Food and Recipes Party Food and Drink Savory Beef Chili Recipes That'll Feed a Crowd By Southern Living Editors Southern Living Editors Since 1966, the editors of Southern Living have been carrying out the mission of the brand: to bring enjoyment, fulfillment, and inspiration to our readers by celebrating life in the South. We inspire creativity in their homes, their kitchens, their gardens, and their personal style. We are a friend they can trust, a guide to the seasons, a helping hand during the holidays, and a relentless champion of the Southern way of life. Southern Living's editorial guidelines Updated on November 2, 2022 Share Tweet Pin Email Trending Videos Photo: Hector Sanchez One of the holy grails of Southern stews, beef chili has had a place across every Southern kitchen since the early twentieth century. Originating in Texas, classic beef chili is an irreplaceably hearty dinner that isn't too hard to make. We've expanded upon and updated the classic Tex-Mex original with a few flavorful Southern additions. We've compiled our best chili recipes so it's easy to make the comfort food classic any night of the week. Loaded with savory, simmering ground beef, these vegetable and beef chili recipes are the perfect dinnertime staple. With flavorful ingredients like fire-roasted tomatoes, chunks of tender steak, filling beans, unexpected black-eyed peas, and spicy jalapeño peppers, these mouthwatering beef chilis are some of our best yet. Whip up our quick and easy ground beef chili for a weeknight dinner in a flash, let a pot simmer all day in your slow cooker, or make a huge batch ahead for a crowd-pleasing supper. Top with cheese, tortilla chips, sour cream, and avocados for a delicious bowl of classic Southern comfort food. 01 of 21 Beef-and-Bean Chili Hector Sanchez Recipe: Beef-and-Bean Chili This classic red chili has chunks of stew meat and ground beef along with tomatoes, red beans, and spices. Fire-roasted tomatoes add a note of smokiness to the mix. If you can't find fire-roasted, use plain tomatoes and add a pinch of smoked paprika. 02 of 21 Quick Beef Chili Becky Luigart-Stayner Recipe: Quick Beef Chili This hearty chili has mouthwatering chunks of meat cooked to perfection in a Dutch oven before being combined with the other ingredients. For this chili we suggest rich, beefy petite tender—the quick-cooking foundation of this stew and a supermarket steak that is cut from the shoulder. It looks and tastes like tenderloin but costs a third of the price. Can't find it? Try chuck-eye steak, which has good flavor but may need a little more trimming. Whatever you choose, this quick chili, spicy, hot, and delicious, will have you filling your bowl for seconds. Smother it in green onions, sour cream, or many other great toppings. 03 of 21 Slow-Cooker Texas Chili Greg Dupree; Prop Styling: Heather Chadduck Hillegas; Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall Recipe: Slow-Cooker Texas Chili With two types of chiles (ancho and guajillo) in addition to the jalapenos and chipotle chile powder, it's safe to say this Texas-style chili will give you a good kick. 04 of 21 Classic Beef Chili Greg DuPree Recipe: Classic Beef Chili This traditional chili recipe will become your go-to for easy weeknight dinners and weekend entertaining. 05 of 21 Pork Chili Verde Hector Sanchez Recipe: Pork Chili Verde If you love chili but are ready to branch out from a traditional beef chili recipe, we think you'll love the flavor profile of this chili Verde. 