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This ground beef quick chili recipe is hearty, flavorful, and ready in only 30 minutes! You can easily customize the heat level and add your favorite toppings for a cozy meal.
You may also enjoy my Simple Chili Mac, Easy Turkey Chili, or Frito Pie next.
Why you’ll love it
For a ground beef chili that’s made this fast, you’ll swear it tastes like it’s been simmering for ages! It has kidney beans, fire-roasted diced tomatoes, and an assortment of pantry seasonings that pack in the flavor in a short time. Total comfort food that’s quick.
A lot of the cooking time for this easy beef chili is hands off, and that’s when I prep all my favorite delicious toppings in anticipation of it being ready. This is a great basic chili recipe to make it all your own! It’s family friendly, fairly healthy, and inexpensive too.
What you’ll need
- Olive oil – for sautéing
- Onions – I like sweet (Vidalia) onion
- Ground beef – we’re using lean
- Tomato paste and fire-roasted diced tomatoes – these canned tomatoes add that perfect concentrated tomato flavor in the sauce
- Worcestershire sauce – one of my favorite savory flavor enhancers
- Spice mix – we’ve got chili powder, garlic powder, ground cumin, paprika, and cayenne pepper. It has a bit of a kick. If you want a mild chili, omit the cayenne pepper.
- Red kidney beans – another staple in my pantry! I love my chili with beans.
Pro tip
This makes a smaller batch to feed four, so you can easily double it if you want to freeze some later or have a larger family/hungry teenagers to feed.
How to make quick chili
This is an overview with step-by-step photos. Full ingredients & instructions are in the recipe card below.
In a soup pot, cook the onions in the olive oil until softened/lightly browned. Add the beef, and cook it while breaking it apart with a spoon until browned. Stir in the tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, and spices.
Add the beans and fire-roasted tomatoes with juices. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for up to 20 minutes. Season with salt & pepper, and serve with any of the suggested toppings below.
Tools for this recipe
Check out Natasha’s favorite kitchen essentials, gadgets, and cookware!
- Use a soup pot or Dutch oven for this one.
- I like cutting the onions on this cutting board best.
- This is my trusty can opener for the canned goods.
Substitutions and variations
- This chili is very flexible! You could swap with another kind of beans (e.g. black beans), use ground turkey instead of beef, use Rotel or regular diced tomatoes if you can’t find fire-roasted, etc.
- Feel free to throw in other veggies if you need to use them up.
- Or change up the seasonings based on what you have on hand.
What to serve with beef chili
- Some of my favorite chili toppings are sour cream or Greek yogurt, jalapeños, scallions or red onions, cilantro, cheddar cheese, crumbled Oven Cooked Bacon, corn chips/tortilla strips, and avocado.
- Pair it with cornbread for a filling meal!
- I also like to serve it with a green salad with my Chipotle Ranch Dressing.
Leftovers and storage
- Store leftovers of this chili in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days.
- Reheat over a low heat until warmed through.
- It freezes great! Freeze for up to 3 months.
Hope you will give this quick and easy chili recipe a try! If you made it, please leave a star rating and review below. Or tag me on Instagram with your S&L creations.
Quick Chili Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 medium onion chopped
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 2 heaping tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tablespoons chili powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon paprika or smoked paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper or to taste
- 1 (14 ounce) can red kidney beans drained
- 1 (28 ounce) can fire-roasted diced tomatoes with juices
- Salt & pepper to taste
Suggested toppings:
- Shredded cheddar cheese, cilantro, sour cream, corn chips/strips, scallions or red onions, avocado, etc. optional, to taste
Instructions
- Add the olive oil to a Dutch oven/soup pot over medium-high heat. Sauté the onion for about 5 minutes.
- Add the beef to the pot and cook for 5 minutes, breaking it up as you go. There shouldn't be a lot of fat released if you used lean beef, but if there is, spoon most of the fat out.
