A white bowl of ground beef chili topped with cheese and sour cream with the words Ground Beef Chili the best ever at the bottom.

Bring on the condolement food with this thick and hearty beef chili! Packed with basis beef, a blend of spices, and beans this like shooting fish in a barrel chili recipe goes great on its own, on a hot canis familiaris, or every bit a bowl of Frito pie!

A white bowl on a grey counter with ground beef chili topped with cheese and sour cream with a spoon in the right side of the bowl.

Around the terminate of summer, I start ITCHING to grab a mug of my favorite hot chocolate, bust out my Dutch oven and churn out some of my favorite cold-weather comfort food favorites. I'grand talking about things like Italian nuptials soup, spaghetti and meatballs, beefiness stew, and Homemade CHILI.

A big bowl of pipe hot chili topped with shredded cheese and sour foam (and Fritos, if I'm beingness perfectly honest) is one of my ultimate cold-atmospheric condition comfort foods. It'southward something that I've loved since I was a kid, and I withal tin't get enough of it.

What is Chili?

Chili, likewise referred to every bit chili con carne is a hearty beef stew fabricated with spices, peppers, meat, tomatoes, and beans (in some cases). Most homemade chili recipes are made upwards of the same basic ingredients like ground beef, onion, spices, beans, and some blazon of lycopersicon esculentum production. The differences usually reside in the quantities used, how the dish is cooked, how long the chili cooks, or the region they are cooked in.

Some of the regional differences among chili recipes resulted in unique chilis with distinctive flavors or ingredients. For example "Texas chili" is fabricated with meat and a thick, chili paste with no tomatoes or beans while "Cincinnati chili" is a Mediterranean-spiced meat sauce often served over spaghetti.

As you can probably tell based on how many chili recipes in that location are on this site, I can't resist trying new chili recipes when I come up beyond them. While I've tried quite a few classic-style beef chili recipes, I even so hadn't managed to find "the one" until I came across this 1 long ago. Once I fabricated this recipe, the search was officially over; it is, hands-downwards, the all-time chili recipe I've always fabricated. It is worthy of lamination and a permanent home in any recipe collection.

A white dutch oven filled with beef chili and a wooden spoon on the right side of the dutch oven.

Ingredients You'll Need

This recipe strikes the perfect remainder of textures, flavors, and spice; the resulting chili is thick and tender, not soupy, and a phenomenal blend of flavors.

  • Basis beef: Literally the meat of this recipe, you lot want to use a beef that is 85-90% lean meat for a hearty season that isn't too greasy.
  • Onions + Garlic: Flavour the base of this beef chili recipe.
  • Bell Pepper: Seeded and diced bell pepper add a pop of color and flavour to the dish.
  • Spices: A blend of chili pulverization, ground cumin, cayenne pepper, and salt flavor this hearty chili.
  • Beans + Tomatoes: Helps bulk upward the chili for a filling and flavorful meal.
  • Tomato puree: Gives a rich tomato flavor to the chili.

Tips and Substitutions

  • The Best Beef: I believe the best beef for this recipe is an 85-ninety% lean ground beef.
  • Alternative meats: If you are looking to switch it up you can likewise use ground turkey or basis chicken.
  • Other beans: You lot want to utilise beans that concur upwards to low, slow cooking. If you lot don't want to employ kidney beans (red beans) you lot tin can also try black beans or pinto beans
  • Omit the beans? Alternatively you lot could omit the beans entirely if y'all desire.

How to Make the Best Beefiness Chili

  • Heat oil in a big Dutch oven over medium heat until it is shimmering.
  • Cook vegetables and spices (#1): Add the onions, bell pepper, chili powder, cumin, cayenne, and table salt. Cook until the vegetables accept softened, about 7 minutes.
  • Mix in the garlic: Stir in the garlic and melt for another 30 seconds.
  • Cook beef: Add the beef and increase the oestrus to medium-high. Melt, breaking up the beef with a wooden spoon, until no longer pink, about 10 minutes.
  • Add remaining ingredinets (#2): Stir in beans, diced tomatoes (with their juice), tomato plant puree and the remaining ½ teaspoon salt.
A dutch oven with ground beef and the number 1 on the left and a picture of the dutch oven on the right with the beans and tomatoes added in with the number 2.
  • Simmer (#3): Bring to a simmer, then reduce the heat and so it maintains a slow simmer, cover and melt for 45 minutes.
  • Uncover and cook(#four): Remove the lid and continue to simmer for an additional 45 minutes.
  • Flavour to gustation: Season with additional table salt and pepper to sense of taste before serving.
The ground beef chili in a dutch oven before cooking down on the left with the number 3 and the ground beef chili in a dutch oven on the right after simmering with the number 4.

Crock Pot Cooking Directions

You tin can easily make this beef chili in the ho-hum cooker but the texture may not plough out exactly the same. To gear up this chili in the crockpot:

  • Estrus oil in a big dutch oven over medium oestrus until it is shimmering.
  • Cook vegetables and spices: Add the onions, bell pepper, chili pulverization, cumin, cayenne, and table salt. Cook until the vegetables have softened, about 7 minutes.
  • Mix in garlic: Stir in the garlic and cook for another 30 seconds.
  • Cook the beefiness: Add together the beef and increast the oestrus to medium-high. Cook, breaking upwardly the beef with a wooden spoon, until no longer pink, nigh ten minutes.
  • Add remaining ingredients: Stir in beans, diced tomatoes (with their juice), tomato puree and the remaining 1/2 teaspoon common salt.
  • Transfer and slow cook: Transfer to the crock pot and cook on low for 6 to viii hours or loftier for three to 4 hours.
  • Uncover and cook: For a thicker texture, leave the hat ajar and cook on high for an hour at the end.
  • Flavor to taste: Season with additional salt and pepper to taste earlier serving.
A white bowl filled with beef chili and topped with cheddar cheese, sour cream, and a silver spoon on the right.

