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.
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 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
Follow Me
I originally shared this recipe August 2019. Updated October 2021, September 2023 and September 2025.
This post contains affiliate links.
I’m not a huge fan of chili but my husband and I loved this recipe! I made a few adjustments to use up ingredients I had on hand and it still turned out wonderful! Using a crockpot worked great! Perfect meal for our chilly PA weather!
added the extra spices. Cooked in the crock pot. Left out the brown sugar since we are needing to limit added sugars. Very yummy! Made a grilled cheese to go with it:)
I usually don’t follow a recipe for chili and just dump the ingredients into a pot and voila. I was up to the challenge to follow this recipe…It had good flavor and was meaty (I typically only use 1 pound of beef). My family likes a thicker chili, so I cut back on the tomato juice, but it still wasn’t thick enough. Served with tortilla chips, sour cream, cheese and jalapenos. Looking forward to the leftovers later this week served on top of rice. Thanks for the recipe. 👍
Delicious! Made a double batch and ate it for multiple meals. Will freeze some next time.
I made this for the October cooking challenge. It’s great! My usual chili brothy and veg-centric, so it was fun to try this hearty classic version. I enjoyed mine plain, but the classic taste makes a good canvas for toppings as well. Thanks!
I don’t eat pork so only ground beef is used but nonetheless, very delicious recipe !
This recipe is wonderful! Love the addition of the pork sausage. I would add just a bit more cayenne next time- but I like it spicy! Can also see this recipe with thin slices of steak to make it more beefy. Great addition to my recipe box.
We have a small Christian College and every year we make chili for our dorm girls. I decided to try this recipe. There was only a little bit left. It came out really great, the only thing I did, was at a little more zip to it. The little that was left I thoroughly enjoyed the next day. This is a keeper thank you.
I made this for our family of 7 and it went over well! I used 1 lb. of ground beef, 1 lb. of ground pork, and so halved the tomato sauce/water and it worked well. It wasn’t too spicy for the kids, was just right. Alongside cornbread, it was a delicious dinner and very heart, perfect for fall. Thanks!
Great classic chili! We all loved that it was full of meat/beans. We had a house divided on the flavor. LOL! Everyone liked it. Some prefer this which has a little sweetness. Others prefer less sweet and more spicy. Either way, it was a winner. It fed us well with plenty for leftovers!