This is the world’s best chili recipe! It is a contest winner, total crowd pleaser and the best chili recipe on the internet. It is packed with flavor, texture and color. Make it for your next gathering, large or small, and you will get rave reviews. Add jalapenos for extra spice or go mild!
Original post: April 2018 | Updated: February 2023
Why This Recipe Works
You have just found the world’s best chili recipe ever. That is a massive claim, but you will soon agree! You are about to have either a very happy tummy, a very happy family or very happy guests.
My husband and I have been making this delicious soup for years. Together we have tweaked it many, many times. Here are a few of the reasons we deem this to be the perfect meal:
- It is absolute comfort food perfection and such an amazing chili recipe that the whole family will love.
- It’s versatile! My famous Pip and Ebby chili recipe is a favorite easy recipe for game days, lazy weekends and weeknight meals.
- This classic chili recipe is perfect for those cozy cold weather snowy days and for larger gatherings like game day parties or holiday feasts.
- We’ve never thrown a single morsel of it away because this award winning chili recipe (Seriously! It wins every contest I enter!) always gets gobbled down in its entirety.
- It has the most perfect consistency and there is such a depth of flavor.
- This beef chili recipe is a GREAT quick and easy comforting soup, but can easily be transformed into a leaner turkey chili (or even venison!).
If you absolutely cannot find a chunk of time to make this delicious dish, consider trying my Easy 5-ingredient chili for a much-condensed version. Enjoy!
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Ground Beef Dinner Ideas
If you have extra ground beef on your hands, browse through this comprehensive roundup of delicious ground beef recipes!
Chili Ingredients and Equipment
Ingredients
Ground beef – To keep this chili on the leaner side, use ground turkey, ground chicken or lean ground beef. To add a delicious flavor, replace 1 pound of ground beef with 1 pound of ground sausage.
Bell peppers – Any color of bell pepper tastes delicious. Green, yellow, red or orange!
Jalapeno peppers – Although the end result is not “spicy,” omit the jalapenos and cayenne pepper to ensure a totally mild soup. You can cater the spice level to your liking. Personally, I consider this the secret ingredient the thing that helps this soup win chili cook-offs.
Use fresh jalapeños when you can! In a pinch, canned jalapeno peppers will suffice.
Tomato juice – For a thicker chili, use half the amount of tomato juice in the recipe.
Beans – While red kidney beans and pinto beans are super tasty inside, feel free to swap out any variety of beans. Or you can omit the beans altogether! Use this no bean chili as your guide.
Spices and seasonings – Chili powder, cumin, sugar, oregano, salt, pepper and cayenne pepper are the perfect combination of spices!
In small amounts, you may add garlic powder or regular paprika to the recipe.
Favorite toppings – Garnish with shredded cheddar cheese, sour cream, sliced green onions, cilantro, lime wedges, chopped red onion, crushed corn chips or crushed saltine crackers.
Equipment
Slow cooker – This makes a very large batch, so you’ll want to use an 8-quart crockpot or larger.
Extra large saute pan – I adore my 7-quart saute pan! There are a lot of ingredients to cook before adding them to the slow cooker and you won’t want anything to spill over.
Dutch oven – An alternative to using a large saute pan is to use a 7-quart Dutch oven.
Chili bowls – If you serve hearty soups often, it’s worth it to invest in a set of chili bowls! These have handles so you can avoid burning your fingers.
Ladle – I love a heavy-duty, extra large ladle for thicker soups like this one.
Wooden spoon – This is a dense mixture to stir, so a good wooden spoon will be helpful and save your hands from cramping up.
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How To Make The Best Chili on Earth
Step 1
In a large saute pan or Dutch oven, cook 2 pounds lean ground beef over medium-high heat until it is no longer pink. Transfer the meat to a bowl. Drain the excess fat from the skillet, but do not clean it out.
Step 2
Add the olive oil to the skillet and reduce heat to medium.
Add the chopped onions, green bell pepper, garlic, parsley and jalapeño peppers (if using) and sauté veggies over medium heat, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon, until the onions are soft and fragrant (about 5 minutes total time).
Remove the pan from the heat and add the chili seasoning ingredients to the beef mixture: 3 tablespoons chili powder, 2 teaspoons cumin, sugar, oregano, salt, pepper and cayenne pepper. Stir until combined.
Step 3
If you are cooking it on the stove top, add the cooked meat back to the skillet. If you’re using a slow cooker, add the meat-veggie mixture to the slow cooker.
Add the tomato juice (replace a portion of the juice with 2-3 cups beef broth or beef stock to add a kick of flavor, if desired), diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, kidney beans and pinto beans to either the skillet or crock pot, depending on which you are using.
