Our favorite Classic Chili recipe win’s awards every year, is easy to make, and loaded with meat, beans, and the perfect blend of chili seasonings. You can make it on the stove or slow cooker and leftovers freeze wonderfully.
What I love about this Chili recipe:
- Award Winning: A quick, traditional chili recipe with meat and beans is something everyone should have in their recipe box. Every year readers reach out excited to report that this recipe won their chili cook-off!
- Adaptable: Feel free to jazz it up by adding bacon or extra sautéed veggies. To make it vegetarian, omit the meat and add extra beans. Or, try my Turkey Chili, or Spicy Chili.
- Many ways to serve it: We always adore chili as it’s own main dish with a side of cornbread, but I also love it served over Baked Potatoes, Cornbread Waffles, chili dogs, Stuffed Spaghetti Squash, Nachos, or French Fries to make Chili Fries.
How to Make this Classic Chili Recipe:
Brown Meat: Cook the onions in olive oil for about 5 minutes until they are tender and start to get a little bit golden and caramelized. Add the ground beef and sausage and cook until browned, breaking it apart. Remove grease.
Add Remaining Ingredients: Add the vinegar and cook for 1 minute. Add diced tomatoes, tomato juice, ketchup, beans, brown sugar, chili powder, garlic salt, pepper, paprika, cumin and cayenne.
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.
Serve this quick chili recipe in bowls with a dollop of sour cream and a sprinkle of cheese on top. I love serving chili with cornbread, biscuits, or a green salad.
Recipe Variations:
- Add Bacon: cooked bacon would add a fun flavor twist.
- More Veggies: Chopped, sautéed bell pepper and celery, or even cooked cubes of butternut squash, or pumpkin would all be delicious.
- Meatless: Leave out the ground beef and sausage and double the amount of beans called for.
- Spicy Chili: As written, this chili is very mild. If you’d like to make it spicier, add more cayenne pepper, chopped jalapeños (canned or fresh), hot sauce, or make my delicious Spicy Chili recipe!
- Crockpot Chili: Cook the onion and brown the meat in a large skillet. Add the remaining ingredients to a large slow cooker and stir in the cooked meat and onions. Cook on low for 5-7 hours.
- Instant Pot Chili: Turn Instant Pot to sauté and brown the onion and meats. Discard the grease. Add everything else and cook on high pressure for 20-30 minutes to concentrate the flavors quicker than on the stovetop.
Make Ahead and Freezing Instructions:
To Make Ahead: Leftover chili will keep well stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-5 days. Heat on the stove until hot before serving with your favorite toppings.
To Freeze: Freeze chili for up to 3 months, in a freezer-safe bag or container. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and then rewarm on the stove or in microwave.
Side Dish Ideas:
- Homemade Cornbread
- Cheese Crisps or Quesadillas
- Green Salad
- Potato Skins
Follow me for more great recipes
Recipe
Easy Homemade Chili
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- 1 large onion , diced
- 2 pounds lean ground beef
- 1 pound pork sausage
- 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)
- shredded cheddar cheese , optional
- sour cream , optional
Instructions
- 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.
- Add the ground beef and sausage to the pot and cook, breaking apart into small pieces with a wooden spoon, until browned. Drain any grease.
- 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.
- 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.
- Serve in bowls with a dollop of sour cream and a sprinkle of cheese on top.
Notes
Nutrition
Did You Make This Recipe?
Tag @TastesBetterFromScratch on Instagram with #TastesBetterFromScratch!
Follow Me
I originally shared this recipe August 2019. Updated October 2021 and September 2023.
Brand new to the website. This tasted just like my moms chili but was a few different ingredients. One thing I like to do with this chili when you have it in your own bowl is a few dashes of pumpkin pie spice and a few sprits of reds hot sauce.
One criticism I have for this as well as the site as a whole is it would be nice if the recipes had a serving size, not just calories per whatever serving the dish may be.
Tried this last night. Turned out amazing!!! Family asked me to make again. My slight changes: I used tomato sauce instead of juice for a thicker consistency. I used half the called-for ketchup. Didn’t want the ketchup sugars to overpower like I have done in past. And a couple more shakes of chili powder and cayenne pepper. Marvelous. I served each bowl with a large pinch of shredded cheese and 10 corn chips (Fritos) for presentation and crunch. Thanks for the recipe. Finally! A chili we like!
So good! I added 2 Serrano peppers without seeds or spines, half a green bell pepper and half a large red bell pepper. Amazing!
I made this chili today in my slow cooker, and it came out tasting great, though not too thick. I made an adjustment using only two pounds of ground beef; no pork at all. Perhaps it would have been thicker if I had replaced the pork with a third pound of beef! At any rate, my family loved it. I will make it again.
This chili is not what I’m used to. It is a little like fancy baked beans with the Ketchup and brown sugar. I really enjoy this website and have made some wonderful things, but I will be going back to my usual recipe.
I tried it in the crockpot; went by the recipe but it needed up very soupy. I ended up having to add some tomato paste to thicken. Afterwards it was really good. Not sure if I did something wrong or what. Perhaps I should’ve drained the beans.
Love this recipe, my go to chili recipe. It goes in the crock-pot on high for a few hours and it’s great. Tastes even better the following day.
I expected a recipe that uses dried beans, not canned beans. Since we are cooking from scratch, I am looking for a chili recipe that is totally from scratch.
My thoughts, too. You can substitute about 1 1/2 cups cooked beans for each can called for.
Easy and very tasty
If you don’t simmer for at least an hour the taste of the red wine vinegar will be too strong. Added more spices and simmered for 2.5 hours – delicious!