20 of the Best Chili Recipes You’ll Ever Try

Heart Healthy Turkey Chili

This is a classic chili with leaner macros. In other words, it’s a recipe you’ll want to keep in your regular dinner rotation.

If you keep your pantry stocked with common spices and canned goods like tomato sauce, beans, and chicken stock, you won’t have to remember to buy much at the grocery store. Grab a pound of ground turkey, swing by the produce section, and then pick up a bar of dark chocolate at the register as your secret ingredient.

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White Bean, Pork & Pumpkin Chili

One spoonful of this fall take on chili will leave you craving more. Rather than using a base of tomatoes, this chili has a whole lot of pumpkin. So if you have a whole squash and don’t know what to do with it, this is great way to transform it into dinner.

This recipe calls for shredded pork, which you can make a big batch of in a slow cooker, or using the Dutch oven a day before.

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Buffalo Chicken Chili

Buffalo chicken might seem like a totally different flavor than traditional chili, but it only takes a few extra ingredients to enjoy them both in one bowl.

Along with the chili powder, this version is seasoned with cumin, paprika, and of course a generous amount of Frank’s hot sauce. The ground beef is swapped out with ground chicken. Then instead of diced tomatoes, there are chopped carrots and celery.

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White Chicken Chili with Cilantro Sauce

When American white chili meets Mexican chili verde, this is the delicious result.

There are two main differences between white chili and red chili. First, take out the tomatoes. Next, use green chiles such as jalapenos instead of red chili powder. And to complete the picture, white chili typically has white beans and a lean meat like chicken.

A fresh cilantro sauce rounds out this meal, but if that doesn’t suit your taste buds, a handful of shredded white cheddar is all you need for a delicious garnish.

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Easy Tuna Chili

Chili is usually made with ground meat, whether it’s beef, turkey, or bison. But you can also use canned tuna to make a tasty chili that’s loaded with healthy fats.

Tuna and beef deliver about the same amount of protein per serving, but fish has half the saturated fat. So you’ll be consuming more heart-healthy fats – just be sure to pick up tuna packed in water and not oil.

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Chipotle Black Bean & Sweet Potato Chili with Quinoa

This isn’t your grandma’s chili. It still has black beans and tomatoes, but adds quinoa and sweet potatoes to boost nutrition.

Altogether it amounts to 17 grams of protein per serving, which is a lot considering this is a vegan chili. But if you want even more, add a half pound of ground meat. That’s two ounces per serving, an additional 12 grams of protein if you use lean ground beef.

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Classic Low-Carb Chili

Leave out the beans, and a bowl of homemade chili makes an excellent low-carb dinner. Choosing an extra-lean ground beef will make it a low-fat chili as well. The resulting beef stew is a lot like Texas chili, only much leaner.

The carbohydrates that are in this dish are from the tomatoes, so look for an all-natural tomato paste to ensure there are no added sugars.

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Slow Cooker Chicken Chili Tortilla Soup

You love chili. You love chicken tortilla soup. So why not use a slow cooker to make a mash-up of both?

Like any red chili, this one starts with a base of tomatoes and broth. But instead of using ground meat, whole chicken breasts are tossed into the stockpot to cook for several hours before getting shredded.

Most of the changes come at the end with the garnishes: crispy tortilla strips, diced avocado, fresh cilantro, and a squeeze of lime juice.

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Beef & Sausage Chili

Unless you’re vegetarian, you probably think of a bowl of chili as an excellent source of protein. Make it even meatier with both beef and sausage, and your hearty stew will be a carnivore’s dream come true.

This chili also has a real kick with chili powder, chipotle powder, and diced green chilies. If you’re concerned about the heat, start with a teaspoon of ground chipotle and add more to taste.

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Moroccan Beef Chili

Infuse beef chili with new flavors using Moroccan spices like cinnamon, ginger, cumin, and harissa. It’ll taste gourmet, but this is actually a healthy one-pot meal you can throw together on a weeknight.

Start by sautéing the beef, onions, ginger, and garlic. Stir in carrots, tomatoes, stock, and seasoning. Bring to a boil, and add chickpeas and collard greens. Then simmer until it’s thickened up, about 15 to 20 minutes. Let cool briefly, and dig in.

