi i am 11 yrs old and i really love to cook and also love chili and this recipe looks great!
But i was wondering if the chili would change if i don’t use the beer?
It will work just fine without beer. You can use a little bit of beef broth instead. Happy Cooking!
I haven’t made this recipe, but I’ve made plenty of other chilli recipes. You can make it perfectly fine without beer. Good luck!
Thank you for your service. stay safe
Generally speaking I was never a fan of chili beans until I tried this recipe. Oh my gosh! These are so good! I do have to cook the beef on the side so my vegetarian granddaughter can eat them so I might be missing the flavor combining the chili powder into the beef. I followed the recipe exactly but did add additional cans of spicy chili beans as we like a lot of beans. I’m embarrassed to say I don’t ever have to thicken mine as I keep “tasting” the broth until mysteriously disappears LOL. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!!
I love that Vicki! Tasting is simply quality control ;)
Left out the beer because I did not have anyone to drink the rest of the bottle. Very good recipe, not too spicy but flavorful.
I’ve been looking for a good chili recipe but I have found a great one. So delicious! I used the extra beef broth because I didn’t have any beer. And the only thing I didn’t add was the brown sugar because it said optional.
This recipe is a keeper it’s perfect. Since we’ve been isolating ourselves I couldn’t run out to the store when my family wanted chili dogs. I realized I forgot to buy chili so I made this recipe which I had all the ingredients for except the beans. I made a pound of pinto beans in my instant pot while I cooked the chili. I did add more of the spices and two Serrano’s instead of the jalapeño. This recipe was delicious and my family asked for me to always make this instead of buying wolf brand chili. I did use less beef broth so it wouldn’t be so runny since it was for chili dogs. It’s a 5 star recipe and I highly recommend it. Thank you for posting it your recipes never disappoint.
That is so awesome Erica! Glad to hear you were able to still enjoy those chili dogs! We also have a delicious hot dog chili recipe you could try as well. Enjoy!
Bit extra garlic and some Anaheim’s . Delicious.
Fantastic! I’ve been looking for a good chili recipe. My husband couldn’t stay out of the pot. My kids typically will not eat chili. My oldest said it was yummy (the pickiest of the bunch), my middle actually finished her dinner and the baby had 2 bowls! I’d say that’s a winner.
Yay!! So glad your family loved it MrsMylen!
Loved this chili recipe! I added black beans and kidney beans! I only used half a green pepper bc my husband doesn’t care for green peppers that much. I Like spicy so I added cayenne powder, chipotle powder, and the chili powder! The chili came out delicious! We topped with cheddar cheese and sour cream! Thanks for the recipe! I’ll definitely be making this again!!!
looks great. i like to cook the burger alone to get rid of the grease #earthlobbyist
Loved this chili recipe. Simple and original ingredients but awesome flavor! Family, especially husband was thrilled chili was for dinner and they gobbled it up.
Thanks again!
Yowser that was good! Followed the recipe exactly but did use hot chili beans. Thank you!
I just fixed this recipe..great taste ..i cooked pot of pintos..cause everyone at church did not want red kidney beans..but still great flavor.
I’m sorry but we really did not care for this at all. There was an unpleasant sourness to it. It was kind of watery after sitting. Just off. Didn’t finish it. This is a first for us. Couldn’t quite pin it down.
Sorry to hear that Anna. This recipe is definitely a reader favorite!