Congratulations, you’ve found the actual BEST Chili Recipe! It’s won dozens of cook-offs and is about to knock your socks off. Made with bacon (and the option to omit bacon if needed) and ground beef and simmered on the stove for just 30 minutes, this is my family’s go-to cool weather comfort food.
Chili Cook-Off Champion!
Something savory/cozy for you today because believe it or not Fall is here, which means cold weather and hearty comfort foods like baked ziti, my favorite meatball recipe, and this best chili recipe!
This recipe is actually one that I shared last year, and since then I’ve made it probably 50 times. Not only am I completely obsessed with it, as of this writing it’s also won over two dozen Chili Cook-offs! While I’ve never entered it into a cook-off myself, so many of you who have tried this chili recipe have commented or e-mailed me that it’s taken home first place and I don’t even know how to express how happy that makes me!
So, yeah, I do feel a little bit extra proud of this chili cook-off champ recipe right here.
Not only does it taste amazing, it’s shockingly simple to make. Basic, no-fuss ingredients and just 30 minutes of simmering yield a complex and rich flavor that’s simply unparalleled.
This best chili recipe (alternating weekly with my potato soup) is on regular dinner rotation for me as soon as the weather starts to dip below 70 degrees. It’s easy to make, incredibly filling, and the flavor is out of this world.
Let’s get started.
How to Make the Actual Best Chili Recipe
- Start with bacon! Cook until crisp, remove to a paper-towel lined plate, and reserve a bit of the grease for cooking your veggies. The flavor that develops from this step elevates a great chili recipe to the best chili recipe.
- Cook your onion and pepper until soft, add garlic and cook until fragrant.
- Add your ground beef, cook until mostly browned (but not all the way cooked through).
- Add all your seasonings.
- Stir well, cooking beef through.
- Add the remaining ingredients (and your bacon from step 1!), give everything a good stir, and allow to simmer for at least 30 minutes and until liquid is reduced.
Tip: Make your chili even better by choosing the right toppings when you serve it! Sour cream is a must, but shredded cheddar, corn chips, sliced jalapeños, avocado, or green onions are all great choices, too!
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, leftovers can be frozen in an airtight container for at least 3 months.
Kind of. For best flavor, you will still need to follow steps 1-4 of the recipe as written, then you can transfer everything to the crockpot and heat it there (I don’t add the bacon back in until I’m ready to serve). Cook on low until ready to serve.
The bacon imparts an incredible flavor and is the secret ingredient that makes this chili the best chili recipe and an award winner. If you’re entering a cook-off, use it! However, you can leave it out if you absolutely must. Please see the notes in the recipe for instructions on making this chili bacon-free.
I most often use 90% lean ground beef but any percentage will work just fine (I’ve used all of them, but usually end up draining some grease if I use 80%). Ground turkey or chicken or really any ground meat will work here, but keep in mind the flavor will be slightly altered!
What Goes Well with Chili?
Obviously, bread is my chili side-dishes of choice. Because this chili is so hearty and filling on its own, a slice of cornbread makes for a sufficient side for chili.
Enjoy, and make sure to check out my other easy dinner recipes!! And make sure you let me know what you think when you try this! I love hearing about the cook-offs it wins and if you really agree that it’s the all-time BEST chili recipe!
Let’s cook together! Make sure to check out the how-to VIDEO in the recipe card!
The Best Chili Recipe (Award Winning!)
Ingredients
- 5 strips uncooked bacon chopped¹
- 1 large yellow onion diced (about 1 cup)
- 1 red pepper diced
- 3 cloves garlic minced (about 1 Tablespoon)
- 1 lb ground beef (455g) (I use 90% but any will work)
- 1 Tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 Tablespoon chili powder²
- 1 Tablespoon ancho chili powder²
- 1 ½ teaspoons smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- ¾ teaspoons ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper³
- 1 ¼ cup beef broth (295ml)
- 15 oz can dark red kidney beans lightly rinsed and drained (425g)
- 15 oz can black beans lightly rinsed and drained (425)
- 14.5 oz can diced fire roasted tomatoes undrained (411g)
- 7- oz can fire roasted green chilis (198g)
- ¼ cup tomato paste (66g)
- 1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- Preferred toppings particularly sour cream, shredded cheddar cheese, and corn chips
Instructions
- Place chopped (uncooked) bacon in a large pot or Dutch oven and cook over medium heat until crisp and cooked through. Remove bacon to a paper towel lined plate and drain all but 1 ½ Tablespoons of grease.
- Add onion and pepper and cook until softened, about 3-5 minutes.
- Add garlic and cook until fragrant (about 30 seconds).
- Add beef, breaking apart with a spatula as you cook. Once meat is partially (about 50%) browned, add sugar and all spices (chili powders, paprika, cumin, onion powder, black pepper, salt, cayenne pepper) and stir well.
