Easy Beef Chili Recipe

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Have dinner ready in 1 hour with this quick and easy chili recipe. This chili is thick and hearty, with the perfect amount of spice.

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Say goodbye to waiting hours and hours to enjoy chili, and say hello to this recipe! This basic beef chili is ready to enjoy in a little under an hour, with most of that time being inactive.

This chili is thick, hearty, and delicious! It has just the right amount of spice AND you don't need chili powder to make it!

How To Make Chili:

To start, add your olive oil and butter to a large pot and heat on medium temperature just to melt the butter. Add your onions and garlic to the pot along with a pinch of salt. Cook over medium heat until the onion softens and turns translucent (about 3 to 5 minutes).

Next, add your ground beef to the pot and place on medium heat again. Cook until the beef browns and there isn't any more liquid in the pot.

Add in your spices, remaining salt, and tomato paste. Return to medium heat for about 1 minute just to toast slightly.

Add in all of the remaining ingredients (tomatoes, beans, and water).

Place the pot over high heat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for about 40 to 45 minutes, or until it reaches your preferred thickness.

Serve and enjoy!

Can chili be frozen?

This chili can definitely be frozen. If you want to freeze chili, let it cool completely, and then place it in a freezer safe container or plastic bag and freeze. This chili will keep up to 3 months in the fridge.

When you want to reheat it, you can leave it on your counter for a couple of hours or in the fridge overnight to defrost. Place the defrosted chili in a pot and heat on medium heat until fully warmed (about 5 to 10 minutes).
Chili will also keep in your fridge for up to 1 week.

Chili Powder:

If you did want to add some chili powder to this recipe, you can certainly add a tablespoon for some extra spice. I personally don't use chili powder in this recipe just because I feel like it doesn't need it. I find this chili has all the flavor I look for in a chili recipe, so I don't add any chili powder.

What Beans Go In Chili:

Whenever I make chili, I love to use kidney beans, but there are a couple of other beans you can use instead. Pinto, black, lima, great northern, and garbanzo beans are great substitutes for the kidney beans. You can also use any combination of these.

Homemade Chili Add-Ins:

This is a very basic beef chili recipe, so there's a lot you can add to it. I personally like to add mushrooms, zucchini, bell pepper, carrots, celery, paprika, cinnamon, or a combination of any of these.

Chili Toppings:

There are a lot of options when it comes to choosing how to top your chili. My personal go-to toppings for chili include cheddar cheese (my favorite!), green onions, chopped cilantro, sour cream, or tortilla chips.

Chili Substitutions:

This chili can be made with a lot of different substitutions for the meat. You can use ground chicken, ground turkey, ground lamb, or a combination of ground beef and pork.

You can also skip the meat and use some finely diced mushrooms to make this a vegetarian chili. For a vegan chili, you can also use mushrooms in place of the beef, and just add an extra tablespoon of olive oil instead of the butter.

Description: Have dinner ready in 1 hour with this quick and easy chili recipe. This chili is thick and hearty, with the perfect amount of spice.

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 45 to 50 minutes

Yield: approx. 4 to 6 servings

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 large onion, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 & ½ pounds lean or extra-lean ground beef
1 & ½ teaspoons sea salt
½ teaspoon cumin
¼ teaspoon coriander
3 tablespoons tomato paste
2 pounds of roma tomatoes, diced (or a 28 ounce can of diced tomatoes)
2 (15 ounce) cans of kidney beans, rinsed and drained
4 cups of water

Optional Toppings:

fresh, chopped cilantro
fresh, chopped green onion
sour cream
grated cheddar cheese
tortilla chips

Instructions:

In a large pot, add butter and olive oil, and place over medium heat until the butter is melted.
Add onion, garlic, and a pinch of salt, and cook for about 5 minutes, or until the onion turns translucent and softens.
Add the ground beef to the pot. Cook while breaking up the beef with your spoon until it browns (about 10 minutes). If you used lean ground beef, you may need to drain the mixture before moving on to the next step.
Add cumin, coriander, salt, and tomato paste, and cook for another minute or so, just to toast the spices and tomato paste slightly.
Add the diced tomatoes, kidney beans, and water to the pot. Raise the heat to high and bring everything to a boil. After it begins boiling, reduce heat to medium and simmer the chili for 30-35 minutes, or until it thickens to your liking. Serve plain or with your favorite toppings.

Enjoy!

I would love to hear any tips you’d like to add to this post and how your beef chili turned out in the comments below. Have any questions? Any ideas to improve this recipe? Feel free to comment for that as well. Happy making!

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