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.
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Recipe
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
Nutrition
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I originally shared this recipe August 2019. Updated October 2021, September 2023 and September 2025.
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I used 1/2 cup less tomato juice than suggested, and added a little extra spice as well as some crystal hot sauce. I also doubled the brown sugar. It was beyond good.
I agree with some of the reviewers: too sweet and too much ketchup flavor. The red wine vinegar needs to be cut back as well. I won’t make it again.
Too sweet and too much of a ketchup flavor.
If you want to half the recipe for family of 3 how would you do this recipe
Should have stayed in school, Tammy. Divide by 2. Voila!
Adding tomato juice was a big mistake. I should have substituted tomato sauce. Not the best chili recipe!
Great recipe. Used Garden Cocktail instead of tomato juice. It’s what we had on hand. Turned out fantastic. Nice thing about chili, everyone can put their own twist on it.
This has a strong sweet ketchup taste! Is there something that can be added to calm that down???
Add more spices, and another can of beans with broth, if you’d like.
Admittedly, I haven’t made the true version of this Chili, because both times I’ve been out of ketchup and had to “make” brown sugar so it’s definitely been a little dark.
Nonetheless, it’s been a great chili recipe. Even my mother in law loved it!
Great recipe. However, made some minor changes. Instead of diced tomatoes, I used crushed tomatoes. Have a couple of folks in family that won’t eat “chunks” of tomatoes. This fools them! lol. Also, I added about 2 1/2 cups of beef broth. Again, in an effort to cut down tomato taste for my picky eaters. I think you could use beef bouillon if you didn’t want to add more liquid, but it really worked for us. This is the first chili recipe that the entire family liked—and I’ve been cooking a LONG time!
Super easy instructions and I love the amount of meat is in it however I found the ketchup flavor to be a bit over powering as well as my husband. Is that something we could omit next time? Overall really good and would try again.
Shelby—my family members are picky about a strong tomato taste in foods. I added 2 1/2 cups of beef broth and it really worked out. If you didn’t want to add liquid, you could use beef bouillon. I liked the extra liquid though. Just a suggestion.
Great tasting all my guest loved it.