Quick Chili Recipe

This quick chili recipe is hearty, flavorful, and ready in only 30 minutes! You can easily customize the heat level and add your favorite toppings.

This chili is made with ground beef, red kidney beans, fire-roasted diced tomatoes, and an assortment of spices that pack it with flavor in a short cooking time.

My husband is a huge chili fan, and this quick chili recipe passed his taste test. Because you totally care what he thinks in these matters. 😛

You can have a really tasty easy homemade chili from scratch on a weeknight without having to simmer it for ages.

I suppose this is one of those good transitional recipes that work for late summer/early fall. You don’t really have to heat up your kitchen, it’s quick, but it’s also delicious for when the crisper nights start to show up.

It’s also great for the start of the football season. Think chili dogs, bowls of chili, cornbread, etc.

How to make chili fast

Chop your onion and get it in the pot. Meanwhile, prep the rest of your ingredients. Once the onion is softened (lightly browned is good too – adds more flavor), add in the beef and brown it for about 5 minutes.

Add in the remaining ingredients and let it simmer for 15-20 minutes. Boom! Chili in half an hour.

Pro tip: This beef and bean chili does have a bit of heat. If you want it milder, omit the cayenne pepper. If you want it hotter, double it.

Chili topping suggestions:

• Sour cream or Greek yogurt
• Jalapenos
• Scallions or red onions
• Cilantro
• Cheddar cheese
• Bacon
• Corn chips
• Avocado

…the list goes on!

Hope you will give this quick and easy chili recipe a try!

Questions? Ask me in the comments below!

5 from 4 votes

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Quick Chili Recipe

This quick chili recipe is hearty, flavorful, and ready in only 30 minutes! You can easily customize the heat level and add your favorite toppings.

Course Main Course

Cuisine Tex-Mex

Keyword quick and easy chili, quick chili recipe

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes

Total Time 30 minutes

Author Salt & Lavender

Ingredients

• 1 pound extra lean ground beef
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 medium onion chopped
• 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 (19 fluid ounce) can red kidney beans, drained
• 1 (28 fluid ounce) can fire-roasted diced tomatoes with juices
• Salt & pepper to taste

Suggested toppings (optional)

• Shredded cheddar cheese
• Chopped cilantro
• Sour cream 
• Corn chips
• Scallions or red onions
• Chopped avocado

Instructions

1. Add olive oil to a fairly large pot over medium-high heat. Sauté the onion for 5-7 minutes or until it's softened (ok if it's lightly browned). 
2. 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 very lean beef, but if there is, spoon most of the fat out. 
3. Stir in the tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, chili powder, garlic powder, cumin, paprika, and cayenne pepper. 
4. 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, stirring occasionally. 
5. Season with salt & pepper as needed, then serve with desired toppings and enjoy. 

Recipe Notes

• Anything between 1-1.5 pounds of ground beef will work fine in this chili recipe.
• You can use normal diced tomatoes if you can't find fire-roasted, but I do like the extra flavor the fire-roasted ones add.
• This recipe freezes well.

You may also like my Crockpot turkey chili recipe or my Instant Pot beef taco soup.