Rich and hearty homemade Beef Chili Recipe loaded with vegetables and beans is comfort food at its greatest! This (under 30-minute) chili recipe is going to become your go-to recipe for cooler weather.
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Beef Chili Recipe
Ground meat and beans are the basis for a classic chili recipe. You can elevate the flavors of a traditional chili by adding vegetables so for this beef chili recipe, we added carrots and green peppers.
Make this your own by adding other diced vegetables you have on hand. These can include celery, mushrooms, zucchini or red peppers and can be added with the carrots and peppers.
How to Make the Best Beef Chili?
- Brown ground meat, add diced onion and cook until onion is softened.
- Add carrots, green pepper and garlic. Cook until veggies are tender.
- Add diced tomatoes (with juice), broth, beans and ingredients for chili seasoning. Stir well. Simmer 15 min until vegetables and beans are tender.
- Turn off the heat and allow the chili to rest 5 minutes before serving.
TIP: If you don’t like chunky diced tomatoes, then finely cube or puree them before adding to the chili.
Can Beef Chili be Frozen?
Yes, chili may be frozen. Cool chili completely and store in an air-tight container up to 3 months. Thaw and reheat to enjoy!
Since reheated chili tastes just as good as fresh, Chili may also be refrigerated and enjoyed for several days.
Chili Toppings:
This chili is a mild chili with the indicated seasonings, if you want a spicier chili, add more chili powder to taste. 🙂
Serve the beef chili with your favorite toppings of sour cream, cheddar cheese, crushed tortilla chips, fresh cilantro or green onion.
Be adventurous and serve the hearty chili over a halved and pitted avocado or baked potato! So good and original.
More Cozy Cold Weather Recipes to Try:
- Slow Cooker Turkey Chili Recipe – a crowd-pleasing chili
- Potato Chicken Soup Recipe – so comforting
- Instant Pot White Chicken Chili – super fast and easy
- Creamy Tomato Basil Soup – comfort in a bowl
Beef Chili Recipe
Ingredients
Beef Chili Ingredients:
- 2 lbs ground beef
- 1 medium onion, finely cubed
- 1 large carrot, cubed
- ½ medium green bell pepper, cubed
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
- 15.5 oz can kidney beans, , drained and rinsed
- 3 cups beef broth
Chili Seasonings:
- 1 ½ tsp ground cumin
- 2 tsp granulated sugar
- 2 tsp salt
- ½ tsp ground pepper
- 2 ½ tsp chili powder
Instructions
- Brown beef in a Dutch oven over med-high heat, breaking up the meat while stirring.
- Add onion and cook until tender.
- Add diced carrot, bell pepper and minced garlic. Cook until vegetables are tender, stirring as needed. Drain excess fat.
- Pour in diced tomatoes with juice, add beans, broth and seasonings. Stir well to combine.
- Turn heat down to a gentle boil and allow chili to cook 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally (longer if meat and vegetables aren’t desired tenderness).
- Taste chili and additional seasonings if needed. Turn off heat and allow chili to rest 5 minutes.
Nutrition Per Serving
Filed Under
If you make this recipe, I’d love to see pics of your creations on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter! Hashtag them #natashaskitchen
Curling up with a bowl of hot chili in the winter is a real treat. What is YOUR favorite cold-weather comfort food?
Hi! I’m Natasha Kravchuk, a New York Times bestselling cookbook author, recipe developer, food photographer, and writer. Here you’ll find delicious, reliable recipes made with simple ingredients, plus easy step-by-step photos and videos to help you cook confidently at home. 
Hi Natasha, made your beef chilli for the first time and it was sooo delicious myself and my family enjoyed it. Thank you for sharing your recipes!
You’re welcomd and I hope you and your family enjoy every recipe that you try!
Hello. How much is a serving?
I’m diabetic and want to be in range. Thank you.
Hi Dre, The entire recipe makes for 8 servings. One serving will be one eighth of the recipe.
