Chili on a cold winter night, or even on a hot summer day, is the epitome of comfort food. Add some crackers or Fritos and grated cheese and it’s a party in your mouth! Hearty beans combined with slow-cooked ground beef and tomatoes make for one delicious and warm comfort meal on a frigid day. If you enjoy beef, you'll love my Steak Fajitas, Hamburgers, Cheesy Pizza Taco Sticks, Pigs in a Blanket, Easy Weeknight Sloppy Joes, and Asian Glazed Meatballs!
My insanely delicious hearty chili with ground beef recipe contains ground beef, chili seasoning, tomato sauce, tomato paste, and 4 cans of any beans. We like to use 4 different cans of beans when we make our chili. I usually use 1 can of each: black beans, chili beans, kidney beans, and pinto beans. This recipe is naturally gluten free, low carb, and perfect for those following a gluten free or keto diet. It's also protein packed and can easily be made vegan or vegetarian by omitting the meat.
Chili is known as the ultimate cook-off dish as most of us may know. People have been debating for decades on whether beans should be included. My answer is YES, they definitely need beans to be considered chili. What do you think?
Ingredients in Hearty Chili with Ground Beef
Ground beef. Use any kind of ground beef in this recipe. For vegetarian and vegan, omit the beef.
Chili seasoning. Use a package of chili seasoning to give this dish the “chili” flavor.
Tomato sauce. A can of tomato sauce adds flavor to the chili.
Tomato paste. One can of tomato paste thickens up this chili recipe.
Beans. Use any kind of beans you like. We typically use the following variety of beans: black, chili, garbanzo, kidney, Great Northern, pinto, and so on.
To me, chili makes me think of Fritos or cornbread as those are usually the things that my family eats with a nice warm bowl of hearty chili. Spicy crackers with a zest also sound delicious!
Growing up, my mom always made two versions of chili—a ground beef version for her, my dad, and my brother—and a meatless vegetarian version for my sister and I. I’ve never liked the texture of ground beef, or any ground meat for that matter. My husband and parents (and brother) all drool over this version and after I made this, it magically disappeared within 24 hours! Guess I need to make another batch. When food is consumed that quickly, I know I’m doing something right!
I made a bowl of "owl chili" for my toddler; see below!
What can I eat chili with?
It goes great with my Corn Bread and my Alabama Firecrackers!
More dishes you'll love!
Southern Style Oven “Fried” Chicken with Mashed Potatoes and Corn
Can this be vegetarian?
This can easily be vegetarian if you omit the meat. Keep the seasoning though or it will taste rather bland. I love using one chopped yellow onion and some garlic, sautéed in olive oil before adding the ground beef, but we have a dog who LOVES the beef and dogs are not allowed to eat onions or garlic, so I omitted them for this recipe. The chili I grew up on always had a chopped yellow onion in it and I prefer to cook chili with onion and garlic.
The types of beans my mom and I typically use are black, kidney, chili, and pinto. Sometimes I use two cans of one type of bean if that’s all I have. Other times, I mix it up a bit with some garbanzo or great northern beans. Either of these mixtures work perfectly well.
How to make the best Hearty Chili with Ground Beef
STEP 1: Cook the beef in a large skillet and break it up with a wooden spoon. Cook until all the meat is completely cooked—about 8 minutes. Drain the fat and return to stovetop.
STEP 2: Heat on low-medium and add the chili seasoning. Let it cook with the meat for about 2 minutes.
STEP 3: Add the tomato sauce, tomato paste, and beans, and simmer on low for 20 minutes.
STEP 4: Serve warm with grated cheese and crackers.
STEP 5: If you make this recipe, don't forget to leave a rating and comment!
Final Thoughts
Finally, if you make this Hearty Beef Chili, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! I love to hear from everyone who makes this recipe and always try my best to respond to all comments.
If you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag #elisemccollister on Instagram! It makes me so happy to see your recipe photos!
Hearty Chili with Ground Beef
Equipment
Ingredients
- 16 oz. ground beef
- 1 package chili seasoning
- 1 (15 oz.) can tomato sauce
- 1 (6 oz.) can tomato paste
- 4 cans beans any type (we like to use a variety of beans such as black beans, kidney beans, pinto beans, chili beans, and so forth)
Instructions
- Cook the beef in a large skillet and break it up with a wooden spoon. Cook until all the meat is completely cooked—about 8 minutes. Drain the fat and return to stovetop.
- Heat on low-medium and add the chili seasoning. Let it cook with the meat for about 2 minutes.
- Add the tomato sauce, tomato paste, and beans, and simmer on low for 20 minutes.
- Serve warm with grated cheese and crackers.
- If you make this, don't forget to leave a rating and comment!
Notes
Nutrition (per serving)
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