I know it’s bold of me to call this the best classic chili recipe, but in my opinion, it is! This recipe is made with ground beef, a few spices, a little onion, garlic, tomato sauce, and beans. Thats it! It comes together in about an hour and a half and you won’t be disappointed.
The beef cooks without a lot of liquid so that the flavors can really concentrate into the meat and what you end up with is a flavor explosion in your mouth. Add all your favorite toppings and it’s a crowd favorite! I love this on cold day, but it’s also great to bring for a potluck dinner or serving friends on game day.
Here’s what you need to make the best chili recipe:
- Yellow Onion- 1 small yellow onion, finely diced (about 1/2 cup). Try and cut the onion very small, you want it to melt into the meat and give it flavor. No big onion chunks.
- Fresh Garlic– 2 cloves garlic, minced.
- Ground Beef– 2 pounds of ground beef.
- Tomato Sauce– 8 oz. can of tomato sauce. This is not spaghetti sauce from a jar. You can find 8oz cans in the section where all the canned tomatoes are.
- Chili Powder– 2 tablespoons of chili powder.
- Ground Cumin– 1 teaspoon of ground cumin
- Ground Oregano– 1 teaspoon of ground oregano
- Salt– 1 teaspoon of salt
- Cayenne Pepper– 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper.
- Corn Meal– 1/4 cup corn meal. This gives the chili a subtle corn taste that works perfectly. You will mix the cornmeal with 1/2 cup of water and form a slurry. You can also use Masa Harina which is a corn flour, found in the Mexican food section of most grocery stores.
- Kidney Beans– 15 oz. can of kidney beans, drained and rinsed. You can use any kind of beans you like.
- Pinto Beans– 15 oz. can of pinto beans, drained and rinsed.
Toppings for serving:
- Cheese– Cheese-grated cheddar Cheese is my go-to when topping chili, but you could also use a pre-grated Mexican cheese blend or Monterey Jack cheese as well.
- Onion– Any diced onion works well for topping chili, I prefer red or green onions, diced.
- Chips– Tortilla Chips or Frito Corn Chips
- Lime Wedges- I like to squeeze lime over the top of my bowl. It lightens and brightens the chili.
- Sour Cream- This is an absolute must-topping for me. I love sour cream and it is perfect with chili.
- Sliced Jalapeños- Looking for a little more heat, add sliced jalapeños.
How to make this classic beef chili recipe:
Homemade chili is a recipe anyone can make. You only have to chop some onion and garlic, the rest is just adding ingredients to a pot and stirring it. A classic good chili in my opinion has meat and beans and not a lot of other stuff in it. Some recipes out there add corn, bell pepper, squash and other extra veggies that well to be honest, make it more of a stew than a chili. So this recipe has simple ingredients and is easy to make. Here’s what you are going to do…
Cook Onions, Garlic, and Beef
Begin by adding about a half of a cup of finely diced onion to a large pot with warm oil. After the onion cooks over medium heat for around 3-5 minutes it should be getting soft and translucent. Now you are going to add the minced garlic to the onions. Stir it around so it doesn’t burn. It should start to become fragrant and thats when you are going to add the ground beef. Using a beef masher or a wooden spoon break up the meat into small pieces. Cook for about 5-8 minutes until the meat is no longer pink and has browned. If you feel like there is an excess fat or oil you can spoon it out before you proceed with the next step.
Add Spices and Tomato Sauce
Now it’s time to add the spices. Add the chili powder, cumin, oregano, salt, and cayenne pepper to the meat. Give it a good stir so the spices evenly distribute throughout the meat. Once the spices are fully combined with the meat add the tomato sauce. Stir to combine. Reduce the heat to low and cover the pot. Let the chili simmer for one hour, stirring every 15 minutes.
Simmering Chili
The chili is going to simmer for one hour covered. Every 15 minutes you are going to stir the chili. Once the chili has simmered for 30 minutes add 1/2 cup of water and stir again. Cover and continue simmering. At 45 minutes, add another 1/2 cup of water. Stir, cover, and continue simmering for the last 15 minutes. I have found that the meat develops a better depth of flavor when it cooks with less liquid. Many chili recipes call for a bunch of liquid and then you just cook it for an hour. I learned that by using this method of adding a little bit of water at a time really allows for the flavor to develop.
Mix Cornmeal & Water
After the chili has cooked for an hour, make the cornmeal slurry. Mix 1/4 of a cup of cornmeal and 1/2 cup of water together in a small bowl. Stir until it forms a “slurry” or thick paste. Add this to the chili and stir until its combined. This will likely thicken the chili, so if you want a more “soupy” chili, like I do, add more water to the chili until it reaches the consistency you like. Remember it will also thicken as it sits especially the next day.