Hi Natasha, I love all of your recipes but at 1 point I did ask where did you buy your salad spinner and I never got an answer do please tell me where you purchase some of your items for the kitchen
Hi Norma, we love this salad spinner here and use it often! I hope that helps.
I also did this as a last minute Super Bowl dish. It was fabulous!!!
I’m so glad you enjoyed that Ryan!
I made the Meatloaf and it came out perfect. I’m 65 and never been a cook. My Wife is delighted that I’m finally learning the art. Next up is I will make your Chili. We’re using ground beef from a Farm in Capay Valley California called Pasture 42. The farm supplies meat to restaurants in the San Francisco Bay Area. Thanks for the recipes.
That’s so great Steve! I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe! Thank you so much for sharing that with me.
Just made this for superbowl Sunday…. smells delish! Can’t wait to try it. Waiting for hubby to get home from work. I trust Natasha’s Kitchen to always have easy & delicious recipes. Thanks Natasha!
That’s awesome Judy. I hope you both love it! You’re welcome and thanks for dropping by.
I do not like to use canned beans. How can I use dried cranberry beans in this recipe? I looks so good.
Hi Inga, you could probably substitute that but you would need to cook them first and then add them as though you were adding canned beans.
My first chili ever! And my family loved it! Thank you Natasha for shareing the receipe !!!!
You’re welcome! I’m so happy you enjoyed it, Kristina!
Do we add the beans with the juice or not? It’s not specific?
Hi Lizzy, per the recipe “15.5 oz can kidney beans, drained and rinsed” I hope that helps.
Natasha didn’t you use to have your beef chili recipe on Video at one time? I just cant seem to find it. I have the printed recipe but i also like to refer to the Video.
thanks.
Hi Randy, we do not have a video of our chili recipe yet. But thank you for that suggestion. We do have one of our White Chicken Chile, however. You can find that here.
This is aweful!! I had to add some sour cream to tone it down a bit! Will not make again!
Hi Sheila, if it was too spicy, you definitely can tone down the spice.
I made this chili today in my instant pot and my whole family loved it. I used the saute option to brown my onions and meat. Then, I added the rest of the ingredients and put 5 minutes in manual. Easy, fast and yummy. Thanks Natasha for another wonderful recipe!!!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Hind! Thank you for the wonderful review!
Usually LOVE your recipes (I’m Ukrainian also!) but this one was disappointing for some reason it was very soupy and not enough tomato sauce which made it look like hamburger meat and water once you poured it into a bowl
Hi Miroslava, thank you for the feedback. You would probably love our turkey chili more and we often substitute with ground beef in that one. It’s our go-to!
Yes, that one sounds great! Thank you!!
You’re welcome. We have a batch of that one in the fridge right now!
I have made this several times in the last couple of weeks. It’s amazing. I add celery and towards the end of cooking a corn starch slurry to thicken the chili. It is amazing!!!
That’s awesome, Valerie! Thank you for the great review!
Om my goodness if you could smell my kitchen right now. It smells so good :). This is my first time making this chili and I am sure my husband will love it.
Thanks for the great recipe Natasha !
I can imagine it smells amazing! Thank you for that great feedback, Annie!
Really good! Loved it! My wife loves chili from a certain place,
five hours away, and this recipe is as close to that as can be, probably better! Thank you for saving me extra road trips!
That’s just awesome!! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review, Jeffery!
Made it today with ground axis.Delicious!
Thank you for sharing!
Does a Dutch oven have to to see used? I don’t have one. Can I use a regular pot?
Hi Lily, a regular pot would definitely work.
Followed recipe to a T. Was more like hamburger soup. We have always had great luck with all your recipes but not this one. Was so disappointed. We’ve replayed the recipe a ton of times & not sure why it was very good. :/ We will continue to try other recipes though. We love all the others we’ve tried!
Hi Karen, I’m sorry to hear you didn’t enjoy it. I am always happy to help troubleshoot. Was it an issue with the texture? too thin or too thick?
