30-Minute Weeknight Beef and Bean Chili
Ground beef, kidney beans and lightly blitzed tomatoes with chili powder, cumin and a little chipotle, on the table in about 30 minutes.
Quick chili exists because of chili powder. The Texas State Historical Association says William Gebhardt, running a café in New Braunfels, Texas, in the 1890s, learned to dry and grind chiles into a powder that kept for months, sold it at first as "Tampico Dust", and in 1896 registered Gebhardt's Eagle Brand Chili Powder. A spoonful from a jar could stand in for a morning of toasting and grinding, which is exactly the trade this weeknight version makes.
🇺🇸 This one is American
Ground beef, kidney beans and lightly blitzed tomatoes with chili powder, cumin and a little chipotle, on the table in about 30 minutes.
🇺🇸 The original
The Texas bowl of red is chunks of beef simmered with dried chiles and spices until tender. No beans, and in the strict version no tomatoes. See the Texas Bowl of Red (San Antonio Chili con Carne) recipe.
Why it works the kitchen science
Two pots at once
The beans and tomatoes heat through while the beef cooks, so the combined chili needs only a 15 minute simmer (ATK's method).
Chipotle and a little sugar
Smoky chipotle and 2 teaspoons of sugar round out canned tomatoes so a short simmer still tastes deep.
Step by step
- Step 1
Pulse the tomatoes and their juice in a food processor about 5 times, until slightly chunky.
- Step 2
Bring the tomatoes, beans, chipotle, sugar and 1/2 tsp salt to a boil in a covered saucepan, then keep at a low simmer.
- Step 3
Meanwhile heat the oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion, chili powder, cumin and 1/4 tsp salt and cook 5 minutes, until softened. Stir in the garlic for 30 seconds.
- Step 4
Turn the heat to medium-high, add the beef and cook, breaking it up, 4 to 5 minutes, until no longer pink. Ground beef should reach 160°F.
- Step 5
Stir in the tomato and bean mixture, scraping up the browned bits, and simmer 15 minutes, until slightly thickened. Season with salt and pepper and serve.
30-Minute Weeknight Beef and Bean Chili
Serves 4 (about 1 3/4 cups each) · about 7 cups · 30 min total
Tomatoes and beans
- 1 can (28 oz) diced tomatoes
- 1 can (15 oz) dark red kidney beans, rinsed
- 2 to 3 tsp minced canned chipotle in adobo
- 2 tsp sugar
- Salt and black pepper
Beef
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 onion, minced
- 3 tbsp chili powder
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 1/2 lb 85% lean ground beef
To serve
- Optional: shredded cheddar, sour cream, sliced scallions, pickled jalapeños
Method
- Pulse the tomatoes and their juice in a food processor about 5 times, until slightly chunky.
- Bring the tomatoes, beans, chipotle, sugar and 1/2 tsp salt to a boil in a covered saucepan, then keep at a low simmer.
- Meanwhile heat the oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion, chili powder, cumin and 1/4 tsp salt and cook 5 minutes, until softened. Stir in the garlic for 30 seconds.
- Turn the heat to medium-high, add the beef and cook, breaking it up, 4 to 5 minutes, until no longer pink. Ground beef should reach 160°F.
- Stir in the tomato and bean mixture, scraping up the browned bits, and simmer 15 minutes, until slightly thickened. Season with salt and pepper and serve.
Adapted from America's Test Kitchen, "Fast All-American Beef Chili" (2009), as written (serves 4 to 6). The timing to 30 minutes assumes you chop the onion and garlic while the tomatoes heat. America's Test Kitchen. Ingredient list follows the source; the method is in our own words.
All sources (2)
Tips
- No food processor? Crush the tomatoes in the can with kitchen shears.
- Leftovers make chili dogs or chili fries; see the hot dog hub.
- Use 2 tsp chipotle for kids, 3 tsp for heat seekers.
The rules people argue about
What the sources agree on, what they don't, and what is just a good story.
- Real chili has to simmer for hours. Folklore.
- Ground beef to 160°F. Documented (USDA FSIS).
- Chili powder is cheating. Folklore: even CASI's cook-off rules allow commercial chili powder.
Every other chili
Texas Bowl of Red (San Antonio Chili con Carne)
Big cubes of beef chuck braised for three hours in a purée of toasted whole dried chiles, with no beans and no tomatoes.
Chile Colorado (Northern Mexican Red Chile Beef)
Beef and potatoes stewed in a smooth guajillo chile sauce thickened with a little flour, the Chihuahua way, and spooned into warm flour tortillas.
Chili con Carne with Beans
The American home classic: ground beef, kidney beans and tomatoes simmered two hours with chili powder, cumin and a little heat.
Cincinnati Chili (Three-Way to Five-Way)
A thin, cinnamon-and-allspice-scented meat sauce ladled over buttered spaghetti and built up in "ways" with beans, onion and a mound of finely shredded cheddar.
New Mexico Green Chile Stew
Pork, potatoes and plenty of roasted New Mexico green chile simmered in broth, the comfort-food bowl behind New Mexico's official question, "Red or green?".
Chile Verde with Pork
Pork shoulder braised for hours in a chunky purée of charred poblanos, tomatillos, garlic and jalapeño until it falls apart.
White Chicken Chili
Shredded chicken and creamy white beans in a light, green-chile broth of poblano, Anaheim and jalapeño, finished with lime, cilantro and scallions.
Frito Pie
Homemade beef chili ladled straight into a split-open bag of corn chips and topped with cheddar and chopped onion; eat it with a fork, right out of the bag.
Three-Bean Vegetarian Chili
Pinto, black and kidney beans simmered with crushed tomatoes, toasted cumin seeds, red pepper and corn, finished with lime and cilantro.
Fast-Food Style Chili, Inspired by Wendy's
A mild, beefy, tomato-heavy chili with kidney and pinto beans, onion, celery and green pepper, simmered low and slow like the drive-thru favorite. Inspired by, not official.
Meatballs of the World
Italian-American Meatballs
Big, tender meatballs braised for an hour in red sauce over spaghetti. The one most Americans grew up with.
Pallottine (Abruzzo Meatballs)
Tiny meatballs, smaller than a marble, tossed right through square spaghetti alla chitarra. No bread at all.
Swedish Meatballs (Köttbullar)
Small, soft meatballs browned in butter, in a cream sauce made from the same pan, with lingonberry jam on the plate.
Danish Frikadeller
Pork meatballs shaped with a spoon and fried slowly in butter, crusty outside and soft in the middle.
Königsberger Klopse
German meatballs that are never fried: poached, then served in a creamy white sauce with capers.
Spanish Albóndigas in Almond Saffron Sauce
The tapas bar classic: small meatballs in a golden sauce thickened with fried almonds and bread.
Mexican Albóndigas with Chipotle and Mint
Soft meatballs with rice and fresh mint inside, simmered in a smoky tomato and chipotle broth.
Izgara Köfte (Turkish Grilled Meatballs)
Small, flat meatballs kneaded hard, rested cold, and charred on a hot grill pan.
Lion's Head Meatballs
Big, soft pork meatballs, stirred into a sticky paste, fried to set, then braised in a savory sauce.
Chicken Tsukune
Japan's chicken meatball: kneaded sticky, grilled on skewers, glazed with sweet soy tare, dipped in egg yolk.