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.
Added chopped celery and green pepper with the onion (and added an extra 1/2 Tbsp of olive oil, but kept everything else the same, including the cayenne (yippee cay aye!!) My new favorite chili recipe go-to!! Thanks!
Came out a little too sweet for my liking. Not bad, maybe a bit of user error on my part. Will try again.
So so good!
The only change I made was to use half stew beef (cut into 3/4” pieces) and half hamburger. I seared the stew beef and then added the beef broth the recipe called for. Simmered for about 45 min, then moved to a bowl. Put the onion then the burger in the pot per the recipe, and added the stew beef back in when that was cooked thru. Then continued on as per the recipe, using the liquid from the cooked stew beef, and adding more beef broth to get back to the called for 1.5Cup. I love the chunks of meat in a chili. I also used 1/2 red kidney beans and 1/2 white kidney beans. I simmered uncovered for about 3 hours to thicken it up a bit like I like it.
Absolutely delicious, and even my boyfriend thought it was great. And he’s super picky! Lol
This is the best chili I have ever made or had! My husband loves it more! I added 1/2 green and 1/2 orange bell pepper and only used 1 tablespoon cumin and 1 tablespoon sugar( instead of 2 ). We also added 1 can drained pinto beans and one can drained corn (organic). Served with diced avocado! The best!
(I rarely write reviews!) I think the broth made it so good.
I also used only 1 tbsp of sugar. I think 2 tbsp would probably have been too much. Thanks for the heads up on that.
Oh dear, lol. I over-spiced it! But it’s DELICIOUS! I live in Colorado, and we like spicy chili, so I added 1/2 a bell pepper and half a jalapeño. Plus, I substituted half the chili powder with chipotle chili powder. Oops!! A tad too spicy for some in the house, but nonetheless DELICIOUS!! THANK YOU for this recipe!!
Best Chili I ever made. I did modify it a little, but it was basically the same spices. I pit it over elbow macaroni and it was delicious. I like it a bit more spicy, but I am alone the the house in that way, so it was perfect for all of us.
My go-to option for a winter night! Excellent base for chillittos or Cincinnati-style chili.
I was making a practice chili for my churches Chili Cook off.i saw this recipe and gave it a try. This recipe is superb!!the only thing is that I think it could use a bell pepper or a jalepano.⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐!!
Delicious. I added more garlic and chili powder for. My taste
So delicious and easy to make. My only adjustment would be the salt portion. My palette may be different than others but I will be making this again.
I wanted to let you know that you didn’t write “olive oil” above but wrote just “olive”. 🙂 Great recipe! Very tasty.
Great chili. I cut the cumin in half and left everything else the same.Added extra frsh minced garlic. Next time I’ll cut the sugar in half as well. I will make it again and again, it’s bookmarked under favorites.
Yes too much cumin to my liking but other than that it was great!
I doubled this, added an extra can of beans and diced tomatoes. I have made a lot of different chilis and am so happy to find one this easy that is this good! My husband is kind of picky with chili and he loved it, too! I only did a little sprinkle of the cayenne, though, because I have toddlers (they loved it, too). This chili is delicious, inexpensive, quick, and only took one pot!
Excellent chili! I use turkey chop meat. It’s a family favorite
Very good! I added a little smoked paprika and green pepper. Great recipe.
Really good recipe. I doubled it and added more beans, some celery, and a green pepper.
I loved it and so did my kids.
yummy yummy my husband loved it and my picky eater 4 yo too. My son liked it so much that he was eating this chili with a glass of milk lol! (I didn’t use cayenne pepper)
How can I prepare this chili in a slow cooker?
Thanks a lot
saute the onion, ground beef in pan till no pink is shown, add with all ingredients, cook on low for 2-4 hrs in crock pot
Great base recipe to which I added two of my own secret ingredients. Won the church chili cookoff 1st time trying it!
What were the secret ingredients? I’m going for my church chili cook off next weekend!
You should try adding mixed frozen vegetables and a few little diced pieces of jalapeno for a little spice
I highly recommend this recipe! It is simple and delicious. Simply delicious, if you will! I had never made chili the same twice because I could never find a recipe that I loved. I have now made this recipe twice! My husband is also crazy about it, which is a bonus!
Definitely easy and quick I really did enjoy the chili first time making it and it was great my husband bragged about it as well. Good for this cold winter night. Definitely will make this again.
You do not daring the ground beef?
Do you mean BROWN the ground beef? Read step 2 in the instructions. That explains cooking the ground beef.
I didn’t have to because I used lean ground beef. If you use less lean ground beef and there is a lot of fat, you’d probably want to drain it.
My 2 special-needs clients highly enjoy doing “kitchen projects” together. (I provide the verbal directions only.) Today they chose to make chili and I found this excellent recipe. It’s a big hit! Thank you!