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.
excellent recipe….great to make from scrtach….can substitute as desired without really messing up the recipe
Pretty much EXACTLY what I was going for. A couple tweaks: 1. I didn’t have beef on hand, so I added some black beans and mashed them with a potato masher to give it a similar texture. 2. It’s a bit cumin-heavy for my taste buds. Next time, I’ll cut back a bit.
I love this recipe! My kids love it and it’s super easy to make!
This is my go-to chili recipe. Great flavor in a short time.
Loved this recipe. Very good and tasty!
Patci
The flavors in this chili are outstanding! Best I’ve ever had. I left out the cayenne pepper as we don’t care for that much spice. However, I highly recommend you give this one a try.
I’ve been looking for a good chili recipe for years! None of them are ever what I want. Too tomatoey (is that a word) or not enough spice. This one was PERFECT! My husband who is quite picky just complimented it. It was delicious! Thank you for sharing!
How many ounces is a serving?
I used everything I had on hand, except for tomato paste. So I skipped the tomato paste, and used a 15.5 ounce can of Contadina tomato sauce. And this chili tasted “Mahvulous”. I was leary of the 1 tablespoon of white sugar, but OMG, it too was “Mahvulous”. I am a Retired Professional Firefighter from Wisconsin, and I was the cook for a number of years in the Firehouse. Firefighters are the best (sic) Critics when it comes to y’all cooking skills. Better the food, the worse the critic, or critical. No Disrespect Intended.
WWWAAAYYY TOO SPICY
Agree!! I didn’t even put in the cayenne and my mouth is on fire
Delish!
We have chili night on Fridays and my family loved this recipe. I will lessen the sugar to one tablespoon. But it was delicious!
Agree to lessen or eliminate the sugar. Otherwise, super
Great recipe! My family loved it! Didn’t add tomato sauce, added extra tomato paste.
If you don’t want to use sugar ,try a pinch of baking soda to combat the acid in tomatos
I doubled the recipe. Is it normally sweet tasting? I’m not sure how I like it. I just made it, so it’s not been eaten by the family yet. I’m just not too sure about it:(
There is sugar in it. I always add a bit of sugar to cut the acid in tomato dishes.
Mine was a little too sweet for my taste too. Definitely only using 1 tbsp next time. Otherwise good stuff.
Excellent base recipe with good proportions of ingredients. I cannot bring myself to follow a recipe, so this is a great canvas to paint a subtly different picture: e.g.; no salt added Muir Glen Fire roasted Crushed Tomatoes, Kuner’s no salt Dark Red Kidney Beans, 1 large whole diced jalapeno, 1 celery stalk diced , no sugar, salt or tomato paste, 3 T chili powder, 3 T cumin powder, 1 t smoked Spanish paprika, 1 t ancho chili powder, 1 t chipotle chili powder (most spices from Penzey’s). Result is rich and flavorful without excessive heat. Yes, I know, salt, sugar and tomato paste are fundamental, knee jerk ingredients. No need in this recipe.
Tried it your way And everybody hated it. Had too much chili powder, too much cumin,And the smoke paprika was not a hit. Don’t use this recipe it ruins your chili. I would take this review off and create your own recipe for those who can’t handle a little salt. Because it definitely needs the salt. The original recipe always was a hit.
So basically you didn’t make this recipe 🤣
Delicious, cooking is not my strength but this came out fantastic, my whole family want it again
This recipe is delicious. I made a few changes (1) no cumin because I can’t stand the taste, (2) I substituted 1/2 cup of pinot noir that had been sitting out too long for 1/2 cup of the broth. Otherwise, I followed it to a “T”. This was probably the best chili I’ve ever had!
This was pretty good. The whole family loved it! Yum!! Thank you!!
This is a great recipe I can’t handle spicy food but crave chilithis hit the spot. My friends and family beg me to make this recipe all the time so much that i make it in double batches it is easy to make double and triple batches
Can the recipe be doubled exactly?
My husband and boys said this is the best chili they have ever eaten. I made it using venison and the crumbled the cornbread and added it to their bowls. Made it twice in three weeks and I rarely repeat meals that soon.
II was given 1 lb ground turkey that I would like to use. How can I season the Chili to taste good and still use the ground turkey
I would just season as written in the recipe. I hardly ever use the same protein. The last time I made this recipe, it was 1/2 pound ground lean beef, and 1 pound ground lamb. The seasonings always stay the same.
I have made this recipe with ground turkey and all I did was replace beef broth with chicken broth and it tasted great!
I used ground turkey and changed the broth to chicken broth. I think that the broth deepens the flavor. Still tastes like chili. I also used two cans of pinto beans and one tri-bean blend. Still had enough liquid. Very good!
So good. Neither of my parents like chili but they loved this!