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This easy Homemade Chili recipe is a WINNER, packed with hearty ground beef, sausage, beans, and a blend of bold spices, simmered to rich perfection. It's made in one pot or a slow cooker and freezes well, too.
My classic Chili recipe is ready for your chili cook-off!
My classic Chili recipe is ready for your chili cook-off!Every year I have at least one reader who writes in that this chili recipe won an award at a chili cook-off! It's the BEST, and my go-to when I need something hearty, comforting, and easy to whip up. It's endlessly adaptable, too — sometimes I’ll toss in extra veggies or a strip of crispy bacon for added flavor, and it's just as delicious made vegetarian with extra beans. Whether we’re piling it onto cornbread waffles, chili dogs, french fries, drizzling it over nachos, or ladling it up with a side of cornbread, it’s a meal that always brings people together.
How to make our award-winning Chili Recipe:
Cook Meat and Combine: Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat and sauté the onions for about 5 minutes, until soft and lightly caramelized. Add the ground beef and sausage, breaking it apart with a meat chopper as it cooks, and continue until browned. Drain grease, then stir in the vinegar and cook for 1 minute to deglaze the pan.
Simmer and Serve: Add the diced tomatoes, tomato juice, ketchup, beans, brown sugar, chili powder, garlic salt, pepper, paprika, cumin, and cayenne. Stir well and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to medium-low and let it simmer uncovered for at least 1 hour, or up to 3 hours, stirring occasionally. If you need it thicker, sprinkle a big spoonful of cornmeal over the top and stir it in. Use a ladle to serve warm with sour cream, shredded cheese, and your favorite sides like cornbread, potato skins, biscuits, or a green salad.
Easy Homemade Chili
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- 1 large onion, , diced
- 2 pounds lean ground beef
- 1 pound ground pork sausage, (I use Jimmy Dean)
- 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
- 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes, , petite, undrained
- 4 cups tomato juice*
- 1 cup ketchup
- 2 15 ounce cans pinto beans, , undrained
- 1 16 ounce can kidney beans, , undrained
- 1 Tablespoon light brown sugar
- 3 Tablespoons chili powder
- ¾ teaspoon garlic salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, (or more if you want it spicier)
- cornmeal, to thicken, if desired
- shredded cheddar cheese, , optional
- sour cream, , optional
Instructions
- Saute onion: Add the olive oil to a large soup pot over medium-high heat. Once hot, add the onion and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.1 Tablespoon olive oil, 1 large onion
- Brown meat: Add ground beef and sausage to the pot and cook, breaking apart into small pieces with a meat chopper or wooden spoon until browned. Remove the grease.2 pounds lean ground beef, 1 pound ground pork sausage
- Add the vinegar and cook for 1 minute. Add the diced tomatoes, tomato juice, ketchup, beans, brown sugar, chili powder, garlic salt, pepper, paprika, cumin, and cayenne.¼ cup red wine vinegar, 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes, 4 cups tomato juice*, 1 cup ketchup, 2 15 ounce cans pinto beans, 1 16 ounce can kidney beans, 3 Tablespoons chili powder, ¾ teaspoon garlic salt, ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, 1 teaspoon paprika, 1 teaspoons ground cumin, ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper, 1 Tablespoon light brown sugar
- Simmer: Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring, then reduce the heat and simmer over medium-low heat for at least one hour, or up to 3 hours, stirring occasionally, until thickened. The more it simmers, the thicker and more flavorful it will be! (and if you'd like it even thicker, stir in a sprinkle of cornmeal).cornmeal
- Serve: Ladle chili into bowls and top with a dollop of sour cream and a sprinkle of cheese.shredded cheddar cheese, sour cream
Notes
Macros
37 grams of proteinNutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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I originally shared this recipe August 2019. Updated October 2021, September 2023 and September 2025.
I like most of the stuff in this recipe. However, I only use it for a general guide on the amounts to use for certain ingredients. For me:
make sure you don’t use too much sugar or use none. Secret ingredient that will improve it significantly is (chili peppers in adobo sauce) look for something smoky or charred flavored. I add several other spices, but that’s my way of improving it.
You don’t have to add ketchup
The chili is considered thick
I add bacon bits, cheese, onions and either saltines or crispy garlic salted sourdough. Right before eating
“Very heavy on the beans this recipe is” – Yoda. I would use 1 can of each, 2 total.
For the most part, I like the recipe I would not use the pork. I also will not use ketchup for the sugar content, and I think tomato juice was unnecessary. I make it with fire, roasted tomatoes, and a large jar of chunky salsa. I also wouldn’t limit the type of beans. I would use a variety chickpeas, great northern beans, definitely black beans and then the kidney beans. I don’t see any need to add more sugar in our lives. I think your recipe is pretty straightforward and I like that, but as I started to make it, I had to adjust it. I just can’t do it with brown sugar and ketchup. And by using the salsa, I didn’t need the tomato juice so we just drank it. Do you need extra liquid? I would cut up some green peppers and onions. Sauté them quickly and then throw them in and cook everything in a crockpot.
Make this every cold season and my family loves it. Goes great with some cornbread!
A true chef/cook never uses KETCUP.
Yes everything was good about it, but ketchup ruined the savory aspect of this chili recipe. Bummed me out. :/
Could have done without the ketchup.