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.
My kids and husband absolutely loved this recipe. I substituted beef for vegan “beef” and they never knew!
Delicious, so easy too. Hardest part is cutting the darn onion, tears galore. Added lentils too. Super good, will for sure be a staple in my house. Thanks!
Very good Chili. Chili like my mom would have made. Delicious and Tasty.
I won Best Chili with the Children’s vote at a Church Chili Cook-off.
Did not win the overall Best Chili, but got many nice comments.
I added some peppers! My go to chili recipe !
Oh so good! I’m eating it right now and enjoying every mouthful.
Only changes I made: added chopped celery (cause I had it), chopped cooked carrots (left over from the night before) and a tin of heinz baked beans in tomato sauce in place of the can of tomato sauce (again, cause that’s what I had).
Yum! Yum! Yum! Will definitely make it again. Quick and easy and delish!
Great base recipe. I opted to add garlic, tomato paste and jalapeños. I also puréed 1 can of the beans to get a “creamier” texture and left out the beef broth and tomato sauce.
So smart, was just looking for a way to substitute the tomato paste
I tried this last week and it was delicious! Thanks for sharing!
Very good chili!! My family loves this chili. I serve it with homemade cornbread and it puts us to sleep every time!! This recipe is definitely a keeper!!
This must be the “BEST CHILI EVER” I won the chili contest at work. It was up against 7 other chili’s! All of which were very good! It wasn’t even close, there were 7 judges, they each got 2 votes. My chili had 7 votes the next closest chili was 2 votes!
I highly recommend this chili 🙂
Really good and really easy.
I wanted to make enough chili so I could freeze some in case of what may happen in the next few months, so I doubled most of the ingredients in the recipe, except for the spices, which I just increased by 50%. Instead of using all ground beef, I used my usual chili mix of 1/2 ground beef and 1/2 cubed stewing beef, which I think gives chili an extra pop.
Very nice result!
Thanks for the tips on doubling, turned out amazing!!
This is the best chili I have made. Doubled recipe and added 2 jalapeños cooked with the onion and used homemade tomato juice from our garden instead of sauce. I also think the broth makes this outstanding, thank you for the great recipe!
Very easy to prepare and very tasty. The spice was a little intense (not too hot, just intense) I think that I will add a little more tomato paste and water. Overall, really good.
This was my first attempt at making a homemade chili and this is definitely your basic classic chili with really good flavor I definitely had to add some chopped up green peppers they’re my favorite and add a little water to thin it out but it’s easy quick and delicious
Cinnamon rolls go great with chilli.
Very tasty. I cooked mine with ground turkey and used chicken broth instead of beef. Love the recipe. Will definitely be making again.
Best pot I’ve ever made. Perfect balance of spices.
I made this, doubled up the amounts and froze a load of it, so it lasted a few weeks
I also swapped the sugar for a few squares of dark chocolate instead- it was amazing!
Thank you for the recipe!
REALLY good recipe thank you! It was delicious ‘as is’ but I added an extra can of beans and a handful of fresh, chopped coriander. YUMMY
This is definitely my go-to, easy chili recipe! If you like it spicier, add a couple diced jalapeños to the onions, milder- cut down the cayenne. I loved it as written and will make again on a chilly day👍
Really good chili recipe. I added green bell pepper and since I didn’t have beef broth, I used 1 cup chicken broth along with 1/2 cup red wine and 1 beef bouillon cube in with liquid mixture in a separate bowl and allowed the bouillon cube to dissolve in it. I also combined my dry seasonings in separate bowl earlier in the day, along with dicing the onion and bell pepper in advance and everything came together nicely. Served it with sour cream and shredded cheese at dinner.This recipe is a definite keeper!