This is the best homemade chili with beans recipe ever! Think of it as a classic chili recipe but with an upgrade. It's a one-pot meal and will make clean up that much quicker. It's a thick and hearty meal that will satisfy any hungry crowd. Finish it off with your favorite toppings like shredded cheddar cheese and onions, and you're all set!
Normally I make chili during the fall and winter season but I feel spring is still just cool enough outside to warrant a nice big bowl of it. Paired with some fresh out of the oven cornbread even!
Even though this recipe takes a good 3 hours to make, it's a relatively quick chili recipe compared to making it in the slow cooker.
🍽 Equipment
The main tools for the chili recipe are going to be a wooden spoon for stirring, a large stockpot, and a slotted spoon.
🥣 Food preparation list
In part 1, you begin by browning your meat in oil. Once the meat has been browned, you can move to part 2 and 3 by sweating, or slowly cooking your onions, garlic, and spices. Part 4 is where we deglaze or loosen up the bits of meat and spices from the bottom of the pot.
🥘 Ingredients
One question you always hear is, What kind of beans go in chili? There is never any wrong answer (unless you're from Texas where any bean in chili is wrong). I've listed the beans you can use in your chili meals below.
- 2 cups dried pinto beans: you can use 2 cans of pinto beans if you prefer.
- 2 cups dried black beans: you can use 2 cans of black beans, red beans, or kidney beans if you prefer.
- 1 tablespoon canola oil: The oil is added to keep the ground beef from sticking or burning.
- 1 pound ground beef: you can definitely substitute cubed chuck for the ground meat. If you want a little leaner meat, you can use ground turkey.
- 1 onion chopped, about 1 cup, any extra can be used for garnishing.
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 1 tablespoon cumin
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 1 (32-ounce) beef stock, no (or low) sodium
- 2 (14.5-ounce) cans fire-roasted diced tomatoes: you can use any type of canned tomato. Just make sure you add the juice as well. It's a great flavor additive.
Make sure you season with salt and pepper at the end of the cooking process. If you add too much salt before the beans are cooked, it will keep the beans crunchy.
As you can see from the image above, there is still quite a bit of oil on the surface. This is where I would decrease the chili. Simply take strips of paper towels and gently lay it on the surface. The paper towel will absorb the oil leaving the liquid in place.
The liquid is heavier than the oil so if some gets on the paper towel, it will drip out leaving the oil on the towel.
🔪 Instructions
- Rinse beans in a colander with cold water. Remove any rocks or foreign items. Soak in water for a minimum of 6-8 hours or overnight.
- Heat oil in a large stockpot. Add the ground beef and cook over medium-high heat until brown. About 6-7 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and transfer to a bowl. Drain off excess fat reserving 2 tablespoons in the pot.
- Reduce heat to medium, add in the onion. Cook until onions are soft and translucent, about 8-10 minutes. Stir in garlic and spices cooking until fragrant, about 1-2 minutes.
- Add the stock, deglazing the bottom of the pot.
- Add the beans, beef. Add enough water to cover plus an additional 2 inches above the beans. About 4 cups.
- Add in the tomatoes and juice.
- Bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for 3 hours or until the black beans are tender. If the liquid gets too low, add a little more water.
- Adjust seasoning. Garnish, and serve.
💭 Helpful Hints
- If you don't want to use dry beans, you can always substitute them with 4 (15-ounce) cans of drained and rinsed beans.
- In order for the chili beans to thicken up, we want to cook them uncovered. Covering the beans will cause too much liquid to remain and making your beans soupy instead of thick.
- Degrease fat using strips of paper towels to soak up the excess oil. You simply take your paper towel, tear them into strips, and lay them gently on top of the grease. They will instantly absorb the grease.
- Replace the beef stock with vegetable stock.
❤️ You'll also love these chili friendly recipes
- Nothing is better with homemade chili beans than golden brown sweet cornbread.
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📋 Recipe
Chili With Beans Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups dried pinto beans
- 2 cups dried black beans
- 1 tablespoon canola oil
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 onion, chopped, about 1 cup. Extra can be for garnish
- 3 garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon cumin
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 1 (32-ounce) beef stock
- 2 (14.5-ounce) cans fire-roasted diced tomatoes
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon pepper
Garnish
- 1 jalapeno, thinly sliced
- sour cream
- onion, small dice
- cheddar cheese, shredded
Instructions
- Rinse beans in a colander with cold water. Remove any rocks or foreign items. Soak in water for a minimum of 6-8 hours or overnight.
- Heat oil in a large stockpot. Add the ground beef and cook over medium-high heat until brown. About 6-7 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and transfer to a bowl. Drain off excess fat reserving 2 tablespoons in the pot.
- Reduce heat to medium, add in the onion. Cook until onions are soft and translucent, about 8-10 minutes. Stir in garlic and spices cooking until fragrant, about 1-2 minutes.
- Add the stock, deglazing the bottom of the pot.
- Add the beans, beef. Add enough water to cover plus an additional 2 inches above the beans. About 4 cups.
- Add in the tomatoes and juice.
- Bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for 3 hours or until the black beans are tender. If the liquid gets too low, add a little more water.
- Adjust seasoning. Garnish, and serve.
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Equipment
Notes
- Substitute dry beans for 4 (15-ounce) cans of drained and rinsed beans.
- Cook uncovered.
- Degrease fat using strips of paper towels to soak up the excess oil.
Did you make this recipe? Let me know how it turned out!