The Best Classic Chili is a traditional chili recipe just like mom used to make with ground beef, beans, and a simple homemade blend of chili seasonings.
This classic chili is perfect for a weeknight meal because it can be made in minutes. The only thing to chop is an onion.
I’ve been playing around with this recipe for the past few months, making it many times. My family didn’t mind the repetition at all because I really do believe that I ended up with the best chili ever!
How To Make Homemade Chili
Note: This is a summary. The full printable recipe and step by step video are located at the bottom of this post.
- Heat olive in a large soup pot.
- Add chopped onion and cook for 5 minutes.
- Add ground beef and break it apart with a wooden spoon.
- Cook for 6-7 minutes.
- Add chili powder, cumin, sugar, tomato paste, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and optional cayenne.
- Stir until well combined.
- Add diced tomatoes, kidney beans, beef broth, and tomato sauce.
- Stir well.
- Simmer for 20-25 minutes.
- Let it rest for 5-10 minutes before serving.
What do you top chili with?
In addition to the chili ingredients listed in this recipe, you may also want to have these things as toppings.
- shredded cheddar cheese
- sour cream
- sliced green onions
- saltine crackers or oyster crackers
- diced avocado
How To Store
Store in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to five days. Or, store in the freezer for up to three months. Transfer the container to the refrigerator to thaw the day before you want to reheat it.
Pro Tip – Is It Too Spicy?
The brand of chili powder you use will have a huge difference in how spicy your chili will be. Different brands of chili powder have VERY different levels of spiciness.
I always use McCormick Chili Powder (No affiliation) because it is flavorful without being spicy.
More Great Chili Recipes
Find more of my recipes on TikTok
The Best Classic Chili Recipe
Video
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 medium yellow onion -diced
- 1 pound 90% lean ground beef
- 2 1/2 tablespoons chili powder*
- 2 tablespoons ground cumin
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper** -optional
- 1 1/2 cups beef broth
- 1 (15 oz.) can petite diced tomatoes
- 1 (16 oz.) can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 (8 oz.) can tomato sauce
Instructions
- Add the olive oil to a large soup pot and place it over medium-high heat for two minutes. Add the onion. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add the ground beef to the pot. Break it apart with a wooden spoon. Cook for 6-7 minutes, until the beef is browned, stirring occasionally.
- Add the chili powder, cumin, sugar, tomato paste, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and optional cayenne. Stir until well combined.
- Add the broth, diced tomatoes (with their juice), drained beans, and tomato sauce. Stir well.
- Bring the liquid to a low boil. Then, reduce the heat (low to medium-low) to gently simmer the chili, uncovered, for 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Remove the pot from the heat. Let the chili rest for 5-10 minutes before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
Check out all of my great ground beef recipes.
Absolutely love this chili recipe. I am just wondering what 1/6 of the recipe would be for serving size? How would you measure that out? I track calories so I just want to know how much I can eat for the nutrition information for the Serving: 1/6th of the recipe | Calories: 334kcal
Just made this yesterday and it was delicious. Will definitely make this again and again.
Easy to make and great flavor
This is a delicious recipe as it is, but one can take it to the next level. Fire roast red and green and Chipotle peppers as well as roasting some fresh diced garlic, six cloves, in the olive oil. Put the garlic in first, and when it begins to brown and reaches the point of fragrance, add chili powder and cumin, then add the meat and onions. Sprinkle a dash of flour on that and brown. Then deglaze with a cup of red wine. Cook in the wine, scraping the delicious glutamates and other flavor compounds off the bottom and add the other ingredients. Don’t use tomato paste if you want the best flavors, just add forty or fifty ounces of fresh diced tomatoes, and simmer the resulting chili for three hours at a very low temperature. Bon appetit!
Best chili! Excellent recipe, you can definitely use this recipe alone or do add ons!
Surprised this chili has so much flavor given the little amount of ingredients. I was tempted to add more stuff, but I trusted the recipe as written. This rivals my husband’s complex, many ingredient, cook-all-day chili.
I added a packet of taco seasoning and 2 tbsp of white vinegar. Absolutely delicious!
This is the perfect recipe. I added chihuahua cheese and a dollop of sour cheese. It was simple, quick and delicious! Thank you.
Awesome Chili! I used 93% lean beef for a little less fat. I’m also a bit more spicy so I added red pepper flakes and doubled the cayenne pepper. The makes the perfect balance of sweetness. Will definitely add this to the regular list of cold weather meals!
I like the chili. Just a tad too much sugar for me. I will only use 1 tbsp. next time. I also, like celery in my chili so
I added that and it was delicious. I will make this my go to recipe for chili. I typically have all ingredients in pantry so its an easy mal to prepare.
Would this cook well in a crockpot?
Way too much cumin.
I loved this recipe…found it very tasty, I didn’t use the cayenne. The only thing is I would have liked it a little thicker…not sure what I did wrong, maybe cause I didn’t use tomato paste?
Supreme for such a simple recipe. Followed it to the T and it came out perfect!
Can I add extra beans to this recipe
Near Perfection! I wish I would’ve read the reviews first, definitely would have reduced the Cumin. Otberwise this was fantastic. The only change I made was adding some roasted corn. Delicious meal for the cold weather ahead.
This recipe is really solid – I cut the sugar and cumin in half. I drain the meat, skim it, and put it back, and add chicken bullion cube.
Excited to try this……any suggestions on making it in the crockpot?
Best part of chili you can tweak it anyway! Great recipe though and I have tried a lot of different recipes love different spins on stuff!! This is my husbands favorite and mine!
The chili was really easy and super delicious. The tomato paste gave it richness. I didn’t use cumin. I added some minced garlic. I highly recommend, sharp cheddar cheese, sour cream and some Fritos with some hot sauce. I definitely will be cooking this again.