This really is the best homemade chili recipe and I absolutely love this chili recipe! For 20 years we’ve always used Carroll Shelby’s Chili Mix and it’s fantastic, but the mix isn’t always easy to find. For about the past five years or so, I’ve been trying to do away with spice mixes (taco season packs, salad dressing packs, etc.) but I was always reluctant to try a “real” chili recipe. I figured why bother? I’m so glad I stumbled upon Pat Neely’s chili recipe, because with a few tweaks, it’s amazing!
Table of Contents
Homemade Chili with Ground Beef?
Bacon, ground beef, onions, bell peppers, tomatoes, and a bunch of spices, make this recipe a real keeper. The original recipe calls for a combo of ground pork and ground beef. I grind our meat in my LEM meat grinder, and I’ve made this recipe with 50% pork, 50% beef, and I’ve also made it with 100% beef. Honestly, I really couldn’t tell the difference between the two. Since pork is typically cheaper than beef, I’ve found using half ground pork does save money.
Homemade Chili with Beans
I love beans, but I always thought I preferred my chili without beans…. Until I tried this recipe! I also always thought I didn’t like red kidney beans, just the thought of them makes me think of dry mealy big huge red beans, but I’ve found I really LOVE red kidney beans in this recipe. Simmering the chili for 1.5 hours really transforms the red beans into something quite delicious, and gives the chili deep layers of flavor! I recommend you give this recipe a go, I think you will be pleasantly surprised because this recipe is a keeper!
Homemade Chili Recipe from Scratch




This is what the chili looks like at this point. Now it’s time to bring it up to a low simmer, cover, and simmer for 1.5 hours.
While simmering, if your chili needs more water add a little. During the first hour of simmering the chili, I like to stir the chili every 10-15 minutes. For the last half hour of cooking, I’ll stir the chili every 8-10 minutes. If you aren’t using a non-stick dutch oven, you may need to stir the pot more often.
This is what the chili looks like after simmering for 1.5 hours.
Optional Chili Add-Ins
- Shredded Cheese
- Minced White Onion
- Diced Green Onions
- Sour Cream
- Crushed Saltine Crackers
- Oyster Crackers
- Tamed Nacho Rings
- Crumbled Corn Bread

The Best Homemade Chili Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 pound raw bacon - cut into small pieces
- 1 large onion - diced
- 1 red bell pepper - seeded and diced
- 1 green bell pepper - seeded and diced
- 6 cloves garlic - minced
- 4.5 tablespoons chili powder
- 1.5 tablespoons ground cumin
- 1.5 tablespoons paprika
- .5 to 1.5 tablespoons chipolte powder Use 1.5 tablespoons if you like it spicy
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 2 teaspoons salt
- .5 teaspoon cayenne powder optional
- 3 pounds ground beef
- 1 can or bottle beer I use Coors Light
- 1 - 14 ounce can black beans rinsed and drained
- 1 - 14 ounce can red kidney beans rinsed and drained
- 1 - 24 ounce can crushed tomatoes
- 1 - 24 ounce can diced tomatoes
Instructions
- Cook diced bacon over medium heat in a large non-stick dutch oven or pot. When bacon is almost done, add in diced onion and bell peppers and cook until softened.
- Add in minced garlic, chili powder, ground cumin, paprika, chipolte powder, dried oregano, salt, and cayenne powder. Cook a minute or two until aromatic.
- Add in ground beef to bacon-onion mixture. Cook until ground beef is no longer pink.
- Stir in can of beer, rinsed and drained beans, crushed tomatoes with juice, and diced tomatoes with juice.
- Cover and simmer on low (for me it's #3) 1.5 hours. Add in a little water, if necessary. The first hour stir the pot every 10-15 minutes, and the last 30 minutes stir the pot every 5-10 minutes. You may need to stir more often depending on your pot and how hot your burner gets.
- Taste of salt.
Recipe inspired by Pat Neely’s homemade chili recipe.
Be Sure To Check Out These Epic Recipes
- Better Than Takeout Rice Cooker Chinese Fried Rice Recipe
- Authentic Carnitas Recipe
- How to Make Authentic Refried Beans
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- Best Blackstone Steak Fajitas Recipe
Disclosure: This post contains Amazon affiliate links.
D
Monday 13th of November 2023
Wonderful recipe! Each time I make this recipe, it never lasts one day. I add two tbs of cocoa and I also make extra bacon on the side and use some of the bacon grease to pour in the last mins of cooking.
James Hanner
Monday 16th of October 2023
Made the chili per your recipe. Added an additional can of beans, as I like beans. Glad I followed the recipe as it turned out great. Really tasty! Plus it can be spicier for people that like that. My family likes medium spice. This will be in my go to recipe book for sure.
Ashley
Sunday 10th of September 2023
Wow! Great chili. I did less bacon(3 strips) and no beer. (Water instead)
It was a great chili recipe!
Lucian Burgess
Tuesday 15th of August 2023
I am truly thankful to the owner of this web site who has shared this fantastic piece of writing at at this place.
Salvador Edwards
Saturday 12th of August 2023
Pretty! This has been a really wonderful post. Many thanks for providing these details.