Weeknight Beef Chili
Recipes developed and tested by the ChefnFood editorial team, with chef-informed notes for real home kitchens.
An hour on the stove, one pot, and a chili that tastes like it took three. Three browning steps are doing all the work — the beef, the spices, and the tomato paste. Skip any of them and it tastes thin no matter how long you simmer it.
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp neutral oil
- 2 lb ground beef (80/20)
- 1 large onion, diced
- 1 green bell pepper, diced
- 6 cloves garlic, minced
- 4 tbsp chili powder
- 1 tbsp ground cumin
- 2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- 3 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 can (28 oz) crushed tomatoes
- 2 cans (15 oz each) kidney beans, drained and rinsed
- 1½ cups beef broth
- 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1½ tsp kosher salt
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- Toppings: shredded cheddar, sour cream, sliced scallions, jalapeño, corn chips
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high. Add the beef in large chunks and let it sit undisturbed 4 minutes to develop a crust before breaking it up. Cook until no pink remains and it registers 160°F, about 8 minutes total. Drain all but 2 tbsp of fat.
- Add the onion and bell pepper and cook 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook 30 seconds.
- Add the chili powder, cumin, smoked paprika, oregano, and cinnamon. Stir constantly for 60 seconds.
- Add the tomato paste and cook 2–3 minutes, stirring, until it darkens to brick red and starts sticking to the bottom.
- Add the crushed tomatoes, beans, broth, Worcestershire, salt, and brown sugar. Scrape the bottom of the pot thoroughly — everything stuck down there is flavor.
- Bring to a simmer, reduce heat to low, and cook partially covered for 40 minutes, stirring every 10. It should thicken enough that a spoon leaves a trail.
- Off heat, stir in the vinegar. Taste for salt and heat. Serve with toppings.
Chef’s Take
Three moves are doing all the work here, and none of them take long. Let the beef sit long enough to actually brown. Bloom the spices in fat. Cook the tomato paste until it darkens. Any chili recipe that skips these will taste thin no matter how long you simmer it, and any chili recipe that includes them will taste good in under an hour.
Chef trick: the brown sugar and the vinegar are a pair. Sugar balances the acidity of the canned tomatoes; vinegar at the end lifts everything back up after 40 minutes of reduction. Add them separately at opposite ends of the cook — they’re solving different problems.
Substitutions
- Ground turkey: works; add 1 extra tbsp oil since it's much leaner.
- Beans: black, pinto, or a mix. Or none, if you're from Texas.
- Vegetarian: skip the beef, add a third can of beans and 1 lb browned mushrooms, and use vegetable broth.
- More heat: 1–2 minced chipotles in adobo added at step 5, or cayenne to taste.
- Slow cooker: do steps 1–4 on the stove, then cook on low 6 hours.
Storage and reheating
Refrigerate up to 5 days. Chili is genuinely better on day two — the spices hydrate and settle overnight. Reheat on the stove with a splash of broth. Freezes very well for 3 months.
Serving suggestions
Cornbread, rice, or corn chips. Over a baked potato or a hot dog. Loaded nachos with the leftovers. Put the toppings in bowls on the table and let people build.
More weeknight dinners like this one
The Weekly Meal Plan — five dinners and a grocery list, every Thursday.