On the stove top, bring to a boil, dial the heat back to medium-low and let chili cook for 2 hours (stir occasionally). In the slow cooker, cook on low heat for 7 to 8 hours.
Enjoy immediately! Allow leftovers to cool, then store in the refrigerator in a sealed container.
Recipe Notes
- Serve warm with shredded cheddar cheese and sour cream! Other great topping options include sliced green onions, avocados, crushed tortilla chips or minced jalapenos (give your meal a nice kick!).
- This is more of a soupy homemade chili recipe, so in order to thicken, replace the diced tomatoes with crushed tomatoes and reduce the amount of tomato juice by half.
- Add up to 1 tablespoon brown sugar for an added touch of sweetness.
- For a more Mexican flair, replace some or all of the beans with black beans.
- Turn this into an extra hearty chili by adding diced potatoes or another hearty vegetable such as carrots.
- Add a few tablespoons of tomato paste for an extra rich flavor.
- Store leftovers that have been cooled to room temperature in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days or in heavy duty freezer bags in the freezer for up to 6 months.
- Turn this into a spicy chili by adding hot sauce, red pepper flakes or extra jalapenos. A little bit goes a long way with any of these ingredients.
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What To Serve With Chili
Homemade cornbread is a great option to serve alongside this bowl of comfort. Dinner rolls, chopped salad and garlic bread taste delicious, too!
Chili Dinner Ideas
Chili dinners are the best in those cold winter months! If you are looking to round out your meal, peruse this roundup for ideas about what to serve as appetizers for chili dinner.
How To Thicken Chili
If you make a delicious batch and find that it is not thick enough for your liking, we have some simple methods that will fix it! Read on for tips about how to thicken chili.
How Long Does Chili Last
If you are wondering how long chili lasts in the fridge or if your batch is still fresh, click over for all the info!
Leftover chili freezes very well! Place in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 4 months for best results.
Substitute for Beans in Chili
Whether you can’t eat beans or you just don’t have any on hand, learn what to substitute for beans in crockpot chili!
How To Make Chili In An Instant Pot
This comforting meal turns out like absolute perfection when made in an Instant Pot. Head over to my posted Instant Pot chili to get the full instructions!
What To Do With Chili Leftovers
If you have leftovers (and it’s very possible that you will because this makes a really big batch of chili), please check out these delicious recipes to help use them up:
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What People Are Saying About This Recipe
“I will NEVER make another chilli recipe in my life again!! This is so good! I absolutely hate cooking and all the prep so the first time I made this I told myself I would never again do it. It was so good that it was worth the chopping up of a few veggies and measuring of a bunch of spices. I make it at least 2-3 times every fall/winter now!“ ~ASHLEY
“This IS THE BEST Chili! This recipe has been on rotation in my home for awhile now. Everyone raves about how it IS the BEST chili they be ever had! Thank you for sharing this with us! “ ~SARA
World’s Best Chili Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 lbs ground beef
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- 1 yellow onion chopped
- 1 green bell pepper chopped
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1/4 cup flat-leaf Italian parsley finely chopped
- 2 jalapeño peppers finely chopped (optional)
- 3 tbsp chili powder
- 2 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp oregano
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
- 46 oz tomato juice
- 28 oz diced tomatoes
- 15 oz tomato sauce
- 16 oz kidney beans drained and rinsed
- 16 oz pinto beans drained and rinsed
- Shredded cheese and sour cream for topping
Instructions
- In a large skillet, cook ground meat over medium-high heat until no longer pink. Transfer the meat to a bowl. Drain excess grease from skillet, but do not clean.
- Add the olive oil to the skillet. Add the onion, bell pepper, garlic, parsley and jalapeño peppers (if using) and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until onions are soft and fragrant (about 5 minutes). Remove from heat and add the chili powder, cumin, sugar, oregano, salt, pepper and cayenne pepper. Stir until combined.
- If cooking on the stove top, add the cooked meat back to the skillet. If using a slow cooker, add meat-veggie mixture to the slow cooker. Add the tomato juice, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, kidney beans and pinto beans to either the skillet or slow cooker, depending on which you are using.
- On the stove top, bring to a boil, dial back to medium-low and simmer for 2 hours (stir occasionally). In slow cooker, cook on low for 7 to 8 hours. Serve warm with cheese and sour cream.
Notes
- Serve warm with cheese and sour cream! Other great topping options include sliced green onions or minced jalapenos (give your meal a nice kick!).
- For a thicker chili, replace the diced tomatoes with crushed tomatoes and reduce the amount of tomato juice by half.
