Easy Chili with Beans Recipe (One Pot) is a hearty family dinner made with lean ground beef, three kinds of beans, tomatoes, and chili seasoning. Everything cooks in one pot, making it a great weeknight meal that’s perfect for feeding a crowd or freezing for later.
This chili with beans is ready in about 40 minutes and is delicious topped with shredded cheese, sour cream, crackers, or tortilla chips. It’s a comforting meal you’ll want to make all fall and winter long.
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Ready in about 30 minutes.
- Made in one pot for easy cleanup.
- Hearty, family-friendly comfort food.
- Great for meal prep and freezing.
- Easy to customize with your favorite toppings.
Ingredients
See recipe card for exact amounts.
Ingredient Notes
- Ground Beef: We use lean 93/7 ground beef. Drain excess grease if using a higher-fat blend.
- Bell Pepper & Onion: Add flavor and texture.
- Tomato sauce & diced tomatoes: Create a rich tomato base.
- Diced tomatoes with green chiles: Mild heat and extra flavor.
- Ranch style, pinto, and kidney beans: Three kinds of beans make this chili hearty and filling.
- Chili seasoning: Use your favorite packet or a reduced-sodium variety.
How to Make Chili with Beans
- Brown the beef, onion, and bell pepper in a Dutch oven until the beef is no longer pink.
- Stir in the remaining ingredients, bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook about 15 minutes. Serve with your favorite toppings.
Topping Ideas for Chili with Beans
- Cheddar cheese
- Sour cream
- Diced onion
- Jalapeños
- Tortilla chips
- Saltine crackers
- Monterey Jack cheese
- Hot sauce
Recipe Variations
- Use ground turkey or chicken.
- Swap the green pepper for red, yellow, or orange.
- Use your favorite canned beans.
- Use black beans instead of kidney or pinto beans.
- Make it spicier with hot chili seasoning or cayenne.
- Replace the water with beef broth.
How to Make Frito Chili Pie
Put corn chips in a bowl and top with chili, cheese, chopped onions, sliced jalapenos and sour cream.
Spoon chili over corn chips and top with shredded cheese, diced onion, jalapeños, and sour cream.
Storage & Reheating
Refrigerate leftovers for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 2 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and reheat on the stovetop or in the microwave.
Reheat thawed chili on the stove top in a large saucepan or pot over medium heat until warmed through. Or, reheat in individual portions in the microwave.
I like to serve this Chili with Corn Oat Muffins or Jalapeno Pepper Jack Corn Bread.
Frequently Asked Questions
Absolutely. While traditional Texas chili is usually made without beans, many homemade chili recipes include beans because they add texture, protein, and make the chili more filling. This recipe is designed to be a hearty chili with beans.
Kidney beans, pinto beans, and ranch style beans are all great choices for chili because they hold their shape and add hearty texture. This recipe uses all three for plenty of flavor and variety, but you can substitute your favorite canned beans if you prefer.
More Chili Recipes
Looking for even more hearty dinner ideas? Browse my 15 Easy Ground Beef Recipes or 15 Easy One-Pan Dinners for more family-friendly meals.
Love this recipe?
Leave a comment and a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating below!
Easy One Pot Chili with Beans
Ingredients
- 2 pounds lean ground beef (I use 93/7)
- 1 green bell pepper diced
- 1 onion diced
- 1 can tomato sauce 29 ounces
- 1 can diced tomatoes 14.5 ounces
- 1 can diced tomatoes with green chilies 10 ounces
- 1 can ranch style beans 15 ounces
- 1 can pinto beans, rinsed and drained 15.5 ounces
- 1 can kidney beans, rinsed and drained 15.5 ounces
- 1 packet McCormick mild chili seasoning (or your favorite)
- 1 cup water
Instructions
- Cook the ground beef, bell pepper, and onion in a dutch oven over medium-high until the meat is browned, about 10 minutes.
- Add the tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, dice tomatoes with chilies, ranch beans, pinto beans, kidney beans. seasoning packet and water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer and cook until the vegetables are tender, about 15 minutes.
Great and easy recipe. My family loved it and my mother said she loved it more than her chili. I did add the ranch beans but with jalapeño’s in the can gave a nice mild kick. I also used kinder chili seasoning as well. Make with a side of spruced up jiffy honey cornbread that contains sour cream to make it moist. Paired so well.
I’m so glad y’all like it! Thank you for commenting and rating!
Hi, I will like to substitute the ranch style beans and pinto beans. How much dried kidney beans will I need?
One can of beans has about 1.5 cups, so the entire recipe has about 4.5 cups. Because dried beans expand while cooking you would need about 1.5 cups of kidney beans in total to yield about 4.5 cups when cooked. It would be best to soak and cook the beans separately before adding them to the chili. I hope this helps and let me know how it turns out!
I surely will I like making food from scratch
If I use 1.5 cups of pinto beans that’s 1 cup and a half cup right
Cooking this recipe now! Can’t wait!
That’s awesome, we hope you like it as much as we do!
Oh snap! It must be fall because it’s getting chili in here! Who doesn’t like a tasty, meat & bean chili? Sounds super good!
Right?! Thanks
Looks yummy.
Thanks!
Good morning, I have two more questions can I substitute the tomato sauce for chili starter? If I can what ounce jar will I need of the chili starter? And my last question can I substitute the chili seasoning packet for homemade chili powder
I use a 29 oz can of tomato sauce so if there is a starter around that size. This recipe is forgiving and you can always add more liquid if you need to. Some options would be water, more tomato sauce or even beef broth. Absolutely you can use homemade chili powder, I would add a bit of other spices like garlic and onion powder, cumin, paprika and even a little oregano.
How much of each spice will I need to use?
You could use the amounts below, and adjust to taste if you like one more than the other, or don’t want too much heat.
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon paprika (regular, smoked, or sweet)
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon onion powder
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional for heat)
½ teaspoon dried oregano
½ teaspoon salt (optional and to taste)
¼ teaspoon black pepper
Looks awesome.
I am going to try your recipe tonight. But i am going to use dear meat instead of ground beef. I think it will go great with your recipe. Thank you so much for the tip.
That sounds great, there are a few of deer hunters in the family, so I might have to hit them up for some meat! Let me know how it turns out.
i love chilli and i love beans, sounds very very delicious
Thanks for stopping by!