Weeknight Beef Chili
Smoky, deep, half-hour chili — onion, beef, tomato, spice.
Ingredients
- 500 g Ground beef
- 1 Onion
- 4 cloves Garlic
- 800 g Canned tomatoes
- 1 tbsp Ground cumin
- 1 tbsp Smoked paprika
- 1 tsp Dried oregano
- 1 tbsp Neutral oil
- 1½ tsp Salt
- ½ tsp Black pepper
- 1 Bay leaves (optional)
Method
- Dice the onion and mince the garlic.
- Heat oil in a wide pot; soften onion for 5 minutes.
- Add beef, breaking up. Brown for 6 minutes, seasoning with salt and pepper.
- Add garlic, cumin, paprika, oregano. Toast 1 minute.
- Pour in the tomatoes with a bay leaf. Simmer uncovered for 20 minutes, stirring now and then.
- Taste, adjust salt; remove bay leaf and serve.
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About Weeknight Beef Chili
This weeknight beef chili is a fast, stovetop take on the American classic — a thick, spiced simmer of ground beef and tomato meant to hit the table in about half an hour rather than after an afternoon of low cooking. It skips the long braise and beans-and-all elaboration of a competition chili in favor of a tight, punchy pot you can pull together on a Tuesday. The technique is straightforward but deliberate: brown the meat hard, toast the spices in the fat, then let the tomatoes reduce.
The character comes from smoked paprika and cumin, which give it a deep, campfire smokiness and earthy warmth, rounded out with oregano and a bay leaf steeped through the simmer. It eats rich and savory, the beef tender in a thickened, spice-heavy sauce that's more about depth than searing heat. Toasting the dried spices for a minute before the tomatoes go in is the small move that wakes them up and stops the chili tasting flat. Ladle it over rice, into a bowl with cheese and sour cream, or over a baked potato — it's built for whatever the night calls for.
Weeknight Beef Chili: frequently asked questions
How many calories are in Weeknight Beef Chili?
A serving has about 420 calories — 28g protein, 22.6g carbs, 24.4g fat, 6.8g fiber. Figures are estimated from the ingredient amounts and will shift with your portions and brands.
Is it high in protein?
Each serving has about 28g of protein, roughly 27% of its calories.
Is Weeknight Beef Chili gluten-free?
Based on its ingredients, Weeknight Beef Chili has no gluten-containing components, so it's naturally gluten-free — as always, check that any packaged ingredients you use are certified gluten-free to be safe.
Do I need every ingredient to make Weeknight Beef Chili?
The core ingredients are essential, but you can leave out bay leaves — they're optional and mainly there for extra flavor or finish.
How many servings does Weeknight Beef Chili make?
This recipe makes 4 servings. In the app you can scale it up or down and the ingredient amounts adjust automatically.