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.
I’ve been coming back to this recipe for years and it’s hands down one of the best I’ve ever had. One pit doesn’t last long at all so I’m going to double the portion.
Delicious! I left out the beans and added celery and carrot as I am trying to cut back on calories. I also drained my lean ground beef very well. Thank you for the recipe. ☺️
This recipe is delicious! So savory and just the perfect amount of spice.
Love this recipe as does my husband. Make it frequently since I found recipe! Clean and filling, served with shredded cheese and tortillas chips.
My friends and family loved it!
I love this receipe. Been cooking this for over five years. Only chili receipe my kids will eat. Thank you! Can you substitute stew meat for ground beef?
Making it now and it tastes delicious!! Thank you for the recipe! I doubled it to put some in the freezer for another day!
Love this recipe! I prefer a “soupier” chili so I added a whole carton of broth (I might have been cooking too high but when I first made as described, I got the thick chili-from-a-can consistency). Also WARNING the first time I made, I burned the spices when I added them in, so be sure to turn off your heat just while adding the spices or add in a little broth at that step just to keep it from getting too dry and burning. I have made this several times now as written (just adding more broth). Tastes amazing and my family loves it too
OBVIOUSLY I doubled this and added 1,000 more beans. And green chilis. And jalapenos.
If it ain’t burnin ya ain’t learning;)
Such a great classic chili recipe! It’s been a hit with young and old for all that I’ve made it for. My 5 year old asks for it he loves it so much. I do omit the cayenne due to him and halve the sugar as we don’t like it too sweet but it doesn’t need any other tweeks for us. It’s the only one I’ve made for several years since I found it. So good and so easy to make!
Made it for dinner of four and I tell you No left over. It was delicious. Will definitely make it again…
Best chili ever!!
This recipe was shared with me 3-4 years ago and we continue to love it! It is the only chili recipe I use. Many, many friends and family love it too. I follow the recipe exactly and use either ground beef or ground venison.
This recipe is what taught me how to cook chili & ever since that first time – I have come back to the same recipe.
Everytime I make it; it is so good !!!! I have been ranting about how good it is to all my friends that they finally had some tonight and just about melted on their first bite.
So thank you to the author for helping me create my childhood dish and also teaching me to make the best kind of chili 🌶️❣️❣️🙂
Delicious! Will make again, but without the sugar.
If you don’t like sweet, I would suggest omitting or lessening the sugar.
This chili was fantastic! I made it as written and it turned out wonderful. I like that it takes only 30 minutes and the spice combination is spot on. I reviewed this on my YouTube channel, The Real Deal Recipe Reviews, where I always try to make recipes as written and give honest reviews. I wouldn’t change anything about this chili.
I made this recipe with turkey, black beans and zucchini, because I didn’t have the full pound of meat. DELISH! I am not a spicy person, so we held off on the cayenne, and added some turmeric. Served with warm cornbread muffins. YUMZZZYY
This has been my go-to chili recipe for a few years now. We absolutely love the spiciness of it – we don’t go for heat in our spices so I keep the Cayenne to a minimum, but it is THE BEST. It is delicious as is, but I have made a few adaptations to accommodate our pantry and diet:
1) instead of beef, we use ground turkey – it lowers the calories and red meat. I’ve made it AND love it both ways.
2) I rarely use tomato paste and when I use 2T of it the rest goes to waste, so I’ve replaced the paste and the 15 oz can of diced tomatoes with a 28 oz box of diced tomatoes.
We are in our 70s and this is our favorite Chili recipe of all time.
THANKS!
There’s no sense wasting tomato paste it freezes well. I do it all the time.
First time making chili from scratch instead of a ready mix packet. It turned out delicious. I only reduced sugar because we are trying to limit our sugar intake. Hubby gives the recipe 5 stars
Best chili I had in a long time what a keeper!
I love how easy this chili recipe is. However 2T is sugar is too much for my taste buds. Our chili actually tasted sweet, so much so that my husband wouldn’t eat it. I will try again using less sugar.
Great tasting and easy recipe. I added salt and sugar to taste at the end. Thank you for the Chili recipe. It’s perfect 👍
Sooooo goooood!!!
Best chili recipe I have ever found. Wouldn’t change a thing.
Excellent. I added a few jalapeños to mine. It all has such a great flavor. Diffently a keeper
I’ve made it multiple times.. no sugar double the cayenne and fresh jalapeños cheese, sour cream, onions and saltines on the side….. but Doritos for the weird one in the house. Perfect classic chili
Best classic chili recipe! Agree with others that no tweaking is needed. Have used this one for past several years and have it pinned on my phone.
I used the recipe today for the chili cook-off party at our church. It’s my first time ever cooking chili and I haven’t tried one before. I used seasoning blend instead of the yellow onion, used some minced garlic, added some creole seasoning, used Rotel’s dice tomatoes with chilies, and used brown sugar instead of white sugar. OMG, I won the chili cook off! Thank you for the recipe!!!
You didn’t make this recipe. You made your own. But yours sounds good too!
I love this recipe. I use it all the time it’s the best.
This is the best chili ever! And this comes from someone who knows – my husband!
Excellent chilli!! Easy to make and family loved it.