Classic beef chili
Thick, beefy chili with kidney beans and a deep, smoky warmth that gets better every day it sits in the fridge.
- 70 min total
- 25 min hands-on
- Anyone can make this
- Serves 6
- About $2.84 a serving
- 450 calories
- Good the next day
- Gluten-free
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 6 servings.
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 1 green bell pepper, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 cans kidney beans, drained and rinsed
- 1½ lb 85/15 ground beef
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 can crushed tomatoes, 28 oz
- 1 cup beef broth
- 1 cup shredded cheddar (optional)
- ½ cup sour cream (optional)
- 3 green onions, sliced (optional)
From your pantry
- 3 tbsp chili powder
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1½ tsp salt
- 1 tsp brown sugar (optional)
Each serving has about 450 calories, 33 g protein, 39 g carbs and 19 g fat, and costs about $2.84 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No yellow onions? White onions or red onions work.
- No green bell peppers? Red bell peppers or yellow bell peppers work.
- No kidney beans? Pinto beans or black beans work.
- No 85/15 ground beef? 90/10 ground beef works.
- No crushed tomatoes? Diced tomatoes work.
- No beef broth? Bone broth works.
- No shredded cheddar? Cheddar cheese or Mexican blend cheese or Monterey Jack cheese works.
- No sour cream? Plain Greek yogurt works.
- No green onions? Chives work.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the onion and bell pepper, the garlic, and and the beans.
Dice. Dicing means cutting food into small, even cubes, usually a quarter to half an inch across. Pieces the same size cook at the same speed, so nothing burns while the rest catches up.
How you’ll know: Your pieces are little cubes about the size of a chickpea, and they all look close to the same.
Mince. Mincing means chopping something into the tiniest pieces you can, smaller than a grain of rice. Tiny pieces melt into the dish, so you get the flavor without biting into a chunk of garlic.
How you’ll know: Every piece is tiny and about the same size, and the pile starts to look almost like a paste.
Drain. Draining means pouring off liquid, like tipping pasta into a colander or spooning extra fat out of the pan. Pour hot grease into a can or jar, not the sink, where it hardens and clogs the pipes.
How you’ll know: Only a few drips are left, and the food isn’t sitting in a puddle.
Rinse. Rinsing means running cold water over rice or canned beans in a strainer while you swish them around. It washes off loose starch and can liquid, so rice cooks up fluffy and beans taste clean.
How you’ll know: The water running out goes from cloudy to mostly clear; it doesn’t have to be perfect.
Cook the beef in a large pot over medium-high heat, breaking it into small , until with no pink left, 8 to 10 minutes.
Crumble. Crumbling means breaking food into small, rough bits with your fingers or a spoon, like feta or ground meat in the pan. Small bits spread through the dish, so there’s some in every bite.
How you’ll know: The pieces are small and uneven, about pea-size, with no big clumps left.
Brown. Browning means cooking until the outside turns brown, which is where a lot of savory flavor comes from. Give food room and time without stirring, or it steams and stays gray.
How you’ll know: The food looks brown rather than gray, and the kitchen smells toasty and savory.
Medium-high heatTimer: 9 min
Dolly’s tip: Give it a minute between stirs so the beef browns. Browned bits are where chili gets its flavor.Food safety: Ground beef, pork and lamb are done at 160°F. When it’s cooked through there’s no pink left anywhere in the pan.
Spoon off all but about a tablespoon of the fat, then add the onion and bell pepper and cook, stirring, until , about 5 minutes.
Softened. For vegetables it means cooked until they bend and lose their crunch; for butter, left out until it dents easily. Soft onions taste sweet, and soft butter mixes in smoothly.
How you’ll know: Onions squash easily against the pan with your spoon, and butter dents under a finger without looking greasy.
Medium heatTimer: 5 min
Stir in the garlic, chili powder, cumin, oregano, smoked paprika, salt and tomato paste and cook for 1 minute, .
Fragrant. Fragrant means cooking until you can clearly smell it, usually garlic or spices, often in about 30 seconds. That’s the moment the flavor is ready, just before it can burn.
How you’ll know: You can smell it from a step back, and garlic is pale gold, not brown.
Medium heatTimer: 1 min
Dolly’s tip: Cooking the spices in the fat is what makes chili taste deep instead of dusty.Add the crushed tomatoes, beans and broth and over high heat.
Bring to a boil. It means heating a liquid on high until it’s fully boiling before you move on. A lid on the pot gets it there faster, which makes it a good moment to chop something.
How you’ll know: Big bubbles break all over the surface, and they keep coming when you lift the lid.
High heat
Turn the heat to low, set the and for 30 to 45 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes so nothing sticks.
Lid ajar. Lid ajar means resting the lid on the pot slightly off-center, leaving a small gap. Some steam escapes, so the sauce thickens and doesn’t boil over, while most of the heat stays in.
How you’ll know: A thin wisp of steam drifts out of the gap, and the pot bubbles gently without spilling.
Simmer. Simmering means keeping a liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles rising gently. It cooks food evenly and lets a sauce thicken without scorching on the bottom.
How you’ll know: Small, lazy bubbles break the surface every second or so, and nothing is churning.
Low heatTimer: 30 min
Dolly’s tip: Chili is forgiving. It can go up to an hour and a half. Add a splash of water if it gets too thick.Taste and adjust: more salt if it tastes flat, the of brown sugar if it tastes sharp, more chili powder if you want it bolder.
Pinch. A pinch is what you can hold between your thumb and two fingers, less than an eighth of a teaspoon. It’s a small, forgiving amount, so there’s no need to measure.
How you’ll know: It’s a light sprinkle you can barely see on the food, not a little pile.
Ladle into bowls and top with cheese, sour cream and green onions.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
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