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.
Half chipolte chili powder and half adobe chili powder and yes to the cayenne, SMOKIN!
Meant ancho chili powder
Excellent recipe. Added 1 chopped bell pepper because I happen to have one
I’ve actually won a couple of small chili cook-off competitions, but this might be the best chili I have made I tweaked it a little bit.
I only used one and a half tablespoons of cumin and I added an extra teaspoon of salt.
I used 85% lean hamburger and cooked it a little longer to reduce it down.
Oh, and I used a very sweet onion, called sweet onion LOL.
Great!
Flawless chili. Not too spicy…not bland. A crowd pleaser!
Turned out great! My husband is more into chili than i am because the only chili i like is at Wendys! I know most of you just gasped! Haha. But he says that it is a little sweet & then the spice kicks in. I like spice more than he does,so it worked out well for me. In my opinion its 10x better the next day. Thank you!
Very good! Compliments to the chef!
Made this last night, family LOVED it! Flavors are strong but that’s how we like it. I used 1/2 of required beef, but added 2 more cans of beans, used Swerve instead of sugar, and made a tapioca starch slurry since we like thick chili. Delicious basic recipe that you can tweak easily, yet maintain the goodness of the original. This is our favorite chili now! Thanks for sharing.
Easy and Fast! Perfect to warm you up on a cold day😁. I added a chopped green pepper because I like them in chili. Otherwise, I followed recipe.
I loved this! Will definitely be my go to chili recipe!
I have made the chili three times since I found the recipe. The first time I made it it was a bit sweet. So I cut back sugar to
One tbsp instead of two. Was perfect. I
plan on making it again this weekend. It’s a fav now.
Fantastic!
This IS the best chili I’ve ever made. I used Beyond Meat and omitted the sugar. BEST CHILI EVER!
Made this twice already and even added dark and light red beans
Very good. Very easy. Everyone has different taste when it comes to spice. Next time, I plan on using less cumin.
The only thing i did was substitute the diced tomatoes for 3 cans of rotel with chilis and cut the cumin in half, I doubled the recipe and omitted the cayenne pepper it was spicey enough. This was the best recipe.
My absolute go to recipe. I use a little less sugar and cumin. The older comments noted adding a couple of splashes of balsamic and it’s an absolute game changer.
very good recipe. We like our chili spicy so I used the cumin, ref pepper flakes and substituted the red kidney beans with a can of chili beans.
I used only 1 Tbs cumin and chilli powder, added 1 Tbs red dirt seasoning, ketchup instead of tomato paste and 1 Tbs water plus 2 tsp corn starch because we used it for chillidogs. It was very good .
I have several different chili recipes that I make depending on either how I plan on serving it or sometimes based on the ingredients I have on hand. All of my chili versions are tasty. But tonight I tried this recipe and I must say hands down this is the best chili ever! My entire family raved about it. This is definitely my go to chili recipe from now on.