Simple Homemade Chili (One Pot, Crowd Pleasing)

Every family has a dish that quietly holds the whole calendar together, and at our house it is this chili. It has fed tailgates in the driveway, church potlucks, snowbound weekends and plenty of evenings when I stood in front of an open pantry with no plan at all. Tom jokes that I could make it in my sleep, and he might be right.

The method is about as simple as cooking gets. Ground beef browns in a big pot with onion, green pepper and garlic. Then a hefty spoonful of chili powder goes in with cumin, smoked paprika and oregano, and all of it toasts in the pan for a minute before the crushed tomatoes, a cup of broth and two kinds of beans join in. Give it roughly 45 minutes of gentle bubbling and you have a thick, savory chili with a whisper of sweetness and a nice warm finish.

What I love most is how easily it bends to whoever is eating. I keep it mild when the grandkids visit, add heat for Tom and our oldest son, swap in turkey when I want something lighter and toss in another can of beans when I need it to stretch. It also tastes better on the second day, so it is a natural for planning ahead. Over the years I have made the fancy versions with whole dried peppers and three meats and a whole day on the stove. They were delicious, but this is the pot I return to, because it fits an ordinary weeknight. You can start it after work, fold the laundry while it cooks and still eat at a sensible hour.

Why this chili turns out so well

• Toasting the spices first. A minute in the hot pan with the beef and its fat wakes the spices up, which gives the finished pot a fuller, rounder flavor.
• A pair of beans. Kidney beans and pintos have different textures, so each bite feels hearty and a little more interesting.
• Two forms of tomato. Tomato paste adds concentrated depth, and crushed tomatoes give the base its thick, spoonable body.
• A steady, moderate simmer. About forty five minutes lets the flavors marry and the chili thicken, no all day cooking needed.
• A sweet and tangy finish. A spoonful of brown sugar and a splash of cider vinegar stirred in at the end tame the tomatoes and make the spices pop.

What goes into it

Nearly everything here lives in the pantry or the spice drawer. The recipe card below has all the measurements.

• Ground beef, on the leaner side
• Onion, a green bell pepper and garlic
• Chili powder, cumin, smoked paprika and oregano
• A spoonful of tomato paste
• Crushed tomatoes plus a can of diced
• A cup of beef broth
• Kidney beans and pinto beans from cans
• Brown sugar and cider vinegar
• Salt, pepper and cayenne if you want it

Ingredient notes and easy swaps

The beef

My pick is 85 percent lean beef, which carries enough fat for flavor but does not leave an oily slick across the top. If your package is fattier, pour off some of the drippings after browning. Ground turkey, ground chicken or half beef and half pork all make good chili. With turkey, use a little more salt and a teaspoon of olive oil, since it is milder and leaner.

The chili powder

Standard chili powder from the spice aisle is already a blend of ground peppers and seasonings, and it carries most of the flavor here. Check that your jar is still fragrant, because tired spices fall flat. For a smokier pot, use ancho chili powder for one of the tablespoons.

The beans

Kidney and pinto are the duo I use most, though black beans are an easy trade. Drain the canned beans and give them a good rinse to wash away the starchy liquid and some of the sodium. To make it without beans, use another half pound of beef and a bit more broth.

The tomatoes

The crushed tomatoes build a thick base, and the diced ones leave small pieces you can actually see. Fire roasted diced tomatoes add a lovely char if your store carries them. In a pinch, tomato sauce can stand in for the crushed tomatoes.

How spicy to make it

Made exactly as written, this chili sits between mild and medium, which works for most families. To bring more heat, cook a diced jalapeno with the onion, add a pinch or two of cayenne, or shake in some hot sauce right before serving. For smoky heat, mince a chipotle pepper in adobo and stir it in.

Making the chili

From the first chop to the first bowl takes about an hour, and you only need one large heavy pot or a Dutch oven.

Step 1. Brown the ground beef

Set your largest pot over medium high heat and add the beef, breaking it into small pieces with a wooden spoon. Let it cook 6 to 8 minutes, until it is browned all over with no pink left and has reached 160F. If a lot of fat has collected, spoon most of it away and keep about a tablespoon in the pot.

Step 2. Soften the onion and pepper

Stir the onion and green pepper into the beef. Give them 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until they relax and soften. Add the garlic and keep stirring for 30 seconds, just until you can smell it.

