Here’s a chili recipe that quick to make and loaded with delicious, hearty flavor and ingredients. You don’t have to spend all day prepping or cooking. This simple recipe can be enjoyed in about 30 minutes.
We all love a good bowl of hearty chili. But chili making can be a complicated process that usually requires a lot of preparation and hours of slow cooking. Not this recipe! We’ll use fresh ground beef and a few pantry ingredients to whip up a whole pot of delicious chili that be easily be enjoyed as a weeknight meal.
What is Weeknight Chili?
You’re at the office and text your loved one or family member at 3:00 in the afternoon… “What are we doing for dinner?” Often the reply is “I don’t know, what do you want?”, or “I’ve had a long day and don’t feel like cooking a big meal”. Well, we have everyone taken care of with this super easy chili recipe. There’s no prepping the ingredients or making a huge mess. We’ll use fresh ground beef, some canned beans, and a few special ingredients to make a hearty, delicious chili that’s actually perfect for any night of the week (weekends included).
Ingredients
Our weeknight chili will be loaded with fresh ground beef and delicious beans. We’ll use two kinds of canned beans – black beans and red kidney beans. For our base we’ll use some beef broth, 2 cups will do, and a 14.5oz can of diced tomatoes. I like to get the low sodium versions of the beans and tomatoes. The sodium in canned goods can add up quickly, and we’ll get plenty from the broth.
Now for the fun part – the seasonings. We start simple enough with a couple of tablespoons of chili powder. We’ll punch up the savory flavors with some onion powder and give it some deep smokey notes with smoked paprika. Smoked paprika is such a wonderful ingredient and is perfect for our chili recipe.
What’s the secret ingredient?
Now, let’s make it all “next level” with our secret ingredient – coffee. Yep, we’ll add a half cup of brewed coffee to our chili. Don’t worry, it won’t make the chili taste like a weird gourmet coffee. Rather, the coffee works to bring out the deep flavor notes of all the other ingredients. If you still have some coffee in the coffee pot from this morning – perfect! Use that. Finally, we’ll give our chili some vibrance with a little cider vinegar, black pepper, and a 4oz can of green chiles.
Preparation
As mentioned earlier, this chili is meant to be easy. Prep includes draining and rinsing both cans of beans. This is simple enough by dumping them into a mesh strainer and running under a little cold water. Then, in a Dutch oven or medium pot, brown the ground beef. Once it’s browned, drain any fat and add all the other ingredients. Give it a real good stir for a couple of minutes over a medium flame until it comes to a boil. Then, reduce the flame to low and simmer the chili, covered, for about 25 min minutes. Stir occasionally.
Guess what? You’re done!
Serving
It’s always a good idea to let the chili cool down a bit before enjoying. If it’s too hot, you won’t taste all the good flavors. Feel free to add some additional goodness with some shredded cheese, sour cream, onions, chives, or any other of your favorite chili toppings.
Make it Your Own
Here’s one of the great things about this recipe… you can really customize it however you like. Add some frozen or canned corn, hot peppers, fire roasted red peppers, or any thing else you like. We usually always have these ingredients in the pantry and they keep with the theme of “easy”.
If you want to add some fresh chopped onions or peppers, best to sauté them first for a few minutes to get them a bit tender before adding to the chili to cook.
PrintRecipe
Best Damn Weeknight Chili
- Total Time: 30 min
- Yield: 6 servings
Description
A hearty and delicious chili recipe that uses all simple ingredients for minimal prep and is ready to enjoy in about 30 minutes.
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef (85-90% lean)
- 1 can (14.5oz) black beans (low sodium)
- 1 can (14.5oz) red kidney beans (low sodium)
- 1 can (14.5oz) diced tomatoes (no-salt added)
- 2 cups beef broth
- 4oz can of green chiles
- 2 tbs chili powder
- 2 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp black pepper
- ½ cup coffee (brewed)
- 2tbs cider vinegar
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- In a medium pot or Dutch oven, brown the ground beef over medium heat. Drain fat.
- Drain and rinse canned beans and add to pot.
- Add diced tomatoes (don’t drain), and all remaining ingredients. Stir well.
- Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer covered for 20-25 minutes.
- Let cool and serve.
- Prep Time: 5 min
- Cook Time: 25 min
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
Shiela L Baudendistel
I always follow the recipe as written the first time. Next time I’ll up the spices. This Chili is good but not great. It’s quite bland. It would be good for kids or people who don’t like much spice. On the good side. It’s quick and easy and can be tweaked to your own tastes easily.
peggy J stivason
Hi Jason , I don’t brew coffee but I make instant regular coffee each morning , How can I modify Brewed coffee for Instant ? Or , would you not recommend ? Thank s Jason
RecipeTeacher
I’m sure using a half cup of coffee made from instant coffee will be just fine.
peggy J stivason
Thank you and I did and , It. was Fantastic . We all enjoyed the chili . 🙂
Beth
Fantastic. Thanks Jason. Love your recipes!
RecipeTeacher
Thanks, Beth!
Patti Perko
I made this today. So very good.
Thank you Jason!
Lynn Johnson
I have not made it yet, but just wondering when you say cider vinegar, would apple cider vinegar work.
Thank you
RecipeTeacher
Yes indeed cider vinegar is apple cider vinegar.
PattiAnn
Throw it in the IP for 25 minutes…really melds the flavors together.
Thanks for the post.
Dee F.
Are we talking half cup of instant coffee dry or mixed?
RecipeTeacher
A half cup of actual brewed coffee.
Charles Wilson
While your recipe looks good, I have made what I call Wendy’s kind of Chili. that included 1 diced yellow onion, 2 tbsp cumin that is essential for taste. Keep up the great work. Charles
Nancy
This is a great recipe! We don’t drink coffee, so I didn’t add that. Would instant coffee be just as good? I baked 2 large potatoes, split them open and added the chili on top. Dressed them up with shredded cheese, diced onion and sour cream, and they were fabulous! Thanks so much for the recipe!