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.
Made with left over turkey.
Thanks! Nice, quick recipe.
This is the best chili ever. I like to add jalapeños and sriracha and use honey instead of sugar and it tastes amazing. I also used a mixture of ground beef and spicy Italian sausage once and it was a great addition. I always freeze this and take it camping for the perfect dinner. Thank you!!!
This is my go-to recipe. Perfect. Ty.
Superb Chili! The best ever! Perfect!
I tweaked this recipe a little bit to fit my liking more. This is *the* best base recipe ever though!
I added half the amount of broth
No sugar
I added super hot cayenne pepper seasoning
The rest of the recipe I followed exactly like shown and its my go-to. So good!
Delicious! It was perfect! Thank you!
I’m not one to leave a comment but I needed to because I’ve been using this recipe for the better half of 2 years for my base chili and I’ve never been disappointed. I do some change up with the meet option, use rótele instead of tomatoes, less sugar or brown sugar, add jalapeños, green peppers, corn, serve over rice or as is! I just adore this recipe and wanted other to know how great it is!
Made this several times. Good taste, easy to make!
I could tell that the base of this recipe was really good and delicious. I really enjoyed the flavor, but I found the amount of sugar to be overwhelming for my taste. I’m a savory > sweet kind of person, but even with savory being my preference, I’ve never had a chili that was quite as sweet as this one. I am making this recipe again this week, and I will likely use half a tablespoon of sugar – just enough to counteract the acidity of all the canned tomato.
I used this recipe because it looked easy enough. I did use a larger can of tomato sauce. Like previous comments, the sugar does not belong. It has the right heat, but the sugar ruined it. Will try again without sugar.
I made this chili 3 times now and never did put the sugar in as called for in the recipe. I minimize my family’s sugar use as a general rule. I also reduced the salt. It tasted great without sugar and with less salt.
Honestly this is the only chili recipe I use now. I do experiment sometimes but this is always my base.
Easy and floavorful. A winning combination.
Wanted to learn how to make chilli so I tried a bunch of recipes, combinations and permutations. This is my family’s favourite recipe. I add other beans as well. They cayenne is a bit too spicy for them but they like a little bit. Thank you for posting this!
Amazing! So much flavour.
Always the best chili recipe. Have made it more than 10 times and my client love it. Thanks
I only did half the sugar and it is still way too sweet. Other than that it is a good recipe. I made some honey cornbread to go alongside it.
Sorry but this recipe called for too much sugar unfortunately my family didn’t enjoy it. I may make it again but omit the sugar
This will be my go to chili recipe from now on. Just the way we like our chili! Made it exactly as directed (including all the sugar and cayenne) except I had no tomato sauce, so added two more TBLS tomato paste and an extra 1/2 cup of water. Next time I’ll make sure I have tomato sauce, but excellent with the minor substitution anyway.
Thanks for this recipe! I followed pretty much exactly, except used half the amount of sugar.
This was very easy to make and delicious. Before I was using premade chili kits and they were bland, but from now on I’m making it like this!
A great base for a chili recipe – I recommend it for anyone thinking – I am in the mood for chili. You can eat this as written or endlessly riff on it. Thank you for the recipe. I made the basic recipe and dumped all the leftovers from the fridge in it and poured on killer Thai bird chilies. But it’s the base that brings it all together.
I will definitely use this again.
Really good recipe that’s simple too! I used only one tbsp of sugar and almost could’ve gone with less. Will be making again
This recipe was seasoned perfectly, I added 1/2 cup extra of the broth, and it had the best texture.
Key is to use 93%or lower fat beef to help reduce the oil, however, it still tasted delicious with higher fat beef.
This is THE BEST Chili ever! I love to cook and have experimented with many chili recipes. This one has simple ingredients with simple instructions to follow. I make it exactly as written in the recipe and we absolutely LOVE IT! It is so flavorful and satisfying to eat. The high temp today in Texas was 94 degrees and I am making this chili for dinner… that’s how good it is. 🙂 I have made this chili many times and it always comes together perfectly.