This easy homemade Beef Chili Recipe is sure to satisfy your comfort food cravings! Full of Texas flavor, this dish is made with a few pantry ingredients and ground beef. This easy dish whips up in no time and is sure to become a family favorite!
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Why This Recipe Works
It's easy! You don't need a lot of experience in the kitchen to make this delicious dish! There are just a few ingredients to prep - like chopping onion and garlic, and the rest is easy peasy.
It's made with easy to find pantry ingredients! I hate having to search several grocery store for hard to find ingredients. All the ingredients in this dish are readily available at most grocery stores.
It's a comfort food the whole family will love! Make Chili night a tradition at your house. Weeknight or weekend, your family will obsess over this smokey, hearty Texas style meal.
What Goes Into This Recipe
Step by Step Instructions
Brown ground beef then add chopped onion and garlic. Cook until the onions are softened-about 5 minutes.
Add tomato sauce, tomato paste, water, beef broth, and Easy Taco Seasoning. Stir to combine.
Partially cover pot and simmer for at least 30 minutes or up to an hour. Add drained can of pinto bean. If you prefer a thicker chili, add masa harina mixture. Simmer uncovered for 15 minutes more.
Expert Tips
You can vary the cooking time. This recipe is delicious as written and is a great way to get dinner on the table in less than an hour! But you can let it simmer over very low heat for longer if needed.
Use a pot with a lid. Using the lid will help you control the moisture level of the chili (a personal preference). Partially covering the pot allows some liquid to evaporate, but not too much. If you prefer a very thick chili, cook it uncovered. But keep an eye on it so it doesn't dry out too much! If you plan to cook the chili longer, cover the pot completely to keep as much moisture in.
What is Masa Harina? Masa harina is a corn flour used to make the dough to form corn tortillas. Here it is used as a thickener and to give the chili a subtle corn flavor. Substitute corn meal or even a cut up corn tortilla! If you don't have any of that on hand, use regular all purpose flour. You might also prefer chili more like a stew or soup. If so, skip this step.
Use a crockpot/slow cooker instead of the stove. After browning the meat transfer it along with the remaining ingredients (except the masa harina) to a slow cooker. Cook on high for 4-6 hours or on low for 6-8 hours. Add masa harina and cook for 30 minutes more.
Fritos, crushed tostada chips, shredded cheese, onions, sour cream, and jalepeños all make great toppings for the Beef Chili Recipe! It's also great served with corn bread, rice, and saltine crackers. Use leftovers to top burgers or omelets!
Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Store in freezer for longer storage for up to four months. Thaw overnight in refrigerator.
More Easy Tex Mex Recipes To Try
Easy Homemade Mexican Guacamole
Click here to check out all my Tex Mex and Mexican recipes!
📖 Recipe
Beef Chili Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 pounds ground beef I used ground sirloin
- ½ cup chopped onion
- 3 cloves garlic finely chopped
- 1 - 8 ounce can tomato sauce
- 1 - 6 ounce can tomato paste
- ¼ to ⅓ cup Easy Taco Seasoning this seasoning is a combination of chili powder, garlic powder, cumin, paprika, oregano, onion powder, salt, pepper, and cayenne
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup beef broth
- 1 15 ounce can pinto beans or your favorite beans drained and rinsed
- 2 tablespoons masa harina or corn meal
Topping Ideas
- Sour Cream
- Shredded Cheese
- Corn Bread
- Jalepeños
- Fritos or Tostada Chips
- Saltine Crackers
- Sliced Green Onions
- Chopped White Onions
Instructions
- Brown ground beef in a large skillet, saucepan, or dutch oven. When meat is no longer pink, add onions and garlic. Cook until softened, about 5 minutes.
- Add tomato sauce, tomato paste, water, beef broth, and taco seasoning to beef mixture. Stir to combine.
- Partially cover pot and let simmer over low heat for at least 30 minutes or up to one hour. If chili is getting dried out, add a bit more water or beef broth as necessary.
- Add drained and rinsed beans to chili and stir. .
- If you prefer a thicker chili, make a thickener from masa harina, corn meal or even all purpose flour. In a small bowl, combine masa harina with ¼ cup warm water. Whisk until smooth; stir into chili.
- Simmer over low heat, uncovered for 15-20 minutes.
- Serve with toppings of your choice.
Brenda Funk
This is our family’s favorite recipe!!! We all love it!!! I added a teaspoon of cocoa powder!!!
Brenda Funk
Brenda Gunk
This is our family’s favorite recipe!!! We all love it!!!
Margie
I made it with venison. It was super easy and I also made the recipe with ground chicken - worked great!
And I’m obsessed with the taco seasoning mix!
Nikole
That sounds great Margie! Thank you for adding some helpful ideas here! Have a great day!
Tamara
Can this recipe be made with ground turkey or add extra vegetables in replace of the meat? Is it a different temperature/time amount?
Nikole
Hi Tamara- yes, you can use ground turkey instead of ground beef. Brown it just like you would the ground beef (cook until no longer pink) and continue to follow the directions as written. If you'd like to use vegetables instead of meat, the cooking time will depend on which one you use. If I were to make this vegetarian, I would use about 16 ounces quartered mushrooms in place of the meat then add an extra can of beans (any variety you like, or chickpeas) or corn.
Ivory Droz
I agree with you
Alore Damilola
1st time making and eating chili. thanks for this recipe. I added 2 ghost peppers, more garlic n bay leaves, paprika n chili powder. Yep I like hot!
Thanks
Nikole
So glad this recipe gave you a good base to work with, Alore! Chili is one of those dishes that should be unique to each person making it! Thanks for your comments and rating!
Katlyn
One of the best chili recipes I've ever made!
Nikole
Aw, thanks Katlyn! My family loves it and asks for it all the time-even when it's hot outside!