Beef Chili

4.87 from 194 votes
Jump to RecipeEmail Recipe

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.

The best chili recipe you’ll ever eat is right here! Our classic beef chili is made with ground beef, beans, diced tomatoes, homemade chili seasoning, and our secret ingredient – a little maple syrup.

So many of you have made this chili recipe and it has OVER 1,000 5-star reviews. It is hands-down our most popular chili recipe on Fit Foodie Finds and we can’t wait for you to make it!

4 bowls of beef chili with Fritos on top.
email me this recipe
Plus, enjoy weekly doses of recipe inspiration as a bonus!
Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.

5-Star, Award-Winning Chili Recipe

If you’re looking for a 5-star, award-winning chili recipe –> it’s right here! We’ve won multiple chili bake-off contests with this tried-and-true recipe and it’s truly the best chili recipe ever. Oh, and this just in, so have you! Scroll down to the comments to read all about other people using this recipe in chili cook-offs 😍

A quick rundown: Cook ground beef in a large stockpot with onion, garlic, beans, chili seasoning, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, and our secret ingredient –> a little maple syrup.

Made with Classic Chili Ingredients

There’s a big debacle on the internet about 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.

  • Ground 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.
  • 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 some traditional beef chili does not call for beans, we like to up the ante 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.
  • 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.

#1 Secret Ingredient for Beef Chili

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.

beef and onions in stockpot.

How to Make Chili (Stove Top)

  1. Brown the ground beef with the minced onion and garlic.
  2. Add the beans, tomato products, and maple syrup.
  3. Add the chili seasoning and broth and bring to a boil.
  4. Let simmer for around 10 minutes to thicken.

Other Cook Methods

  • Slow Cooker Directions: partially cook the beef on the stove. Then, transfer all ingredients in your slow cooker and mix. Cook on low for around 4 hours. Check out our slow cooker chili recipe.
  • Instant Pot Directions: add all ingredients to the Instant Pot and mix. Cover and cook on high pressure for 5 minutes. Check out our Instant Pot chili recipe.

How do you thicken chili?

The best way to thicken chili is to let it simmer on the stove over a low heat. This will reduce the moisture from the tomato products and thicken it right up.

Storing it in the fridge overnight will also thicken everything and often times, you need to add a splash of broth or water before serving the next day.

stockpot of the best chili recipe.

Chili Variations

One great thing about chili is that it’s so versatile! Here are some swaps to make this recipe your own:

  • Meat: You can really use any ground meat (or no ground meat at all). We recommend trying ground turkey or chicken.
  • Beans: All variations of beans are up for grabs. Readers in the comments have added black beans and loved it.
  • Spice: If you like it spicy, add some vinegar-based hot sauce or diced jalapeños.
  • Tomato products: many people in the comments said they swapped diced tomatoes for fire-roasted tomatoes and it turned out great.

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
bowl of beef chili with cheese on top.

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.

How long does chili last in the fridge?

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.

Great Jones the Dutchess

Great Jones

The Dutchess

This is hands-down our favorite Dutch oven. It’s a 6.75 quart enameled cast iron Dutch oven that’s super high-quality and gorgeous.

bowl of beef chili with Fritos and shredded cheese.

Can I freeze this chili recipe?

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.

  1. Let your beef chili cool completely.
  2. Then, transfer it into an airtight container or freezer-safe gallon-size bag.
  3. Remove as much air as possible and seal.
  4. 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.

To thaw + reheat: let thaw overnight in the fridge. Then, transfer back into a large stockpot and heat over low/medium.

4.87 from 194 votes

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.
Prep: 15 minutes
Cook: 30 minutes
Total: 45 minutes
Servings: 6
email me this recipe
Plus, enjoy weekly doses of recipe inspiration!
Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.

Ingredients 

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.
    beef and onions in pot.
  • 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.
    Best chili with spoon.
  • Top with your favorite toppings and enjoy!
    Four bowls of the best chili with cheese and tortilla chips.

Tips & Notes

  • Nutrition information is for 6 servings and does not include toppings.
  • Slow Cooker Directions: partially cook the beef on the stove. Then, transfer all ingredients in your slow cooker and mix. Cook on low for around 4 hours. Check out our slow cooker chili recipe.
    • Instant Pot Directions: add all ingredients to the Instant Pot and mix. Cover and cook on high pressure for 5 minutes. Check out our Instant Pot chili recipe.
    • Meat: feel free to swap the ground beef for ground turkey, chicken, or bison. You may need to add a little oil when browning because those have a lower fat content.