Step 3. Toast the spices with the tomato paste

Add the tomato paste to the pot, then scatter the salt, pepper, oregano, smoked paprika, cumin and chili powder over everything. Stir without stopping for 1 to 2 minutes while the spices toast and the paste turns a little darker. This is the moment the whole house starts to smell like chili.

Step 4. Pour in the tomatoes, broth and beans

Add the crushed tomatoes, the diced tomatoes along with their juice and the cup of broth. Run your spoon along the bottom to lift any browned bits that are stuck there. Then add the kidney and pinto beans, already drained and rinsed.

Step 5. Let it simmer and thicken

Bring the pot up to a boil and then turn the burner to low. Set the lid on partway and let the chili simmer for 40 to 45 minutes, giving it a stir about every 10 minutes so nothing catches on the bottom. It is done when it looks thick and tastes like one flavor instead of many separate ones.

Step 6. Taste, adjust and serve

Add the brown sugar and the cider vinegar and stir them through. Taste, then add more salt, more pepper or a pinch of cayenne until it suits you. Spoon it into bowls and let everyone go wild with toppings.

A word about tasting, because it matters more than any measurement. Blow on a spoonful, let it cool and pay attention to it. Flat usually means it wants salt. A sharp or metallic edge usually means a little more brown sugar. Heavy and dull usually means another splash of vinegar. Those last small tweaks are what make people ask for your recipe.

Chili mistakes to steer clear of

• Leaving the beef gray. Beef that never browns gives you less flavor. Let it rest against the pot for a minute or two before you stir so it can pick up color.
• Adding the spices to the liquid. Spices that go straight into the tomatoes taste raw and powdery. Toasting them in the hot pot first changes everything.
• Not rinsing the beans. That thick canning liquid can make the pot taste metallic and too salty.
• Calling it done too early. Chili needs a good 30 to 40 minutes at a simmer to thicken and come together. Rush it and you end up with tomato soup that happens to have beans in it.
• Salting heavily at the start. The broth, tomatoes and beans all bring their own salt, so go easy early and fine tune at the end.

Cooking ahead and storing

Few meals take to advance cooking like chili does. The spices keep mingling overnight, and it reheats without losing a bit of texture. I often double the recipe on a Saturday and pack it into containers for weekday lunches for Tom and me.

Here is how I store and reheat it so it stays as good as the first night.

Refrigerator

Let the chili cool, then move it to airtight containers and keep it in the fridge for up to 4 days. It firms up as it chills, and that is just fine.

Freezer

Pack it into freezer containers, or lay it flat in zip bags, and freeze for up to 4 months. Leave some headroom in rigid containers, since chili expands as it freezes. Thaw it overnight in the refrigerator, or for a quicker thaw, submerge the sealed bag in cold water.

Warming it up

Reheat the chili in a saucepan on medium low, stirring often, until it is steaming. If it looks too thick, loosen it with a little broth or water. Single bowls do well in the microwave, heated in 1 minute rounds and stirred in between.

Fun ways to vary it

• Slow cooker style. Brown the beef, soften the vegetables and toast the spices on the stove, then move it all into a slow cooker. Let it go 6 to 8 hours on LOW or 3 to 4 hours on HIGH.
• Lighter turkey chili. Make it with ground turkey and chicken broth for a version that is still filling but not as rich.
• A white bean spin. Use cannellini and great northern beans in place of the kidney and pinto beans.
• Loaded with vegetables. Add some corn, a cubed sweet potato or a diced zucchini for more color and a bigger batch.
• A Cincinnati inspired twist. Add a pinch of cinnamon and a spoonful of unsweetened cocoa, then ladle it over spaghetti.

After you have made it once or twice, you will feel free to adjust it to whatever is in your kitchen that week.

Toppings and sides

For me, the best part of chili night is the toppings. I fill a row of small bowls and let everyone build their own. These are the ones that disappear first at our table.

On game days when the kids and their families pile in, I keep the pot warm on the back burner or in a slow cooker on the WARM setting, stack bowls and spoons beside it and let people serve themselves for hours. Nothing else lets me host that many people and still sit down and enjoy the company.

• The classics, such as shredded cheddar, sour cream, sliced scallions, chopped red onion and pickled jalapenos.
• Cornbread or corn muffins for dipping and crumbling over the top.
• Tortilla chips or saltines for a little crunch.
• Baked potatoes split open and smothered in chili.
• Coleslaw or a crisp green salad for something cool on the side.
• Steamed white rice when you want the pot to go further.

Grab a spoon and a seat. This pot of homemade chili is proof that a dinner everyone loves can also be one of the easiest things you make all week.