06 of 21 Game Day Chili Photo: Beth Dreiling Hontzas Recipe: Game Day Chili These meaty favorite is perfect for a football party. It freezes beautifully for a super quick meal another day. 07 of 21 30-Minute Chili Southern Living Recipe: 30-Minute Chili Having delicious chili doesn't mean having to wait all day. With this recipe for 30-Minute Chili you can enjoy one of our quick-fix suppers in no time. While you'll marvel at its slow-cooked flavor, this chili recipe only has six ingredients, so it is always going to be simple to make. The hardest part is simmering the ground beef; after that, you just pour everything else in, and stir. For an Italian-style take on this 30-Minute Chili, you can spice up the flavor and make this with 1 pound of ground sausage and 1 pound of ground beef. Whether you prefer a traditional chili or Italian-infused flavors, this easy-to-make chili will be ready when you are. 08 of 21 Super Quick Chili Beth Dreiling Hontzas Recipe: Super Quick Chili This seven-ingredient chili recipe is ready to eat in less than 30 minutes. For a fun presentation, slice tops from hearty round dinner rolls or larger bread bowls and fill with chili. 09 of 21 Cheesy Chili Hash Brown Bake Jennifer Davick Recipe: Cheesy Chili Hash Brown Bake This five-ingredient casserole features convenient frozen hash brown potatoes, a can of Sloppy Joe sauce and can of chili. 10 of 21 Big Batch Chili Lee Harrelson Recipe: Big Batch Chili This top-rated slow-cooker chili is a tasty crowd-pleaser, perfect for tailgating, Super Bowl parties, and other cool weather gatherings. 11 of 21 Easy Chili Lee Harrelson Recipe: Easy Chili Look no further for the ultimate classic, easy chili recipe. Made in a slow cooker for simple a weekday meal. Top with shredded Cheddar cheese and corn chips. 12 of 21 West Texas Chili Southern Living Recipe: West Texas Chili Unlike traditional chili, this Texas-style chili recipe omits beans and tomatoes but is still packed with flavors from spices. 13 of 21 Beef-and-Black-Eyed Pea Chili Becky Luigart-Stayner Recipes: Beef-and-Black-Eyed Pea Chili You'll be pulling the cornbread fresh out of the skillet when you smell the aroma of this Beef-and-Black-Eyed Pea Chili. Fill a Dutch oven with chili meat, sweet onion, black-eyed peas, beer, and more, and in under an hour you can be sitting down to a delicious bowl of chili. Serve it as it comes, or top it with jalapeño pepper slices, Cheddar cheese, or pico de gallo. However you enjoy it, you can't go wrong. So grab a spoon and enjoy this chili today. 14 of 21 Slow-Cooker Brisket Chili Hector M. Sanchez Reicpe: Slow-Cooker Brisket Chili For the last hour, uncover the chili and let it continue to cook on low to allow it to slightly thicken. 15 of 21 Instant Pot Chili Mac Photography and Styling: Caitlin Bensel Recipe: Instant Pot Chili Mac Whip up a quick and easy supper all in the Instant Pot with this chili mac. Start by sautéing the ingredients before adding the noodles and letting the pressure cooker do the rest. Dinner in 30? We say yes. 16 of 21 Classic American Chili Mac With Elbows Christopher Baker Recipe: Classic American Chili Mac With Elbows The addition of pasta to this classic chili recipe makes for a hearty, complete meal. Everyone will be lining up for seconds and if they aren't, we'll eat our hat. (And their chili.) 17 of 21 Chunky Beef Chili Beth Dreiling Hontzas Recipe: Chunky Beef Chili Chuck roast replaces ground beef in this meaty dish. 18 of 21 Best Slow-Cooker Chili Lee Harrelson Recipe: Best Slow-Cooker Chili This recipe isn't the best for no reason—it yields a whopping 18 cups and guarantees to satisfy a crowd. Plus, the slow cooker does most of the work, and we can't say no to that. 19 of 21 Beef-and-Butternut Squash Chili Southern Living Recipe: Beef-and-Butternut Squash Chili We've loaded this chili with veggies like butternut squash, corn, and green bell peppers. 20 of 21 Red Bean Chili Southern Living Recipe: Red Bean Chili A short ingredient list and hands-off cooking method will make this chili recipe one of your new favorite weeknight dinners. 21 of 21 Black Bean Chili Southern Living Recipe: Black Bean Chili Don't be fooled by the name; this chili is as hearty as they come. Black beans and sirloin swim in a rich sauce alongside peppers and spices that'll fill everyone up. Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit