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A bowl of beef chili with beans, served with rice and a folded tortilla.
Simmering Soups and Stocks

Chicago-style chili

Prep 20 min Cook 55 min Total 1 hr 15 min Servings 8

By Lukasz Jagiello

Published Oct 12, 2026 · Updated Oct 12, 2026

Photo: cyclonebill, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

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About this recipe

I only post recipes that I have tried and verified and are good to my taste — all taste may vary.

Browning the beef and toasting the spices in that fat is what makes a diner chili taste like more than canned tomatoes. A long uncovered simmer thickens it without a flour paste.

Ingredients

Method

  1. 01

    Brown the beef in a heavy pot, breaking it into small pieces. Spoon off all but about a tablespoon of the fat.

  2. 02

    Add the onion and pepper and cook about 6 minutes, until soft. Stir in the garlic, chili powder, paprika, cumin, oregano, salt, and pepper and cook 1 minute, until the spices smell toasted.

  3. 03

    Add the crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, beans, brown sugar, and broth. Bring it to a simmer.

  4. 04

    Cook uncovered about 45 minutes, stirring now and then, until the chili is thick enough to hold on a spoon. Taste for salt.

  5. 05

    Ladle it into bowls. Shredded cheddar is optional. Rice is not part of this pot.

Notes & swaps

  • The photograph shows the chili with rice and a folded tortilla. Those are beside the bowl, not in the recipe.
  • This is a tomato beef-and-bean diner chili. Texas chili leaves the beans out. Cincinnati chili is a thinner spiced sauce served over spaghetti.
  • For a hotter pot, add 1 teaspoon of cayenne with the other spices.

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