The best chili recipe you’ll ever eat is right here! Our classic beef chili is made with ground beef, beans, diced tomatoes, and a homemade chili seasoning.
So many of you have made this chili recipe and loved it so much you keep coming back for more. This is hands-down our most popular chili recipe on Fit Foodie Finds and we can’t wait for you to make it!
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Best Chili Recipe!
Chili for days you say? That’s right! This classic chili recipe will give you chili for days because boy does it serve a crowd. And, did we mention that it’s truly the best chili recipe on the internet?
This is truly the best chili recipe ever. It’s filling, flavorful, and fool-proof delicious. A big bowl of this is perfect for game day, a weeknight dinner, or even a fall party.
Why You’ll Love it
- Amazing Meal Prep: Chili is an excellent meal prep idea because it will literally give you chili for days. This particular recipe serves 6-8 and you can easily double it and freeze for later! Plus, you can turn it into our Chili Mac and Cheese recipe for more variety!
- Healthy: Our beef chili recipe is made with lean ground beef, beans, and tons of veggies making it high in protein, fiber. It’s also made with a homemade chili seasoning canceling out any additives you may find in the store-bought kind.
- Made in No Time! In less than 45 minutes you can have dinner on the table!
Made with Classic Chili Ingredients
There’s a big debacle on the internet whether classic chili has beans or no beans. In my opinion, the best chili recipe is a base of ground beef, tomato, spices, and BEANS. I love the number of fiber beans add to this dish and I promise you won’t regret adding them.
Beef
The star of the show here is ground beef. I’ll give you one secret, the fat in your beef matters! We’re big fans of 80% or 85% fat because that little bit of fat adds so much flavor. If you go any leaner, you risk compromising flavor and texture.
Can I substitute a different ground meat? Ohhhh, if you must! Yes, ground chicken or turkey both work for this recipe. We’ve even made this chili recipe with a plant-based ground to make it vegetarian.
Tomatoes
One of the reasons I love chili is because it’s made with tomato products. Thick, creamy, and so delicious. This recipe calls for 3 different kinds:
- tomato sauce (gives this recipe a delicious tomato flavor)
- diced tomatoes (adds great texture)
- tomato puree (helps to thicken and intensify the flavors)
Beans
While traditional beef chili does not call for beans, we like to up the anty a little bit in the nutrition department and include 2 different variations to make this the most epic chili beans recipe. Pinto beans and kidney beans add texture and fiber to this beef chili recipe.
Feel free to swap the beans for a different kind such as black beans, garbanzo beans, or cannellini beans.
Chili Seasoning
Do yourself a favor and make your own chili seasoning. I promise you the flavor is better AND there isn’t any added junk. Try our homemade chili seasoning and keep a batch in your cabinet at all times.
homemade chili seasoning ingredients
- Chili powder
- Garlic powder
- Ground cumin
- Smoked paprika
- Salt
- Ground pepper
#1 Secret Ingredient for THE BEST CHILI RECIPE
Every chili needs a little bit of sugar in some form to bring out all of the savory flavors from the chili seasoning. Our classic chili recipe calls for a little bit of maple syrup. It’s warm, unrefined, and absolutely delightful.
Don’t have maple? Swap it with some brown sugar or even some honey.
Chili 101
What is the best secret ingredient for chili? The best secret ingredient for chili is a little bit of sugar. Whether you use white sugar, brown sugar, or my favorite, maple syrup, a little bit of sugar will bring out all of the savory spices of your chili.
Does traditional chili have beans? Traditionally, chili used to be served without beans, but in my opinion, it’s so much better with beans!
How do you make chili more flavorful? To make chili more flavorful, we suggest using more homemade chili seasoning. We always recommend making your own spice blend at home because you can really control the flavor that way. Other ways to add more flavor include:
- More salt
- More heat (diced jalapeño, hot sauce, or green chiles)
- Add a jar of salsa
What are good chili toppings? Good chili toppings include shredded cheese, green onion, sour cream or Greek yogurt, Fritos, tortilla chips, and chives.
How do you make chili spicy? To make this beef chili spicy, you can add a few tablespoons of diced jalapeños, poblano peppers, or green chiles. You can even add a few tablespoons of hot sauce.
Recommended Kitchen Tools
How to make truly the BEST chili recipe!
Here is a quick rundown of How to Make Chili. Make sure to scroll all the way down to the recipe card to get the full ingredient list and instructions.
- Saute ground beef: add ground beef, onion, and garlic to a stockpot or Dutch oven and saute for 7-10 minutes to fully brown.