Serving Suggestions

One of my favorite things near chili is how easy it is to serve in a diversity of different ways. Some of my favorite ways to enjoy this beef chili recipe include:

  • Top with sour cream
  • Sprinkle with shredded cheese
  • Garnish with green onion
  • Make into Frito Pie
  • Pour over a hot dog
  • Serve it with a slice of bootleg cornbread

Storing and Freezing Chili

  • Storing: Store leftover chili in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for upwards to 4 days.
  • Freezing: For longer storage, you lot can go along the chili in the freezer for up to 3 months in a freezer-safe container.
  • Thawing: Move the chili from the freezer to the refrigerator to thaw 24 hours before reheating and serving.

Chili FAQs

What makes Texas chili different?

Texas chili omits beans and tomatoes entirely from the recipe. Instead, the chili cooks with a chili paste base leading to a thick, hearty beef stew.

Do you lot put beef goop in chili?

This is a personal preference. For this recipe, I practise not use beefiness broth. The ground beef gives a deep, compact flavor and past omitting the broth keeps the consistency of the chili thick.

My Favorite Chili

I know that I'll likely get asked which of the chili recipes I've shared on the site to date is my favorite. If you're looking for an easy, classic beef chili recipe, this one is a must-make. Information technology's my favorite of the bunch, and it also freezes really well. That being said, I too really beloved the chili con carne recipe. It's quite a unlike recipe, with varying flavors and textures, so if you want to attempt a chili recipe with a unique flair, I highly recommend that i.

If You lot Like This Beef Chili Recipe, Try These:

  • Skillet Cornbread
  • Thick and Hearty Chili
  • White Craven Chili
A white bowl of beef chili with a hand in front of the bowl holding a spoonful of chili.

Hearty, rich, and flavorful this like shooting fish in a barrel beef chili recipe makes the perfect comfort food. Serve information technology as is, top a hot dog with it, or dish it out as Frito pie; you lot truly can't go wrong!

If you lot brand this recipe and love it, think to stop back and give it a five-star rating – information technology helps others find the recipe! ❤️️

A white bowl with fresh ground beef chili topped with cheese, sour cream, and crushed Fritos with a spoon in the right side of the bowl.

Classic Chili Recipe

Yield: eight servings

Prep Time: 20 mins

Cook Fourth dimension: 2 hrs ten mins

Full Time: 2 hrs 30 mins

Hearty, comforting, and filling this beef chili recipe is perfect for topping with sour cream and cheese, spooning over a hot dog, or making into Frito pie.

  • ii tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 2 xanthous onions, medium, finely chopped
  • 1 red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded and finely chopped
  • ¼ cup (0.iii g) chili powder
  • 1 tablespoon basis cumin
  • ½ teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) cayenne pepper
  • one teaspoon salt, divided
  • 6 garlic cloves, minced
  • two pounds (907.xviii k) ground beef, 85-xc% lean
  • 30 oz (850.49 g) tin nighttime cherry-red kidney beans, tuckered and rinsed
  • 28 oz (793.79 g) can diced tomatoes
  • 28 oz (793.79 thousand) tin tomato puree

  • Heat the oil in a big Dutch oven over medium heat until it is shimmering. Add the onions, bell pepper, chili powder, cumin, cayenne and ½ teaspoon of the salt. Cook until the vegetables have softened, near vii minutes. Stir in the garlic and melt for another xxx seconds.

  • Add the beef and increase the heat to medium-high. Melt, breaking up the beef with a wooden spoon, until no longer pink, about x minutes. Stir in the beans, diced tomatoes (with their juice), lycopersicon esculentum puree and the remaining ½ teaspoon salt. Bring to a simmer, and so reduce the heat so it maintains a dull simmer, cover and cook for 45 minutes.

  • Remove the chapeau and continue to simmer for an additional 45 minutes. Season with additional salt and pepper to gustation earlier serving. Garnish with shredded cheddar cheese and sour cream, if desired. Leftover chili can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for upward to 4 days. The chili can likewise exist frozen for upwards to 1 month (let the chili thaw in refrigerator for 24 hours before reheating).

  • To make in the tedious cooker, prepare through step #2 upwards until simmering, so transfer to a slow cooker and cook on low for 6 to eight hours or on high for 3 to 4 hours. Leave the hat ajar and cook on high for the final hr of cooking to allow the chili to thicken.
  • You tin omit the beans if you choose.

Nutritional values are based on one serving

Calories: 348 kcal , Carbohydrates: 33 yard , Protein: 32 g , Fat: 10 1000 , Saturated Fat: v g , Cholesterol: seventy mg , Sodium: 810 mg , Potassium: 1384 mg , Fiber: ix g , Carbohydrate: x g , Vitamin A: 1150 IU , Vitamin C: 42.3 mg , Calcium: 107 mg , Iron: 7.4 mg

Did you brand this recipe?

Leave a review below, then snap a movie and tag @thebrowneyedbaker on Instagram so I tin can come across information technology!

Course: Main Class

Cuisine: American

This recipe was originally published in January 2013. It was updated in September 2017 with new photos and refreshed in September 2018 with additional recipe notes.

Photography past Lauren Grant.