A good pot of homemade Chili is almost a right of passage for home cooks. Once you make your first Chili it’s going to go on the rotation of home cooked meals, that we can guarantee. The simplicity of the cooking techniques pared with the unbelievable amount of concentrated flavor you can achieve with a good Chili makes it a perfect home cooked meal for the family. Of course, we’re all about simplicity here at One Pot Dinners, so you better believe we’ve got a delicious One Pot Spicy Chili recipe for you all to enjoy!

Why is Chili so darn good?

There are three main reasons why Chili is such a commonly eaten meal around the world. First of all, like all popular recipes, it just tastes so good! Secondly, it’s so easy to make. Finally, it’s such a versatile dish you can use it in so many different applications

Slow cooking One Pot Spicy Chili — Slow cooking is the key to a great Chili. Get those ingredients in that pot and let the slow cooking process work its magic

Slow cooking is the secret to great Chili

The secret to making great tasting Chili is all about the slow cook. Sure, good quality ingredients always help, and we advocate for that as always! However, the best ingredient you can ever use in a great homemade Chili is patience

When preparing your One Pot Spicy Chili don’t just throw all the ingredients into the pot at once. You need to build flavors gradually and over time. Each ingredient should be nurtured in how it is utilized in the dish. From when it is added, how long it cooks for, to how much (or how little) seasoning is added as you’re preparing the dish

Typically, begin by adding the vegetables first, such as the Celery and Onion. Both ingredients need time in the pan by themselves along with a bit of Salt to help remove the water inside them. By doing so, you’re bringing out the natural sweetness in the vegetables, which form a base for the delicious One Pot Spicy Chili

Add the Beef, and let it sit in the pan for a bit before doing anything

This is a nice little trick that the Spanish use quite a lot when preparing Paella. Clear space in the center of the pan and add the Ground Beef right into the middle, with as much of the Beef as possible having direct exposure to the pan. Then, simply leave it

Don’t break it up or move it around the pan. Just leave it there for 5 minutes on a relatively high heat. What this step does is caramelize the beef and create some lovely crispy bits. These bad boys are packed with so much flavor, and the texture goes so far in the Chili

Add some Salt to the Beef then after it’s started to caramelize on the bottom, break it all up and mix into the Vegetables. At this point once the Beef is browned, you can add the Jalapenos, Red Pepper, along with the Spices and aromatics

For our Homemade Chili recipe, we’re using a combination of Garlic, Cumin, Onion Powder, Chili, Smoked Paprika, Black Pepper, and Salt. This combination of spices adds a great depth of flavor to the chili, along with that all important spice! Give those spices a nice toasting in the pan for a few minutes before adding the Beef Broth, Ketchup, and Tomatoes

Chili in one pot — Add everything is added to the pot let the flavors develop over 2 hours to get the tastiest Chili

Once all the ingredients have been added to the Pot, let those flavors begin to develop

It’s taken a few steps, but all those delicious ingredients are now in the pan. They are well seasoned, yet the Chili at this point is still not ready. If you tried it you can taste it is still very watery. This final step of the process is therefore the most important. Drop the heat to low and allow the Chili to simmer away for a minimum of 2 hours, uncovered

By keeping the lid uncovered we are allowing moisture to evaporate out of the Chili (in the form of Steam). This is not a process you can rush. Allow the water to slowly be extracted out of the Chili and evaporate into the air. By removing water, you are concentrating the flavor of the ingredients in the Chili. This, in turn, will make the dish richer and sweeter in flavor

The Chili will also start to thicken throughout this process, which is a good thing. A good quality Chili is quite dense in its final form, and not watery. We recommend a simmer time of 2 hours to get the Chili to the right level of richness and texture

If you continue to reduce it after 2 hours (which you totally can) the flavor will only become more intensified, and the Chili will become thicker. Finding the right balance for your palate is always important, therefore we recommend tasting at 2 hours and deciding for yourself if it needs to cook for a little longer still

One Pot Spicy Chili versatile — This One Pot Spicy Chili dish is so versatile. Enjoy it by itself, or as a topping for awesome Burgers, Nachos, or Baked Potatoes

Chili is so versatile

Whipping up a big batch of our One Pot Spicy Chili is going to yield a decent amount of food. It’ll easily feed 4 people and still have enough leftovers for the next day. So, how do you like to enjoy your Chili?

You can simply eat it as is and that’s a totally fine way to enjoy Chili. Scoop a portion of Chili into a bowl and top it with some popular toppings like shredded Cheddar Cheese and Sour Cream for a hearty Meal

Chili is great on bread too, so pick up some good quality bread from your local bakery and give it a light toasting. The crunchiness of the toasted bread goes so well with the sweet Chili. We like a good Sourdough to pair with our Chili

Chili is also a great ingredient to add to other dishes such as Nachos, Hot Dogs, Burgers, or Baked Potatoes. Check out this awesome Nachos recipe here and replace the short ribs with this Chili recipe. Trust us, you won’t be disappointed!