- Add rest of ingredients: Next, add the rest of the ingredients including the chili seasoning and mix to combine.
- Simmer: Bring chili to a boil and then reduce heat to low. Simmer for 10-15 minutes.
- Serve: Serve immediately with your favorite toppings!
Topping Ideas
In my opinion, chili isn’t chili without the toppings! I’ll share what we at our bowl of chili with and some other ideas.
- shredded cheese
- chips – tortilla or Fritos
- green onions
- Greek yogurt or sour cream
- chives
- hot sauce
Check it out!
Best Chili Mac and Cheese
Chili mac and cheese might be the best dinner of all time. Make it once and eat it all week long. Bonus, it’s kid-friendly and protein-packed! PS: the base of this chili mac is made from this beef chili recipe!
Can I make this chili recipe in the Crockpot or Instant Pot instead?
This ground beef chili can easily be made in the slow cooker or Instant Pot. While we haven’t tried either of these methods, you can follow a similar method to the other crockpot and Instant Pot chili recipes we have on Fit Foodie Finds.
Crockpot Chili Recipes
- Crockpot Chicken Chili
- Lazy Girl Turkey Chili
- Slow Cooker Chicken Enchilada Soup
- White Bean Chicken Chili
Instant Pot Chili Recipes
Leftover Chili Ideas
Got leftovers? Here are a few ideas on how to repurpose this recipe:
Chili Baked Potatoes: Top either a baked potato or baked sweet potato with leftover chili and shredded cheese.
Chili Nachos: Are you a fan of nachos just like us? Place a bag of tortilla chips on a baking sheet. Then, top with leftover chili, shredded cheddar cheese, and other nachos toppings.
Chili Mac and Cheese: It doesn’t get much better than combining 2 of your favorite things into 1 dish. That’s exactly what we did in our Chili Mac and Cheese recipe.
Can I freeze beef chili?
Beef Chili is the perfect chili recipe to freeze! We wrote an entire post on how to freeze soup and it works the exact same way for chili.
- Let your beef chili cool completely.
- Then, transfer it into an airtgiht container or freezer-safe gallon-size bag.
- Remove as much air as possible and seal.
- Freeze for up to 3 months.
We recommend freezing in a freezer-safe gallon-size bag or freezer-safe storage container. Make sure that you remove as much air as possible before sealing.
How do I store beef chili?
Store beef chili in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
To reheat: Either place multiple servings of the beef chili back into the stockpot and heat over medium heat until boiling or place 1 serving of chili into a microwave-safe bowl and microwave on high for 1 minute and 30 seconds to 2 minutes.
Best Chili Recipe
The best chili recipe you’ll ever eat is right here! Our beef chili is made with ground beef, beans, diced tomatoes, and a homemade chili seasoning.
Ingredients
- 1 lb. ground beef (we used 85% fat)
- 1/2 medium yellow onion, finely diced
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 15-oz. can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 15-oz. can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 15-oz. can tomato sauce
- 1 15-oz. can diced tomatoes
- 3 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- 3 tablespoons chili powder
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
- 1 cup beef broth (chicken broth or water works too)
Optional toppings
- shredded cheddar cheese
- Fritos
- green onion
Instructions
- First, heat a large stockpot over medium/high heat.
- Then, add ground beef, yellow onion, and minced garlic and sauté for 7-10 minutes or until beef is fully browned.
- Next, add pinto beans, kidney beans, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, tomato paste, and maple syrup to the pot and stir to combine.
- Add spices and 1 cup of broth and stir to combine.
- Bring beef chili to a boil, then reduce heat to low and let simmer for 10-15 minutes to thicken.
- Top with your favorite toppings and enjoy!
Tips & Notes
Nutrition information is for 6 servings and does not include toppings.
Nutrition Facts
Serving Size: 1/6 Calories: 367 Sugar: 11 Fat: 14 Carbohydrates: 38 Fiber: 11 Protein: 24Keywords: chili recipe
Perfect recipe for game day! Love the smoked paprika- nice touch 🙂
★★★★★
I am a surgeon, not a cook. I learned a few things. The brand of tomatoe products you buy is very important. One brand has 20 mg of sodium, another brand has 370mg of sodium. I prefer fresh cooked beans and brand is important. The first brand I chose did not soaked up water and never cooked to a creamy texture It was an overnight soak following directions on the package.. The second brand I did the fast soak and cooked following the directions on the package. I put the jalapeno’s in at the end uncooked. Turned out great.
★★★★★
We are very thankful to this.