- Stir in the tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, chili powder, garlic powder, cumin, paprika, and cayenne pepper.
- Add the beans and diced tomatoes. Increase heat to high and bring it to a gentle boil, then reduce heat and let it simmer for 15-20 minutes with the lid slightly open, stirring occasionally.
- Prep the toppings while it's cooking.
- Season with salt & pepper as needed, then serve with desired toppings and enjoy.
Notes
- Omit or use less cayenne pepper if you prefer a milder chili. This one has a bit of a kick. Most chili powders are mild but be sure yours is if you’re going to add the cayenne pepper and are concerned about spice levels.
- Anything between 1-1.5 pounds of ground beef will work fine in this chili recipe.
- This recipe freezes well.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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This recipe was originally published on August 15, 2018. It’s been updated with new photos and better instructions but is the same great recipe!
I made this dish yesterday, and it was very good. However, for my family, it is a little too spicy! I was thinking about cutting the 3 Tablespoons of chili powder by half, and maybe the cayene pepper by half. As far as heat goes, would I cut any other ingredient? I served this with cheddar cheese, a dollop of sour cream, cilantro, red onions and tortilla strips. Anyway, thank you so much for awesome recipe!
Hi Cheryl! You’re welcome! I would leave out the cayenne pepper. The chili powder I buy is mild, so also be sure to see whether yours is mild or not. It’s a spice blend, but sometimes they can be hot (but they’re usually labeled as such if that’s the case).
My husband and I loved this chili! We have loved a lot of your recipes.
That’s so nice to hear, Debra!
Came out excellent, I cut cayenne in 1/2 to suit my tastes and used smoked paprika
Excellent! Glad it was a hit, Chris!
New family fav! Easy to make with ingredients we keep on hand.
Fantastic!! Thanks, Erin!
Wonderful recipe with great flavor! I added a little more Worcestershire sauce and a cup of beef broth. I also just used regular diced tomatoes since I didn’t have fire roasted. This recipe is a keeper! Thank you!
You’re very welcome!
Sooooo good! I love all your recipes!
Thank you so much, Jen!! 😀 Glad you liked this one too!
I’ve made this wonderful, easy and very tasty quick chili twice in the last 2 months for my mother’s weekly meals. She’s a very finicky eater and she loved it! (I loved it too!). We live in Florida (not a cold-weather state!) and she keeps asking me to make it again and again even when it’s 80 degrees outside. Excellent recipe!
That’s so nice to hear!! 🙂 Thank you!
The recipe was good however I found it to be just a tad too spicy so I would go a little easier on me chili powder and because I didn’t have fire roasted tomatoes I added a quarter cup of coffee I had left to add that kind of smoky flavor that you want from the tomatoes and I added just a little bit of brown sugar about a tablespoon of brown sugar but I’m sure I’ll be using this recipe again
Hi! I’m so glad you liked it. 🙂 I have never seen a spicy chili powder where I live (here in Canada), so I think it must be a regional thing. You should be able to find a milder one.
This was voted super amazing! I did improvise a little add venison and had some jarred and frozen sauce to use up so I doubled it and still added fire roasted tomatoes. Will deffinately make again.
Thank you!
Fabulous!! You’re welcome!
I can’t wait to try this recipe tonight! But I forgot to get Worcestershire sauce. What’s a good substitute?
Hi! I would probably just leave it out. Unfortunately, it’s one of those things that has that umami flavor that isn’t replicated in anything else. It has a touch of anchovy, but not so much that I’d suggest adding anything anchovy-related to your chili haha. Just be sure to salt the chili well. 🙂 If it’s at all bland tasting, I’d just add in some more spices.
you don’t need it (or to substitute it. I say that because I never use it! Can’t stand the stuff!
I like to use liquid smoke, I keep it stocked in my pantry since it can be used in so many ways, meatloaf, pork or chicken roast, really anything that you want a little extra flavor in.