World's Best Chili Recipe (2024)

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!

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 andcayenne 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.

Best Dinner Recipes of All Time

• Best meatloaf
• Runza casserole
• Crockpot mac and cheese
• Goulash
• Shrimp tacos

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.

Best Chili Recipes

• Recipe for white chili
• Quick easy chili recipe
• Chili mac recipe
• Hot dog chili recipe
• No bean recipe for chili

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 aboutwhat 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!