- To keep this chili on the leaner side, use ground turkey or chicken instead of beef.
- To add a delicious flavor to the recipe, replace 1 pound of ground beef with 1 pound of ground sausage.
- For a different flavor, replace some or all of the beans with black beans.
BIG AL
Chile was great used 2- 5.5 cans of spicey hot V8 and 2-5.5 cans of reg.V8. It added just the right amount of zest.
Ashley
Making it right now in the slow cooker! My girlfriend and I love chili, were really excited to try it out.
Megan Porta
Hi Ashley! I hope it turns out great!!
Megan
Tracey
I have made this chili exactly like recipe calls for and is the best chili I have ever made. I like my chili a little thinner so added all tomato juice that was called for. As others have commented, use less if you like a thicker chili. It is definitely worthy to enter in a chili cooking contest!
Megan Porta
Hi Tracey! I love the thinner chili, too, and I’m so glad you loved this recipe!
Megan
Dave
A tip for crockpot users… The moisture that usually boils off during the cooking is recycled right back into the pot due to being covered. This is why a crockpot will not reduce like a open top stew pot. Crockpot users like this as they can adjust the liquid consistency to their liking first and add later as needed. Don’t take the 48oz tomato juice as written in stone.
Tiara
Do you cook with the top on or off?
Megan Porta
Hi Tiara! Keep the lid on the crockpot for this one. I hope this helps!
Megan
Dian
Do you happen to have calorie information for this recipe for entering it in myfitnesspal?
Megan Porta
Hi Dian! I don’t, but you can probably figure it out easily by using a calorie calculator such as caloriecounter.com. I hope this helps!
Megan
Kim Becker
Just for info, olive oil, when used on high heat for frying or sauteing becomes a carcinogen. I use coconut oil, but you could use peanut oil or any other non-GMO oil. Coconut oil is really good for you!
Piroska
I didn’t really eat any chilli before. I don’t really know why, I didn’t like how my mom’s chilli looked like. And yesterday I had the feeling that I want to eat chilli. So I looked for a recipe, and I think I’ve chosen it because of the amazing pics. 🙂
I am europian (from Hungary), so I needed to use my math skills to convert everything to gramms, and finally I figured out, that I only want to make the third of your portion, and 1 oz is 30 gramm, so I will just put a 0 to every amount, and I have the mesaurements…
😀
It’s really delicious. The hungarian recipes are mostlymixed with the hungarian tastes, so I was happy to found a "basic" one. I put some corns in it, and made it with porkmeat. I was quite afraid of the too many chilli, that I will be a dragon at the end of the meal, so I put just normal hungarian paprika in it, plus one chilli pepper, and some chillipowder (no worries, it was picant enough).
I also was afraid about the too much tomatoejuice, so I added less, but as I really wanted to do it properly, and cook it for two hours (I think here the slowcooker is not so popular yet), after 80 mins it wasn’t enough liquid for me, so I added more tomatojuice and some water (finally maybe a bit even more than in the recipe). It’s awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!
Now I still have to much in the skillet, so I will invite 1 or 2 friends over 🙂
Megan Porta
Hi Piroska! I’m so glad you took the time to do the measurement conversions and that you enjoyed it so much! Thanks so much for taking the time to leave this comment!
Megan
Marissa Zerwas
Can I cook in slow cooker on high for 4 hours instead of low for 8?
Megan Porta
Hi Marissa! YES, for sure! It’ll be great! Hope you enjoy.
Megan
Nanno
I’m not much of a chili fan, but I have all this goat meat in my freezer from a doe we had to put down last year, so I did a Google search for "best chili recipe" and found this one. It looked good and also simple so I tried it and boy was I pleased with the results! I’ve made two batches in three weeks, and guests have asked for the recipe (always a great sign!). Even I like it!
I did make a couple of changes that worked well. First off, I used about 3 lbs. of meat and only one can of diced tomatoes. I also added bacon. Goat meat is very lean, so I fried up 12 oz. of bacon until it was quite crispy. I broke it into bite-sized bits when cool and added it to the crock pot. I poured off most of the bacon grease and used a little of it to brown the goat meat. Then I poured the bacon grease back into the pan and cooked the veggies in that instead of olive oil.
This recipe is GREAT with goat and I imagine with game meat (venison, elk, antelope). Eight hours in a crock pot turns even the toughest lean meat into melt-in-your mouth goodness. You can’t beat the robust flavor that beef just doesn’t have. If there’s ever a chili cook-off in town I’ll be bringing this recipe! Thank you so much for sharing it!