Add the Beans
Once your chili is at the right consistency it’s time to add the beans. Make sure you have drained and rinsed the beans. The reason to rinse the beans is to remove any extra salt or preservatives they add when canning the beans. Add two cans of your favorite beans. I like to use a can of red kidney beans and whole pinto beans. But I’ve made it with white beans and kidney beans, or black beans and pinto beans, even all kidney beans works. It really doesn’t matter, what kinds of beans you use, it’s up to you! Once the beans have been added, give the chili a good stir and cook for another 10 minutes to warm up the beans.
Prepare Toppings
During the last 10 minutes of cooking I like to set up the toppings. You can get creative or stick to the classics. Grated cheese is a must, as well as sour cream and diced onions. Some kind of crunch is always nice so I like tortilla chips or corn chips. Fritos or Trader’s Joe’s corn chips are delicious, especially the corn elote style. You can also put out sliced limes and jalapeños. What ever your family or guests like -thats what I recommend.
Let’s eat!
Spoon chili into bowls and serve with your favorite chili toppings. I like grated cheddar cheese, sour cream, diced green onions, squeeze of lime, and tortilla chips. Chili is great served on its own, but there are other ways to serve it as well. I love these ideas when serving a crowd. Consider putting out cooked hot dogs for chili dogs, or adding chili to a baked potato bar. You could also make chili burritos.
Leftover Chili
The chili is so good the next day or even 3 days later. The flavor is so rich and delicious you’ll be so happy to have more comfort food in your fridge ready to go. When eating leftover chili I find it’s best to add some water when you reheat it. You can reheat the chili in the microwave or on the stove top.
I can’t wait for you to try this easy chili recipe. Serve it with homemade cornbread and enjoy. Let me know if you make this recipe and leave a comment about what you thought!
More Recipes to Try!
Best Classic Chili Receipe
This classic beef chili has a rich flavor and is made with only a few ingredients. Serve it with all your favorite toppings.
Ingredients
- 1 small onion, finely diced (about 1/2 cup)
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 lbs. ground beef
- 8 oz. can tomato sauce
- 2 Tbsp chili powder
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp ground oregano
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1/4 cup corn meal or Masa Harina (corn flour, found in the Mexican food section) *see note
- 15 oz. can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
- 15 oz. can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
Toppings for serving:
- Cheddar Cheese, grated
- Red or green onions, diced
- Tortilla Chips or Frito Corn Chips
- Lime Wedges
- Sour Cream
- Sliced Jalapeños
Instructions
- Using a large pot or soup pot warm up 1 tbsp of oil. Add the diced onion and cook over medium heat, cook until softened and translucent. You don’t want to brown the onion you want it to get really soft and melt into the meat.
- Next, add the mince garlic and cook until soft only about 30 seconds. Stirring to avoid the garlic from burning.
- Next, add the ground beef to the garlic in the pot. Break up the meat into small pieces with the back of the spoon. Cook over medium high heat until meat is browned. This takes about 5-8 minutes.
- If there is an excess of fat you can carefully drain it off. I usually don’t, but it depends on how much there is.
- Add spices to meat and stir to combine.
- Add tomato sauce and stir to combine. Reduce the heat to low and cover. Cook for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes or so. At the 30 minute mark add 1/2 cup of water and stir to combine. Then at the 45 minute mark repeat and add another 1/2 cup of water. To make it easy I set a timer that goes off every 15 minutes to remind me to stir and add the water! Allowing the meat to cook with the spices really helps concentrate the flavor into the meat without a bunch of liquid. That is why I add it in a little at a time. I don’t want it to dilute the flavor.
- After an hour, place the corn meal and 1/2 cup of water into a small bowl and mix together with a fork. Pour corn meal slurring into chili. Stir to combine.
- Add more water to get the consistency you prefer. I like my Chili a little on the “soupy” side so I add at least a 1/2 cup of water. It will also thicken as it sits.
- Add beans and stir. Cook for an additional 10 minutes.
- Spoon into bowls and add your favorite toppings. Serve warm.
Notes
The recipe calls for corn meal or Masa Harina. This can be left out, if you don’t have or can’t find it. I like the corn flavor it gives to the chili. In a pinch I have also ground up plain tortilla chips in my mini food processor as a substitute for the corn meal.
Recommended Products
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Meat Chopper for Hamburger, Premium Heat Resistant Masher and Smasher for Ground Beef, Ground Turkey and More, Nylon Ground Beef Chopper Tool and Meat Fork, Non Stick Mix Chopper -
Chef Craft Select Maple Solid Spoon Set, 10, 12, 14 inch 3 Piece Set, Natural -
HENCKELS Classic Razor-Sharp 8-inch Slicing Knife, German Engineered Informed by 100+ Years of Mastery, Stainless Steel
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 6 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 747Total Fat: 32gSaturated Fat: 11gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 16gCholesterol: 140mgSodium: 1093mgCarbohydrates: 58gFiber: 8gSugar: 2gProtein: 56g
**I have included an estimation of the nutrition information for this recipe. However always remember a recipe is so much more than just nutritional content and these numbers do not need to dictate your food choices. Please don’t forget that both your body and soul need nourishment! The owner of this website is not liable for this estimation.