- Add all remaining ingredients — beef broth, beans, tomatoes, tomato paste, chilis, and Worcestershire sauce — and your cooked bacon and stir well.
- Bring to a boil and cook 1-2 minutes, stirring frequently.
- Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally. Simmer for 30 minutes to allow flavor to really develop.
- Serve with preferred toppings (sour cream, shredded cheddar cheese, and corn chips are a must!)
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
I originally shared this chili recipe 10/05/2018. Post has been updated to include more notes, a video, and more helpful information 09/11/2019.
Nikki
I followed your recipe exactly with one addition, I add a square of extra dark chocolate with the beans, it enhances all the other flavors. This is my go to always, we eat it with rice and cornbread. Thank you ❤
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Yum, we love that idea! Thanks for coming back to let us know how it worked for you, Nikki 😊
Hannah
This chili is so simple to make and so delicious! My dad asks me to make it at least once a month even in the middle of hot Phoenix summer. My family can be very picky but they all enjoy this chili! I like to let the spices roast with the ground beef, onions, peppers, and garlic before I add the liquids for quite a while. I find the longer I let the chili simmer the more amazing it is! Thank you for a delicious meal!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Wow, that’s dedication! Thanks so much for using our recipe, Hannah ❤
Melinda Berger
Did NOT like the can chilis in the sauce. Ruined it for me. Not like any Chili I ever had. Sorry, not a fan at all.
Pete
Hey Sam,
Just wanted to say thanks for this recipe. We entered it into the 2nd Harvest Food Bank Chili Pot Cookoff yesterday and while it didn’t win, we placed 4th out of 16 with more than one judge telling us afterward that they voted for us. Funny because the winner actually cooked Chile Verde and not even a traditional chili, haha. It was all for a good cause though and your chili really wowed the crowd!
Sam
That is so awesome! I’m glad it was such a hit!
Rebecca
Your chili recipe is the 💣! I started using your recipe last year and it’s the ONLY one I use now. I bake a lot and your recipes are my go to recipes, especially the carrot cake cupcakes!
So happy I found your site!
Linda Hensens
We love a great chili recipe, and I will fix it any time of the year with the exception of the HOT North Carolina summer months, meaning July and August. This year, June has not been very hot or humid, so I didn’t include it in the hottest month category. I did want to ask you though, is it absolutely necessary to use kidney beans and black beans in this recipe? My husband vehemently dislikes both types of beans, and I usually use pinto beans as the beans in my own chili recipe. I put sour cream and extra sharp cheddar cheese in my own chili bowl, but he does not want either of those.. He just started to eat cornbread about 1 year or so ago. He is from the Netherlands, and he prefers yeast breads like baguettes, etc.. I am from North Carolina, born and raised in the South, so eating cornbread is a staple to me, especially with chili beans. The rest of your recipe though sounds really delicious. I have heard of people putting a little cinnamon in their chili to give it a “cooked all day” flavor, but I wasn’t a fan of that when we tried it. I will have to see if I can find ancho chili powder locally. We use dark chili powder for the most part in my chili recipe. I don’t put cayenne in there at all. I find that the chili powder makes the heat just right and the cayenne overpowers it making it too hot (spice wise). I know that leaving some of the ingredients in your recipe out will alter the flavor somewhat, but do you think it will alter it too much? I tend to use 80/20 hamburger meat and I do drain all the grease off of whatever I am using it in. In this case, I would probably brown the hamburger in a different frying pan so that I don’t mess with the bacon drippings that are necessary for the flavor base that you mention. I haven’t ever thought of using bacon in my chili, so I absolutely MUST try that the next time I make chili. I love your recipes as a whole, and the last recipe that I made from your website was that divine lemon blueberry cake that you had on your site around Easter time. I swear, Sam, that cake was absolutely the best cake I have eaten in a really long time!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so happy you’ve enjoyed everything, Linda! You can substitute those beans for another kind that your husband enjoys, no problem. We hope our recipe is a hit for the both of you–enjoy 💙
Sara Mallon
I just won our church chili cook off with this recipe! We’ve eaten it for awhile and love it, and I’m so glad it lived up to it’s name! Thank you!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
That’s awesome, Sara!! Thanks so much for using our recipe 😍
Uhura
Very happy with how this turned out! I made slight changes based on what I had at home (dried pinto and canned black instead of kidney beans, fresh heirloom tomato, dried chipotle pepper, hot link instead of bacon, plus a dab of BBQ sauce). Started it off in the instapot on high pressure to cook the soaked dried pinto beans down real soft and finished it on the sauté function on low). Served with my favorite…boxed Jiffy cornbread (added cheddar and corn kernels). Heaven.
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Sounds yummy! Enjoy 😊