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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Love this recipe, I keep making it. Beats my version of dumping in things on a whim. Didn’t even know about red wine vinegar until now. Perfect while staying home in the big storm. Need to try your homemade cornbread with it.
Days are cool and evenings flirting with freezing temperatures here in Phoenix, Arizona. A perfect time to make chili and this recipe doesn’t disappoint! Easy to prepare, tastes delicious and reminds me of Mom’s chili served when I was a kid! Saved this recipe to use over and over again!
First time trying this recipe & me and the hubs loved it! Few variations – used ground round instead of meat (I’m vegan).. didn’t have pinto beans so I used 1 can black beans & 2 cans kidney beans. Makes a huge batch too! I’ll definitely be making this again and freezing it closer to my delivery date. ❤️
The recipe was really good. The website was FREAKIN HORRIBLE! Ads were covering recipe steps and popping up all over the place….terrible
That’s on the “phone” edition. Go to a PC. Found that with other sites too.
I agree!
First time trying this recipe. Came out great. I used ground beef and lamb mix. Doctored up ingredients. My husband ate two bowls. Thnx.
The family all enjoyed this recipe
Delicious
Made this last night for my family. I used red onion and 2 Serrano peppers. Instead of ketchup, cause I didn’t have any😂 I used sweet Vidalia bbq sauce. Used fresh garlic and did in the instapot. My boys raved over this. Thanks for the recipe.
Credit to the recipe author, I’d never made chili before, neither had my mother in law who was helping me. Her version of making chili is warming up a can. I’ve always just waited until my Dad was in the mood and swung by for a bowl of his.
I did omit 1lb of hamburger… because I didn’t read the recipe correctly and only purchased 1lb.
I also assumed I had ketchup ans brown sugar… and we didn’t. So, we tossed in a little cane sugar, a little honey, some molasses and hoped it would loosely resemble the flavors of adding ketchup and brown sugar. I can’t tell you if it did emulate the flavors because we’ve not made it correctly lol we loved it the way it came out.
Perfect recipe. Only substitution is my homemade canned tomato sauce for diced tomatoes if I have any left. I use fresh garlic cloves if I have any left. Keep those recipes coming. We need them in these troubling times.
Instead of adding tomato juice you could add V8.