There is nothing better than a bowl of Chipotle Chili to warm you up on a cold day. Our homemade chili recipe is full of smoky chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, tender ground beef, beans, and tomatoes. This is the perfect balance of spicy, savory, and pure comfort food. We use simple pantry staples, and in under an hour, you have a cozy meal for any day.
For specifics on the recipe, use the table of contents to click on sections of the recipe.
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- Why you'll love this Chipotle Chili Recipe
- Ingredients for the Best Homemade Chili Recipe
- Kitchen Tools to Make the Best Chipotle Beef Chili
- How to Make Chipotle Chili Recipe
- Storing, Make-Ahead, and Freezer Tips for Smoky Beef Chili
- Eileen's Tips for the Best Chipotle Chili
- Variations for Chipotle Chili
- FAQs for making the Best Chili Recipe
- What to serve with Chili
- More Chili Recipes
- 📖 Recipe
- 💬 Comments
This is one of those recipes I have been making for years. Everyone loves how easy this chili is to make with simple ingredients. Serve with your favorite toppings such as cheddar cheese, sour cream, or a side of cornbread, for a meal everyone will love.
Why you'll love this Chipotle Chili Recipe
- Make Ahead: Chipotle chili is perfect for make-ahead and freezer-friendly meals. Make a double batch and freeze some for another day.
- One Pot: Our easy Chipotle chili is a mouthwatering one-pot meal made with simple ingredients.
- Crowd-Pleasing: This delicious chili is perfect for family parties, potlucks, and game-day eating. Easy to make, affordable, great for a crowd.
Ingredients for the Best Homemade Chili Recipe
- ground beef - I use 80/20 ground beef (minced meat), other ground proteins can be used, such as ground turkey or ground chicken.
- yellow onion
- fresh garlic
- can, diced tomatoes
- tomato sauce
- can, black beans
- can, kidney beans
- Chipotle peppers in adobo sauce - I use 2 chipotle peppers plus the adobo sauce. If you like a smokier flavor, add one more chipotle pepper.
- Mexican chili, dried oregano, ground cumin - add the spice for flavoring the chili.
- black pepper
- salt
Kitchen Tools to Make the Best Chipotle Beef Chili
- Dutch Oven
- Measuring Spoons and Cups
- Wooden Spoon
- meat chopper
- can opener
How to Make Chipotle Chili Recipe
This is an overview of the recipe. The full instructions are below in the recipe card.
- Sauté the onions.
- Add the chipotle peppers in adobo, sauté to blend the flavors, and onions become translucent.
- Brown the ground beef until no longer pink, and add the spices.
- Add the diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, kidney beans, and black beans.
- Simmer for 1 ½ hours. Taste for seasoning; if needed, adjust any seasonings. Serve with your favorite toppings.
Storing, Make-Ahead, and Freezer Tips for Smoky Beef Chili
Make-Ahead: Our Chipotle Chili Recipe can be made up to 4 days ahead and kept in a covered, airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Reheat in a pot over medium-low heat until warmed through or in a preheated 350°F/180°C oven until warmed through.
If reheating in the oven, keep covered with aluminum foil while reheating. Also, stir the chili to ensure all the chili gets warm.
Freezer Friendly: store in the freezer using a freezer-safe bag or storage container for up to 3-4 months. Defrost overnight in the refrigerator and reheat over low heat in a saucepan until warmed through.
Eileen's Tips for the Best Chipotle Chili
- Be sure to brown the beef and drain and discard the excess fat. This ensures your chili won't be greasy.
- This recipe calls for low-fat toppings. Full-fat can be used, a personal preference.
- Be sure to simmer the beef chili over low heat and stir occasionally. This will ensure you do not burn the bottom.
Variations for Chipotle Chili
Tips for spices, proteins, and add-ins for Chipotle Chili.
- Protein: Use ground turkey, ground chicken, ground pork, or ground sausage - hot or sweet.
- Beans: Use any of your favorite beans or a mix of beans, including garbanzo beans or pinto beans.
- Mexican Chili Powder: You can use Chili Powder, but some of them add in cumin and other spices, which is why I prefer to use Mexican Chili powder. It is pure ground chili powder.
- Spice: Use our Homemade Chili Seasoning for a quick spice blend. Our homemade fajita seasoning is another blend to use for a variety of flavors for the chili.
FAQs for making the Best Chili Recipe
If your chili is too spicy, add honey to the chili. This will add sweetness to balance the heavy spice. Stir in a teaspoon at a time, stir, and taste until you reach the desired seasoning.
If you need to thicken the chili, make a slurry by whisking 1 Tablespoon of cornstarch with 2 Tablespoons of cold water.
Stir the slurry into the chili, let it simmer to thicken, about 10 minutes.
Like a great marinara sauce, chili is delicious the second day. I encourage you to prepare it a day ahead.
What to serve with Chili
- Cornbread
- Biscuits
- Arugula Salad
- Tomato Cucumber Salad
- Sour Cream
- Green Onions or diced yellow onions
- Shredded Cheddar Cheese
- diced onion
- diced avocado
- chopped cilantro or chopped parsley
More Chili Recipes
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Thank you for your continued support. I am forever grateful.
Eileen xo
If you click on the number of servings in the recipe card, you can adjust the measurements up or down for the exact number of servings you need.
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Easy Chipotle Chili Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
Instructions
- In a Dutch Oven or large pot over medium heat, add 2 Tablespoons olive oil and let it heat up for about a minute. Add 1 large yellow onion (peeled and diced) and saute until softened and translucent. Add 3 cloves minced garlic and saute for another 7 seconds to bloom the garlic.
- Add in the ¼ cup chipotle peppers in adobo sauce and saute another 5 to 7 seconds to blend the flavors.
- Mix in 2 pounds 80/20 ground beef and allow to the meat to brown with no pink meat. Stir in the spices, 2 teaspoons Mexican chili powder, 1 teaspoon ground cumin, 1 teaspoon dried oregano, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, and 1 teaspoon black pepper. and let the flavors blend.
- Add in 28 ounce can, diced tomatoes (drained), 14 ounce can, tomato sauce (drained), 30 ounce can, black beans (drained and rinsed), and 15 ounce can, kidney beans (drained and rinsed) into the ground beef mixture.
- Reduce heat to low, and place the lid on the Dutch oven. Simmer for 1 hour and 30 minutes. Taste for seasoning; if needed, adjust seasonings to your taste.
- Serve in bowls with your favorite toppings:
Nutrition
Notes
- Any nutritional data I provide is an approximation and actual dietary information can vary based on ingredients and proportion sizes.
