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.
Good till the sugar, way to sweet had to double recipe to dilute sugar down to 1tbsp..extra salt to tone sweet down.
Thanks for the recipe. Delicious!!! I did not have the chili package with ingeredient and tried this from scratch for the first time. Amazing!!!
This is a wonderful recipe. I also added some fresh red bell pepper, a touch of paprika, exchanged the sugar for a tablespoon of sugar free grape jelly ( a trick my grandma passed down) and fresh garlic.
I actually quadrupled the recipe, but only doubled the spices and glad I did. I had to tweak and add a bit more cumin and chili powder about halfway through cooking, but better than being over spiced.
Also added a green pepper, jalapeño pepper and a can of black beans. Used ketchup instead of tomato paste and no sugar.
Delicious!
Great chili recipe! I add an extra can of beans and reduce the sugar!
Best Chile I’ve ever had!! My picky eater loves it!! That was a hero for dinner today!
Every time I make chili I use this recipe… I serve it every year for my daughters birthday party and everybody raves! I will not use a different Chili recipe!
Delicious. Love this Chili. Easy and quick to prepare. However, I didn’t have beef broth so I used vegetable broth and the tomatoes were Mexican and had Chile’s in them. A little extra heat so sour cream calms that down a little. Will make again the original recipe too. Thanks
I used 1.5-2lbs of beef, I added 4 minced garlic cloves, green pepper, 1 jalepeno pepper – I only used 1 cup of beef broth and .5 cup of water, I used 3 tbsp of chili powder, 3 tbsp of cumin, I didn’t need the tomato paste. GREAT recipe!! Will use again.
Love, his recipe. First one ive tried that I like.and it us very fiorgiving. I’ve made it several times varyjng if slightly according to the ingredients in hand. I never have tomati paste so i used only the tomato ssuce and diced tomatoes. The chili was slightly watery so i added a rounded tablespoon of cornmeal. I’ve added crkery and poblano pepper. I just gave mt neighbor a sample of chilii on rice and hd said its the best chili he’s had and asked for the recioe to replacd his previous favirite recipe. Thank you!!!
Too spicy for our family. It was just over powering. If I were to make it again I would cut the chili powder to 1 1/2 tbs. and the cumin to 1/2 tbs.
Do not add the sugar to the recipe. My family said they had never had sweet chili before and don’t want it again.
Love it!
This was the best chili recipe I have ever made. I was nervous about adding the sugar, but honestly couldn’t taste it. It does a great job at turning down the spicyness of the amount of chili powder you add. Was a great hit for my husband and I! Added this one to the recipe book and probably wont be making chili any other way now.
Can you crockpot this?!
Outstanding…. I had to make changes due to sizes of ingredients on hand
I used entire can of tomato Paste
15 oz can of tomato Sauce
2 cups of broth (from cubes)
Didn’t have canned tomatoes so I used 2 large fresh tomatoes
and I added one fresh jalapeno
Good recipe. Too much sugar though. I recommend halving the sugar to give it more tang and less sweet
This recipe caught my eye because of the simple steps and numerous positive reviews. The last few chili recipes I tried didn’t appeal to my finicky husband and son. This recipe was so easy to make. And more importantly, it was a hit! I finally found the perfect chili recipe for my family. This will definitely be a regular rotation to our dinners. The only change I made was using a little more ground beef. I had 1-1/4 pound defrosted and used used the whole thing. I didn’t add the cayenne pepper because I don’t tolerate spicy foods, and it was the perfect amount of heat. Thank you!!
Added some green pepper and some jalapeño. It was quick, easy, and tasted great!
My family and I love this chili! I’m not a huge fan of cooking, I’m more of a baker. But I have a husband and two little ones to feed so I do a decent amount of cooking anyway. I always thought chili would be too complicated for me to ever get right so I never bothered, until one night my husband suggested chili to go with cornbread we had and I found this recipe! I can’t wait to try it again, but next time I will reduce or cut out the sugar (husband liked it but I thought it could do without), add more veggies like people have suggested, and maybe try white beans instead of kidney. Yum!