★★★★
I used brown sugar instead of maple syrup. Other than that, I followed the recipe to the T, even weighed the spices, and it came out way too sweet. The brown sugar is supposed to compliment the spices, but It’s way too overpowering. I can literally taste the brown sugar over every other spice in the chili and it ended up muting the flavors. I think this recipe is tailored to people who like to add many toppings because it certainly doesn’t taste good on its own. This is far from the “worlds best chili”. In fact, its literally the worst chili I’ve ever had. I would take a can of chili over this any day. I genuinely hate the fact that I wasted my ingredients making this. It’s very unlikely I’ll ever use a recipe you submit again, unless my goal is to have more food scraps for my compost bin.
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Also, the process of commenting is more confusing than it should be. I’ve never seen a comment box already filled with words and with no border, leading me to believe its just a written message on the page. I was literally clicking everywhere else than I should, trying to find some invisible comment box.
Ray needs help. I added a tablespoon of brown sugar, it was not too much. It tastes great so far. But I want to fine tune the brown sugar and cayenne. I forgot to buy fresh garlic. Now I do not think it needs it. Leaving a comment was very easy.
How much brown sugar and how much cayenne pepper?
Easiest to follow, simple with great results. I added fresh jalapeños when as I added the spices.
★★★★★
It would have been amazing if I used no salt added sauce and diced tomatoes and broth. I used better than beef broth and I even cut it with more water…. it ended up being so salty I can’t eat it. The flavours were really good though, I had to add some more chili powder and cayenne pepper to give it a bit more heat.
★★★
I have to say that while the recipe was very easy to follow and I loved all the additional tips that were included, I found the finished product to be quite dull in taste and it just didn’t really taste like chili, if that makes any sense. I tried to jazz it up with adding more spices than the recipe called for, as well as some red pepper flakes. That helped somewhat, but it just seems like this chili is missing something and I’m not quite sure what. Thanks for sharing, though.
★★★
Hi Lori! Thank you for sharing! I am sorry that the flavor wasn’t right for you,. What kind of broth did you use? And did you use enough salt?
So I modified the recipe by using a 6 oz can of tomato paste to make it thicker and I also used only 1 TBS of Chili powder and 2 TBS of Maple Syrup, other than that the recipe is good.
★★★★
Thank you for sharing!
Could you just throw everything in the crockpot and it would work just as well?
Great recipe. Simple is best. Substitute 1/2 cup whiskey for syrup much rounder flavor. Grate some carrots With your onions in it will make the chili even creamier And with the whiskey give it just the right amount of sweetness.
This recipe is so so easy to make, and the chile tastes fantastic. Just follow the recipe as it is presented. I made it for the Super Bowl and every bean was eaten. I made all the toppings and nothing was left. AS ADVERTISED — terrific Chile, simple to make, and no cleanup!
★★★★★
A winner! Great recipe! Will use again and again!
★★★★★
I used beef bone in broth delicious
Wow this was pretty great! Made exactly as the recipe says and I haven’t found a better recipe yet 😁 definitely saving this one. The maple syrup gives it a unique and phenomenal flavor.
★★★★★
This was amazing!! Usually, I’m the only one in the family that eats chili, so I’m always looking for new recipes to try. My wife walked in and saw me add maple syrup and was intrigued. She tried it and fell in love! The kids saw her eat it and decided to try it and they loved it! This will be in our regular rotation from now on! Perfect flavor, family-friendly, and comes together quickly.
★★★★★
Delicious! I got in the mood after having some of Costco’s Beef Chili, and your recipe really kicks it up a notch! I love the unapologetic use of beans – 2 kinds! – they’re awesome and so many people have a problem with them. Sorry no photo, ate everything 🙂
★★★★★
#beans4life!!!
Amazing recipe! The second time I made it, I swapped ground beef, for ground hot italian sausage and wowowowowoww. Delish.
★★★★★
HUBBA HUBBA! What a great swap!
This looks really good and I plan on making it today. If I don’t have maple syrup, would it work just as well with regular syrup?
That works! Or you can add brown sugar. Really any kind of sweetener will do the job!
This is the best and easiest chili recipe I have ever tasted or made. The seasoning is outstanding and I keep a mix in my cabinet for an even faster throw together meal.
Happy I came across this one. It was the maple syrup that caught my eye!
★★★★★
I agree with you 100%. I always have our chili seasoning in a jar in my cabinet!
This recipe is easy and delicious af. It is beyond good! Didn’t have celery but subbed red pepper and was happy with the final product! Highly suggest this bomb ass recipe!
★★★★★
Is that a different recipe because this one didnt call for celery and red pepper??