    Watch It

    [adthrive-in-post-video-player video-id=”LZV0Hbyw” upload-date=”2019-09-15T09:00:00.000Z” name=”Best Beef Chili” description=”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.”]

    Nutrition

    Calories: 367 kcal, Carbohydrates: 38 g, Protein: 24 g, Fat: 14 g, Fiber: 11 g, Sugar: 11 g

    Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

    love this? leave a comment below!

    Don’t forget to tag your posts on social media with the hashtag #fitfoodiefinds, we’d love to see what you’re up to!

    Similar Recipes:

    About Lee Funke

    Lee is the founder of Fit Foodie Finds and based in Minneapolis, MN. She started this website in 2010 as a way to share her love for real food and wellness. The internet has changed so much since then and so has Fit Foodie Finds. Today we're a female-run recipe website publishing hundreds of tried and true recipes developed and tested by our team.

    4.8 86 votes
    Recipe Rating
    Subscribe
    Notify of
    guest
    Recipe Rating




    Recipe Rating

    322 Comments
    Inline Feedbacks
    View all comments
    Anna
    Anna
    August 26, 2024 8:51 pm

    5 stars
    This is the best chili I have ever made. Will definitely be the ONLY recipe I’ll ever need again for chili. Thank you for sharing it.

    Jasmine P
    Jasmine P
    August 20, 2024 8:07 pm

    5 stars
    This recipe was great and approved by my whole family! This includes my husband who hates beans, my very selective 4 year old and and my 3 year old who is willing to try anything but will also just as quickly spit it out if he disagrees with the taste. Everyone, including me, had seconds and left the table with no regrets!

    I wanted to have a lot of leftovers to freeze so I doubled the ground beef and 1.5x the seasonings. Everything else remained the same it was perfect in favor and consistency.

    I will be saving as a staple in our home for the upcoming fall and winter seasons!

    Cher W
    Cher W
    July 29, 2024 9:35 am

    5 stars
    Tried this recipe yesterday. Absolutely delicious!! I believe the only modification I made was using red onion versus yellow, and I threw in a can of black beans. I feel it is a perfect base recipe and you can just add ingredients as you wish and maybe up the spices a tiny bit. Thanks so much! I will definitely use this recipe in the future.

    katie S.
    June 25, 2024 10:58 am

    5 stars
    This really is the best beef chili. Thanks for the recipe, Lee.

    Lisa J
    Lisa J
    June 19, 2024 7:06 pm

    5 stars
    Wow! This was amazing! I used a whole onion, because we like it, but other than that, i followed the directions as written. Such a great flavor! I served it over rice. Delicious.

    Jennifer
    Jennifer
    June 19, 2024 11:44 am

    5 stars
    Our family loves this chili recipe. We add bell peppers to ours, and we use fire roasted can tomatoes with green chiles added. The seasoning is perfect and the meat to bean ratio is perfect too as another commenter said. Thanks so much for this easy, quick recipe. It has become a staple in our home ๐Ÿ™‚

    Sandy
    Sandy
    May 27, 2024 1:09 pm

    5 stars
    I really liked this recipe and we’ll make it again. I made the recipe according to the instructions except I used fire roasted tomatoes and Better Than Bouillon to make the broth. I had those items on hand. The thing I liked most about this recipe is the meat to bean ratio. It is spot on.

    I’d like to use this as a base when my garden starts producing peppers and tomatoes. It will change the flavor a bit but it will be a good way to use tomatoes up. @fitfoodiefinds , any suggestions on how to use fresh vs. canned in this recipe? I grow saucing tomatoes so the acid is relatively low so I think the maple syrup could be doubled. Thoughts?

    Vicki
    Vicki
    May 26, 2024 7:23 pm

    5 stars
    WINNER!! ๐Ÿ† I just won a chili cook off with this recipe! The only thing I added was a splash of Worcestershire sauceโ€ฆ. And I thickened with a small cornstarch slurry due to my limited cook time before the cook off. Everything else was as written. Doubled the recipe, which filled my pot, and by the end it was licked clean! Nothing left! Thank you so much for posting this recipe! My kids went nuts over it too so it will go into the rotation now! ๐Ÿ™Œ๐Ÿป

    Emily Richter
    June 4, 2024 11:46 am
    Reply to  Vicki

    Aw we’re blushing! So happy to hear you won a chili cook off with this recipe!

    Payton
    Payton
    April 10, 2024 9:03 pm

    5 stars
    Making this for the seventh or eighth time tonight! Best chili ever, my whole family loves it and I make it over and over!

    Karen
    Karen
    April 6, 2024 9:13 pm

    5 stars
    So delicious!!!