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.
Loved this Chili recipe. I used Bush’s canned Chili beans and chili ready diced tomatoes because that is what I had , that was the only thing I changed other than using half the sugar amount and it really is the best Chili I have ever had and my husband agreed. This will be my go to chili recipe from now on.
Won a chili cook off with this recipe! Great chili, halved the cayenne pepper
Great easy recipe
Great recipe, curious about what it would be like if I add Rotel…we shall see.
Tonight is my third time making it. This time I’m making a double batch.
I make this recipe often. Absolutely love it. I substitute brown sugar for white. I half the broth because I don’t like runny chili and half the cayenne pepper or it has a kick, and I like spicy. Pair it with cracker barrel mac&cheese for chili mac or chili cheese frito pie, chili dogs or by itself. It’s delicious!
Can this be made in the crockpot?
A great recipe which doesn’t require a run to the specialty store, but uses what we usually have in the cabinet. With that being said, yep, I was missing an ingredient and substituted another. Still a winner in this house! I left out the cayenne pepper; if anyone wants heat, it’s added at the table. I didn’t have tomato paste, so I decreased the sugar to one tablespoon – which may have increased the potency of the chili powder. So good! Also, I substituted venison cube steak (finely chopped) for the ground beef. That gave the chili a hearty/meatier consistency. I’ll be making this one again soon.
This is some of the best chili my husband and I have had! It’s so flavorful and delicious. I’ve had a lot of chili that doesn’t have much flavor or has way too much broth, but this recipe doesn’t have either of those issues.
The best chili and the only one that I will use! We have a lot of elk meat, so I was looking for a chili recipe, and this is hands-down, the best!!! Especially with the ground elk, it’s almost sweet it is so delicious, thank you!
Easy and delicious!!
This is the best chili I’ve ever made! It was so simple and the flavor is spot on. I added some corn, green peppers, canned green chilis. 10/10
Easy, well written easy instructions, most of all tasty!!
Love this chili! I’m vegetarian so I use impossible ground beef instead of regular beef and vegetable stock instead of beef broth and it is so good!! The spices are perfect and I love that it’s the perfect level of sweetness!
The chili is deliciious. I made it exactly as the recipe says, including the sugar and the cayenne. I did add black beans. YUMMY.
This is a wonderful recipe for Chili and I make it exactly as written. The only thing I do differently is double the recipe and freeze half for later. The flavor deepens and it’s even better the second time around. Everyone I’ve served it to loves it. I usually serve it with cornbread. Yum!
First snow on Halloween day seemed like a good day for chili! This was a very tasty recipe. The blend of spices and amount of sugar was just what I was looking for in a classic chili but decided to start with half of it added and taste. That was just enough for my family’s preference . Now I have enough spice blend saved for another recipe . Served with some cornbread for a great comfort food dinner.
Made it. And it was my 1st time ever making chili…thanks for sharing. I used the fire roasted tomatoes and added some Italian sausage and did a little tweaking. It was amazing.
Great Recipe since I wanted larger portions to share I used double the meat and chili powder and 2 cans of beans. I used brown sugar instead and added more veggies celery and bell peppers. I cooked my meat separately but added all others ingredients in the steps provided. Amazing I loved the taste.
Very tasty! I added a diced green pepper.
I do this recipe all the time and every time it is a success! Love it and the hubby too! I give it a 10 on 10! Great job Wholesome Dish and Thank You for sharing!
OMG! I followed the recipe exactly. BEST chili I’ve ever had. Amazing!!! Thank you for the great recipe!
I was craving chili on a sudden cold evening so I googled all 5 star chili recipes and decided to go with this one. Thankfully I had all the ingredients except for the beef broth. Substituted chicken broth, left out the cayenne pepper and added fresh minced garlic. It was delicious! Next time I’ll try it with organic ground turkey, use vegetable broth and reduce the sugar since this recipe is a little too sweet for my taste. Very flavorful and dice is thick as chili should be. This is so far my favorite chili recipe.
Best chilli ever!!!
Finally a recipe with where I didn’t have to add extra seasoning, and it tastes so good! The only change I made was to replace the sugar with honey. Yum!
I’ve made this several times. The only thing I changed was I cut back
on the sugar to half. It’s great and I’m sure I’ll be making it many times more. I side dish with pasta or corn bread and usual. Cheese, scallions, sour cream. Love it. Thanks.