I’ve been searching for the perfect chili recipe for YEARS now, and I’ve finally found it!! This one’s absolutely perfect.
Certain foods just remind me of my childhood. Chili is one of them. I love chili so much I’d marry it. (Also filed under “things that used to be cool to say in middle school”).
Fantastically, my hubby and kids do too (Spoiler alert: I ended up marrying a hot Italian pilot instead of chili. Alas). Aliza, my two-year-old, ate three grown-up sized portions when I made it last week. So did I. Gracious, I’m getting hungry just writing this post. Good thing I have some of this simmering on the stove as I type.
So. I’ve been searching for the perfect chili recipe for years now. YEARS, I tell you! I just wanted a basic recipe that doesn’t call for any strange ingredients I don’t already have in my cupboards. I wanted it to taste good. Like really gooooood. Ya know what I’m sayin’? I wanted it to be the kind of recipe I could throw together in 20 minutes, or I could dress it up and experiment with it when I felt like having fun. And did I mention it has to taste amazing?
I’ve found it.
Or, rather, I sorta made it up.
There a bajillion ways to make chili, and probably many of them are really good. This recipe hits the sweet spot for me, and I will make it over and over again for years to come. I’ll share it with y’all here in case you too are in the middle of a noble quest for the perfect bowl of chili.
Here it is.
Beth’s (Comfort Food) Chili
Ingredients
- a blob of butter probably around a quarter cup or so – I don’t actually measure
- around 1 cup of diced sweet peppers red, yellow, and/or orange
- 2 medium onions diced
- 6 cloves of garlic – chopped into teeny bits I find the flavour better when I chop rather than using the garlic press
- 1.5-2 lbs ground beef I use 2, but might use less if I needed to be a bit more frugal
- 2-3 cans diced tomatoes the big fat cans
- 2-3 cups of cooked kidney beans or a couple of cans, if you don’t use dried
- 3 tablespoons honey
- 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
- a few shakes of black pepper
- 1 tablespoon unrefined sea salt
- 2 teaspoons paprika
- 1 tablespoon cumin
- 2 teaspoons coriander
- 4 tablespoons chili powder or more to taste
Instructions
- Heat up your cast-iron pan to medium-low and throw your blob of butter into it. When it’s nice and sizzly go ahead and toss in your diced onions and peppers. Stir them around occasionally until the onions are translucent (that’s the clear one, right? I always get them mixed up) and the peppers are soft. Toss in the chopped up garlic and stir for another minute.
- Add ground beef to pan and cook it until it’s browned and cozy with the onion party.
- Meanwhile, get out your big stock pot and put in all the rest of the ingredients and get them simmering. Add the meat and onion mixture. It doesn’t actually really matter how it all comes together – just make sure the ingredients all get cozy and stay simmering for a while until they’re nicely melded. I like to simmer it all for a few hours before serving, if possible. It’s also even better as leftovers!
- Serve with a salad on the side, and your choice of garnish. I love diced avocado, grated cheese, a blob of sour cream, and crumbled organic corn chips.
- Adapt as you see fit, and make as much as your pot will hold. You’ll be fighting over the leftovers.
- Come back and tell me if you loved it!
Nutrition
Nancy
Amazing without meat too!
Sue
This is a great recipe. I play around with the different types of beans, but I make everything else as listed. Family favorite!
Kendra
Loved this chilli. I love making chilli and enjoy trying new recipes. This is one I will continue to make. It is very flavourful.
Beth
Glad you liked it! It’s one of our most popular recipes on the site, and a family fave here too. 🙂
Frances
My go to recipe!
Leah D
Thank you for this recipe!! I’ve used it multiple times over the last couple years. I sub the beef for turkey and it’s perfect. I love doing something a little different every time. I like to add a few jalapeños and a habenaro to give it an extra kick 😀
Katie
Yes! This is now my go-to chili recipe. I made it exactly as called for in the recipe and it’s PERFECT. The cocoa powder just does something special, I liked using coriander (never thought of that) and just the slightest hint of sweetness from the honey; actually more like it just takes away some of the acidity, but with a little more “oomf” than a tad of sugar does. So all that to say, obviously we loved it. Thanks!
Julie
Could I use my Dutch oven for this recipe for all of it? Also how long does it need? Thanks Looking forward in making this tonight!
Beth
Hey Julie, so sorry I didn’t reply to your comment in time for your dinner the other night. Did you make it in a dutch oven? How’d it go? It should work fine! This recipe can be easily adapted to most cooking methods – stovetop, slow cooker, instant pot, etc.
Michele
Love your recipe!! Everyone who has tasted it raves about it, we’re not big kidney bean fans so I use two cans of Heinz Brown Sugar & Bacon beans and add fresh mushrooms to the onion & peppers when sautéeing and it is absolutely the best chili recipe I’ve ever tried and I’ve been cooking for 40+ years:) Thank you for sharing.
Beth
Wow, so glad to hear that it’s a hit for you! We love it here too – had it for dinner two nights ago, actually. Thanks for sharing your tweaks, too. 🙂
Debbie
I made it for a Super Bowl get tigether and everyone complimented me on it! I’m keeping the recipe! Very tasty!
David
Cracks me up how people post what THEY do to make YOUR recipe better! SMH…anyway looking forward to making this to take to a beekeepers club meeting-you had me at HONEY and cocoa!
Debbie
I just made it again for a Super Bowl get together. I accidentally bought a large can of basil & onion and used it and used smoked paprika this time. Did a taste test…it’s still good!
Zari M.
Hi – this sounds like a wonderful recipe. Thank you for sharing it with us! Your directions say that you let it simmer for “several” hours but there is no mention of an exact time. How many hours would you reccomend for optimum flavor and consistency? Thank you & Happy Holidays!
jimmmy james
Turned out great. Very flavorful. No butter. Crushed tomatoes. Substituted 1 tblspn chipotle powder for chili pdr. This is really good.
Dawn
I have high hopes that this recipe ends my search for the perfect chili! One question, about how many would you say this serves?
Beth
Ooh, hard to say because it depends on how much people eat. (It always varies at my gatherings!) I make it for my family of 6 (4 kids ranging from age 1-10 who are pretty big eaters) and it feeds us for 2-3 dinners.
Pattie
I make mine just about the same but try a dash of Worcestershire Sauce and a dash of Cinnamon. It just adds to that Great Flavor.
Liz
Can this be made in a crockpot & for how long?
Beth
For sure – I’d probably saute the onions, garlic, peppers, and ground beef first, then add all ingredients to a crock pot and cook for whatever time you have available. As long as those ingredients are cooked/softened, the crockpot’s job is to meld the flavours and ingredients together in a delicious way. That can be accomplished in any typical crockpot range of time – I’d say between 4 and 12 hours is great! Chili is a pretty versatile dish.