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 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
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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 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.1 Tablespoon olive oil, 1 large onion
- Add the ground beef and sausage to the pot and cook, breaking apart into small pieces with a meat chopper, until browned. Drain any grease.2 pounds lean ground beef, 1 pound 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
- 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 ladle then add a dollop of sour cream and a sprinkle of cheese on top, if desired.
Notes
Nutrition
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I originally shared this recipe August 2019. Updated October 2021 and September 2023.
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Made today awesome….great flavor. Family loved it. Topped each bowl with shredded cheddar cheese. Served with honey corn muffins. Awesome
This is from cans, not scratch … factory/fast canned foods are not healthy scratch foods … they are harmful.
You can cook your own beans. 3/4 cup dried beans = 15 oz can. Cook them on low in a crock pot over night with 2 cups of water and 1/4 tsp. salt per 3/4 cup of beans.
Whether using canned beans or dried beans, just always make sure you’re using organic beans. Otherwise, most bean farmers spray their bean crop with Roundup a few days before harvest to dry out the plant.
My sister made this and absolutely raved over it. I went and got all the ingredients to make it, but got ground italian sausage. I got to thinking that it might have meant pork breakfast sausage. Will what I purchased be ok, or should I go get the other kind? Thanks!
Yes, ground Italian sausage will work!
My favorite chili recipe and I have made many over last 60 years! I substitute a can of mild rotel tnstead of tomatos and I use v8 instead of tomato juice.
This chili is so sweet it could be served as a dessert. It was like Hormel but sweeter. Not for us.
Can ground turkey and turkey sausage be substituted for the ground beef and pork sausage?
Sure!
Did you use Jimmy Dean sausage? I’m not sure sage would be good for this chili. If not, what type do you recommend? Thank you.
I use regular flavor jimmy dean sausage.
I’ve cooked chili beans for years!!! These are the best Chili beans by far!!! I’ve made them one time, best find ever…
This is the best chili i have made. Made it 3 or 4 times now.. I cook it in 2 instant pots. In one I cook dry beans to mix in later. I do the rest using the saute function on the instant pot other. I think from a health standpoint that there is probably too much sugar with the ketchup, but from a taste standpoint, i would recommend making the recipe as closely as possible to the original before you change it. Daughter is becoming a vegetarian so i need to find a good vegetarian chili recipe next. 🙂
Tasted too much ketchup, and I only used half of the amount the recipe called for.