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.
Omg..finally a chilli recipe that my better half love as he’s picky with his chilli. I tried many recipe that’s usually too tarty or sharp as some might say. This recipe is just right. When I try A recipe I always like to follow exactly how the author says it n then form my opinion. This is so perfect if you follow exactly the ingredients n simmering time which I did 60 min. It’s perfect.
First time ever making chilli and the family loved it. bookmarked this recipe so I don’t lose it. turned out exactly how it looks here. FANTASTIC. tyvm. will be making again. no changes needed (used minced garlic 2 tsp not whole) definitely glad to find this recipe.
Thanks for the great recipe. Close to what I usually make. Never did beer in mine. Nice added touch.
I leave the seeds from the jalapenos and add a little extra chili powder. I prefer the heat. Once served I add some hot sauce but hubby does sour cream and cheese.
We usually eat our out of bread bowls. Fun and all the extra juice soaks in the bowl and you can peel and eat it after chili gone.
This is probably a silly question… But beer… If I plan to feed a family with really young kids, should I substitute this? I really want to try the beer. I’ve never heard it used in Chili… Does cooking it remove alcohol content or something or will I be getting little ones drunk lol?? Is this an adults only add in?
The alcohol will cook out. Non-alcoholic beer would work perfectly in this recipe too!
Haven’t made it yet but it wasn’t mentioned I don’t like beans so when I make chili I cut the recipe in half add beans to my boyfriend’s and macaroni to mine a kid pleaser too.
Have you ever tried this recipe in a slow cooker??
This will work fine in a slow cooker however it may not thicken as much. You can also check out our Slow Cooker Chili recipe here.
Haven’t made it yet but was wondering if you could make it in a crock pot and if you have any advice on how that would change the recipe??
This will work fine in a slow cooker however it may not thicken as much. You can also check out our Slow Cooker Chili recipe here.
This may sound silly, but one of the reasons I loved this recipe, is that mine turned out looking exactly like the picture. It looked so appetizing online and just how I like mine chili to be. So many times you see something online that looks so good, but then you make it and it looks nothing like the picture. So, if this looks good to you, just wait till you taste it.
A friend of mine who enters chili contests and has won 1st prize on some of them told me that brown sugar will tone down the heat of the chili. What’s your take on that?
We add 1 tablespoon of brown sugar to this recipe.
So I did admittedly make a few changes: I swapped the bell pepper for a poblano and used half normal chili powder and half chipotle chili powder. Really though this recipe was spot on! Very tasty.
I doubled this recipe and fed 10 ladies with leftovers to freeze. It was DELICIOUS! I stuck to the directions and it had a great consistency and the flavor was perfect. This will def be my new GO-TO chili recipe!
What kind of beer did you use ? Thanks !
I use whatever I have on hand, any will work just fine! A darker beer will have a bit more flavor than something light so if I have something darker, that’s what I would usually choose.
i do like cooking
Wanting to make this, this week!! What kind of beer do you use??
I use whatever I have on hand, any will work just fine! A darker beer will have a bit more flavor than something light so if I have something darker, that’s what I would usually choose.
This chili is different from others I have made. Wonderful flavor and easy
I decided to make This recipe the only thing I didn’t have was the beer an the broth so hopefully it still comes out good an it’s my first time making chili
This is so much like my mom’s recipe and it’s even better with the beer. I did add more jalapeños because It’s all I grew in my garden this year and there are a lot. So I only did 1/2 the green pepper. Love how well this turned out. Easy to put in a crock pot also. I never leave comments, but this is a classic and written very well. Great to freeze and perfect for parties. Just a quick note, you can put the tomatoes in the blender or magic bullet for the kids that won’t eat warm tomato chunks. Lol! Thanks much!
Thank you so much for taking the time to come back and leave a comment (and for the blender tip!). I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe.
My husband and children are very picky! So i was hesitate to make this, but so happy i did! They loved it, and wanted seconds i used wine instead of beer and added corn everything turned out amazing
I omitted the jalapeño peppers. I did not have any stewed or diced tomatoes, so I chopped up a large tomato and added the tomato paste and a cup of tomato sauce. I added a cup of beer and broth. I made the rest of the recipe as is. Sometimes I had in corn and different kind of beans…black beans, garbanzo, pinto etc. I added the brown sugar which added a sweet taste. I thoroughly enjoy this chili recipe overall and it was simple to make. I would use this recipe again.
First time I’m making Chili with beer. It is a game changer I tell you. A little bit of red wine would also give that earthy taste and a nice dark colouring, if you don’t have beer handy. Yum yum!
Reply to Andreea
I’m not going to rate this yet, as I am still working away on it. I have no beer, and I was thinking about red wine, but hesitating, until (yay!) you tipped me off the fence. Thanks so much, so far it is taste-testing splendidly!
Cannon
How much red wine did you use? As we don’t drink beer at all so no beer in our house but I do have red wine for cooking.
Can it sit and simmer longer than 60 mins?
It sure can Amanda. It may thicken a bit too much so you might want to add a little bit extra water or broth. Enjoy!
yum yum
can’t wait to try this chili out