Hi Karen… I posted a similar recipe to Natasha’s great recipe and highlighted your problem. If you don’t sauté the hamburger first OR, over breakdown the hamburger you will get grainy hamburger, thus hamburger soup. When chili completes cooking, it is generally “soupy”. If you let it cool overnight, the beans soak up the liquid and the consistency becomes perfect. In summary, precook hamburger in bigger chunks and let the chili rest overnight. Hope this helps.
Oh wow! I think that was the problem. Makes total sense when I think about it. Thank you so much!
This chili is out of this world! My kids devoured it, I could not stop eating, and the hubby loved it too! Thank you!
Sounds like you found a new family favorite, Natasha! I’m so glad you all enjoyed that, especially the kids!
I was pleasantly surprised by this recipe! I did tweak it a little by adding 1/2 tsp of cayenne pepper to add a little spice and 3 tbsp of fine corn meal to thicken it up. When I originally read through the recipe I was skeptical it would very good, but it was actually delicious! Thanks for another great, easy, and quick recipe!
I’m so happy you enjoyed this recipe, Hilary!
So easy and so delicious. My first time making Chili. My husband loved it. The only alteration I made was adding tomato paste to thicken it up a little. Definitely will make this again. Thank you Natasha for another delicious dish.
You’re welcome! I’m so happy you enjoyed it, Christina!
Barry’s “Best Chili Ever!”
Ingredients:
1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef
1 tablespoon olive oil for sautéing the hamburger
1 medium yellow onion, cut into 3/4-inch pieces
2 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste when finished
3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 medium green bell pepper, seeded and chopped to 1 inch pieces
1 medium red bell pepper, seeded and chopped to 1 inch pieces
4 tablespoons chili powder, mild adjust with more if necessary to taste
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce – Sriacha or Tabasco
3 tablespoons ground cumin — adjust with more if needed, not all cumin has the same punch
2 (15-ounce) cans red kidney beans, drained (or substitute one can with pinto beans)
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 (10.75-ounce) can condensed cream of tomato soup or tomato bisque
1/2 can beer or more later on to adjust thickness of chili – drink the rest
Lemon juice if required to personal taste if Chili seems thick or heavy on the palate. It brightens flavor
Directions:
Using the biggest cast iron fry pan you have sauté hamburger over low to medium heat in oil with onion, garlic, Worchester sauce, salt and pepper in a large pot.
Separate hamburger into medium coarse pieces during cooking process. This will be the palate sized pieces for eating.
After the hamburger is about half cooked, still some red left, add bell peppers, chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, cumin and hot pepper sauce.
Continue to sauté on a low to medium heat for 2-3 more minutes mixing ingredients to cook the peppers
After 2-3 minutes, the bell pepper should be losing its dark green color – now is the time to add the remainder of the ingredients and gently bring it all to a simmering boil.
Reduce heat to low and allow to simmer for 15 minutes.
Start TASTING. Adjust Cumin, Chili powder, Salt and hot sauce to taste. If it seems a little thick on the palate, add a little lemon juice at a time to taste.
Turn off all heat and allow to cool – this will let the beans absorb the juices and improves the overall flavor tremendously.
Preferably, refrigerate overnight to let flavors meld for best results.
Reheat when you are ready to eat – the flavors have now melded and it tastes even better.
NOTE – If you don’t have time for all this, put all the ingredients (be sure to break down hamburger a bit) in a crock pot. Put on high till it boils, stir well, then cook on low overnight.
There is one problem though… the hamburger will break down into very fine pieces and is not nearly as nice as when it is fried into larger pieces.
NOTE – This goes well with toasted sour dough bread and butter. Serve with grated cheddar cheese or chopped onions if desired.
Thanks for sharing!
Hope you will try it… it’s best with Pinto beans for the second can of beans and frying the Hamburg first. Recipe is over fifty years old and I’ve never had a complaint. Thank you Natasha for sharing your kitchen and family with us.
I see it in so many recipes and your also where there is no mention of draining the fat from the burger after it’s browned. Even lean ground carries some fat and IMO absolutely needs to be drained.