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Slow Cooker Turkey Lentil Chili

Not everyone wants beans in their chili, but you can bulk it up with lentils instead. Since beans and lentils are both legumes, they offer similar nutritional value even though the texture is different.

Lentils have about the same calories per serving as most beans used in chili, but they deliver a few extra grams of fiber and protein compared to black beans, red beans, and pinto beans.

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Lighter Chili Mac

Leave the Hamburger Helpers where it belongs – back on the grocery store shelf. You can make a much tastier and more wholesome chili mac from scratch, and it’ll take about a half hour to get dinner on the table.

When you make this start to finish, you can include everything you want, like black beans and lean ground beef, and leave out the MSG, artificial colorings, and hydrogenated oils.

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Real Texas Chili

If you don’t live in Texas, you probably haven’t tasted “real” chili yet.

By Texan standards, the stew is loaded with meat and more meat without a single bean in sight. Texas chili is super spicy, using whole dried chile peppers to make a paste rather than relying on bottled chili powder, which isn’t as fresh or flavorful.

And it’s extremely easy to make. Brown the meat, veggies, and spices in a stockpot. Then stir in everything else, and allow it to simmer uncovered for at least an hour.

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Vegetarian Thai Chili

Although chili is thought of as a classic American stew, it can be turned into a global fusion with a few simple tweaks.

In this vegetarian chili, coconut milk and fresh lime juice add a Thai twist. Then instead of ground chili powder, this recipe calls for a Thai red curry paste, which can be found at Asian markets or ordered online.

Bulgur may also not be in your regular grocery store; if not, substitute 3/4 cup of quinoa.

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Pork Chili Verde

The first type of chili that comes to mind usually has ground meat, diced tomatoes, and chili powder. But there is more than one way to enjoy chili, including this green chili that’s infused with Mexican flavors.

This recipe uses fresh peppers instead of dried chiles. And it’s not too spicy – similar to mild salsa verde, tomatillos and all. Adding a can of cannellini beans makes this dish slightly reminiscent of red chili, but just the smell of this soup as it simmers in the slow cooker will make your household forget about any other dinner cravings.

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Spicy Chipotle Chili with Andouille Sausage

Andouille sausage is an easy way to make a Cajun chili. Of course, for it to be truly Cajun, this has to be a real spicy chili.

Instead of beans to contrast that heat, there are big chunks of butternut squash. That means this is a Paleo chili too. For a creamy, non-dairy topping, simply dice up a ripe avocado. Even if you’re a cheese lover, you’ll want to consider avocado since it contains half the saturated fats of a serving of cheddar.

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Easy White Chicken Chili

White chili may make you think of white sauce, which is usually made with Parmesan cheese.

And although grated cheese would be a delicious garnish for this chicken chili, it’s actually the lack of tomatoes that makes this a slightly different variation. That difference aside, this chili still has plenty of meat, beans, and chili powder.

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No-Chop Low-Carb Chili

Transform simple ground beef into a quick and filling dinner with this no-chop chili recipe.

Rather than making a stew, this is chili is cooked more like a stir fry. Mix the ground meat and seasonings together, and cook in a skillet. Add salsa, and let simmer for about 5 minutes. Whether you go with red onion, sour cream, avocado, or cheese, the garnishes are what turn this quick chili into a complete dinner.

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Protein-Packed Veggie Chili

Just because you’re making a vegetarian stew doesn’t mean it can’t be a good source of protein. Many canned soups, even with meat, don’t crack more than 10 grams of protein per serving.

This veggie chili has 15 grams of protein from the beans and hemp hearts. For more, serve on top of brown rice or quinoa.

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New Mexican Chile Verde

If you want a South of the Border-style bowl of chili, this is it.

A traditional chile verde, it simmers in a large stockpot for several hours so that the pork roast is able to cook low and slow. When it’s done, it’ll be fork tender and easy to shred.

This recipe doesn’t have any beans or grains, just a touch of masa, which is optional for flavor. But the real star are the tomatillos. They look like green tomatoes but come in a papery husk and have a tart flavor – not good for eating raw.

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