Mike
Also I hope this helps the people who say this chili is to soupy, do it as the instructions say but do what I do and cook on low for about 4 hours or so it reduces the liquid down a lot but leaves all the flavor there.
Mike
It’s been quite a few years since I’ve made chili and wanted to find a good recipe I could use to add my own personal tastes and flairs to, after searching around the net looking for a decent one I decided to try this one for a couple reasons
1. because of the abundance of positive comments about it
2. it had more ingredients than hamburger,tomato sauce, beans,and chili powder
I made this last week to test it out and it did not disappoint, I made the whole recipe in a big pot and was sure I made way too much, boy was I wrong, my dad and grandmother had a couple bowls for lunch as it cooked, then we had it for dinner as planned with some cornbread, between me and the 3 other people we took out almost the whole pot, with just enough for a bowl the next day with some leftover cornbread. It was really good and my couple of friends said on multiple occasions it was the best bowl of chili they ever had. I modified the recipe slightly however by frying up some thin sliced Linguicia to add a little smokiness and extra flavor and in my opinion it was just right. Very good Recipe thank you, it has officially become a staple in my home.
Kadie
I’m usually the only chili eater in my house, so was hesitant to make such a large batch. I am so glad I did! I used venison – which persuaded my husband and kids to try it ? – and between the 5 of us, we ate almost 1/2 the pot. Yum! I skipped the olive oil – with that change, and using the venison, this clicked in at around 263 calories for an almost 2 cup serving. Amazing! So, so, so delicious! I’m glad I tried something new – and that there are leftovers for lunches this week.
Wendy
I made this yesterday to sustain us through blizzard 2016 and it sure did the trick. We recently began eating a plant based diet and so I substituted the meat with soy crumbles and it was delicious! I reduced the amount of tomato juice because I prefer a thicker chili, but that’s just my personal preference. I also took the ribs and seeds out of the jalapeños but served the chili with a side of Sriracha so everyone could adjust the heat to their individual taste (as well as cheddar cheese and plain Greek yogurt instead of sour cream). Served with a side of cornbread and homemade brownies for dessert . . . it was just the thing to keep us warm and cozy despite the mountains of snow. Thanks so much for sharing this recipe!
Chelsea S.
Made this for the first time last month and was hesitant because I never made chilli before. Needless to say tonight on this snowy day is this sixth time I’ve made it since! This recipe is fool proof and it comes out DELICIOUS. Everytime I make it I have left overs for days.. Would last even longer if my boyfriend didn’t scarf down half the batch at once :). I used a little more chilli powder cause we like spicy foods. The chilli is the definition of comfort food. I accidentally used a little more tomato juice than the recipe called for but it still came out great. I am so happy you posted the recipe because I will use this forever!
Karen
Made his last week. It will be my go to recipe from now on. Great on day one and even better the next day. I want to make it again this week.
Eileen Sweeney
Hi! Just found the recipe yesterday and getting ready to make it right now! Can’t wait! I love Chili. Thank you!
Connie
Today, love this chilli!!! Didn’t add but 3 cups of tomato juice & only 1 jalapeño my hubby doesn’t like a lot of spice. New favorite chilli recipe! Thanks!
Nikki S.
Best chili I’ve ever made! I know because my husband sent me a text, while I was out, saying "this chili is bangin!!" ? So I want to thank you for sharing your recipe! I did make a few changes as it didn’t hit the spot as I was taste-testing during the first couple of hours of slow-cooking. I did not use the jalapeño peppers because I was afraid it would be too spicy for my 3 kids. I also doubled the seasonings but left the chili powder and the cayenne pepper as directed. I used 2 tsp brown sugar in addition to the 1 tsp granulated sugar. I only used about 3/4 of the 45-ounce tomato juice which was perfect. Might I add.. I made this on Saturday, and it was pretty much gone by Sunday night! Will definitely make this again! Thank you!!
Karen
I made this chili for the first time just yesterday. The overall flavor is VERY GOOD and my husband and 3 kids seemed to like it. However, I did make some changes to suit my family’s taste buds. Here is what I did:
I omitted the following:
jalapeno peppers and used only 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper (to control the heat)
can of tomato sauce
kidney beans and pinto beans
I added the following:
3 cans of Kroger brand Simple Truth Organic Tri-Blend Beans (in the juice…I did not drain & rinse the beans)
1 can of chopped chili peppers (mild)
Aside from the changes above, I followed the rest of the ingredient list. The complaint that I received is that the chili was not thick enough. It was too soupy. Agreed.
So, I will definitely make this chili again, but will decrease the liquid in some way (either by simply adding less or doubling the main ingredients, except the liquid).
karen
Love this Chile my all time favorite