Chili arguments are really arguments about three things: whether beans belong in it, whether the meat should be ground or cubed, and how long it needs to simmer. There is no settled answer, so this list does not pretend there is one. It gives you the six-ingredient weeknight version and the three-hour Texas version, and tells you plainly which is which.

Twenty-five chilis, grouped by what is in them and how they cook. Quick ones first, then the classic ground beef chili in three different appliances, no-bean chili, poultry and game, vegetarian, chili mac, regional styles, and the long-simmered ones. Every entry lists the real total time, servings and ingredient count.

Chili in Under 45 Minutes

Four for a weeknight. None of them simmers long enough to taste like an all-day chili, and all four are better the next day because of it.

Six Ingredient Beef Chili with Kidney Beans and Salsa

Six ingredients: a pound and a half of ground beef, a packet of chili seasoning, thirty ounces of kidney beans, a full thirty-two ounce jar of chunky salsa, beef broth and cilantro. The salsa does the work of tomatoes, onion and peppers all at once. View the full recipe — 40 minutes · 6 servings · 6 ingredients

Weeknight Beef Bean Chili

A pound of ground beef with two tablespoons of chili powder, cumin and smoked paprika, plus both kidney and black beans and a tablespoon of sugar to round out the tomatoes. Fourteen ingredients, forty minutes. View the full recipe — 40 minutes · 6 servings · 14 ingredients

Black Bean Corn Chili

No meat at all: thirty ounces of black beans with onion, bell pepper, corn and vegetable broth, seasoned with chili powder, cumin and paprika. Twelve ingredients, serves four. View the full recipe — 40 minutes · 4 servings · 12 ingredients

Spicy Jalapeno Beef Chili

Two fresh jalapenos plus hot sauce on top of two tablespoons of chili powder and a tablespoon of smoked paprika. The hottest of the quick ones by a clear margin. View the full recipe — 45 minutes · 6 servings · 12 ingredients

Classic Ground Beef Chili, Three Ways

The same dish in three appliances. The ingredient lists are close on purpose; what changes is the timing and how deep the flavor gets.

Classic Ground Beef Chili

Stovetop, one hour. Two and a half tablespoons of chili powder and two full tablespoons of cumin, with tomato paste, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce and kidney beans. Fifteen ingredients and the most heavily spiced of the three. View the full recipe — 1 hour · 6 servings · 15 ingredients

Instant Pot Ground Beef Chili

Same hour on the clock, but most of it is coming to pressure and releasing. Both kidney and pinto beans, bell pepper and a pinch of cayenne. The pressure forces the spices into the meat faster than simmering does. View the full recipe — 1 hour · 6 servings · 15 ingredients

Slow Cooker Ground Beef Chili

Two pounds of beef and eight hours and twenty-five minutes, which is the whole point. Kidney and black beans, two cans of tomatoes, tomato paste and a teaspoon of hot sauce. Start it in the morning. View the full recipe — 8 hours 25 minutes · 6 servings · 16 ingredients

Chili Without Beans

For the people who think beans do not belong. Two ground beef versions and one proper Texas chili with cubed chuck and dried chiles.

No Bean Beef Chili

A pound of ground beef in four full cups of beef broth with tomato paste, chili powder and cumin, served loaded with cheddar, sour cream, pickled jalapenos and tortilla strips. Thicker and meatier than a bean chili because nothing is bulking it out. View the full recipe — 1 hour 5 minutes · 4 servings · 15 ingredients

Homemade Chili Con Carne

A pound of ground beef with diced tomatoes and kidney beans, plus a teaspoon of unsweetened cocoa and a quarter teaspoon of cayenne. The cocoa is not for sweetness; it deepens the color and the finish. View the full recipe — 1 hour 15 minutes · 6 servings · 14 ingredients

Texas Chuck Roast Chili

Two pounds of cubed chuck roast with four dried ancho and two dried guajillo chiles rehydrated into the base, an ounce of dark chocolate, Mexican oregano and two tablespoons of masa harina to thicken. Three hours ten and the most serious chili here. View the full recipe — 3 hours 10 minutes · 6 servings · 15 ingredients

Turkey, Chicken and Game

Four non-beef chilis. The white chicken chili is a completely different dish, not a substitution.

Buffalo Chicken Chili with Cannellini Beans and Cream Cheese

A pound and a half of chicken breast with half a cup of cayenne pepper hot sauce, two jalapenos, cannellini beans and four ounces of cream cheese stirred in at the end. Fifty minutes. View the full recipe — 50 minutes · 6 servings · 13 ingredients

Ground Turkey Chili with Beans and Corn

A pound and a half of ground turkey with Worcestershire sauce, kidney beans, pinto beans and sweet corn, finished with cheddar and avocado. Nineteen ingredients, and the Worcestershire is what keeps turkey from tasting thin. View the full recipe — 1 hour 5 minutes · 6 servings · 19 ingredients

Crockpot White Chicken Chili

A pound of chicken breast with two cans of white beans, corn, a full sixteen ounces of salsa verde and four ounces of cream cheese, slow cooked seven hours fifteen. No tomatoes and no chili powder, which is why it is white. View the full recipe — 7 hours 15 minutes · 6 servings · 12 ingredients

Slow Cooker Venison Chili

A pound of ground venison with two cans of tomatoes, kidney beans, smoked paprika, a teaspoon of cocoa powder and brown sugar. The cocoa and sugar are there to soften the gaminess, and they do. View the full recipe — 8 hours 15 minutes · 6 servings · 14 ingredients

Vegetarian and Vegetable-Forward

Three without meat. Two use a touch of sweetness and cinnamon to stand in for the depth meat would give.

Fire Roasted Veggie Chili

Fifteen ounces of fire roasted tomatoes with black and kidney beans, corn, celery and bell pepper, seasoned with chili powder, cumin, smoked paprika, half a teaspoon of cinnamon and a tablespoon of maple syrup. Eighteen ingredients, fifty minutes. View the full recipe — 50 minutes · 6 servings · 18 ingredients

Pumpkin Sweet Potato Chili with Pinto and Kidney Beans

A large sweet potato and a fifteen-ounce can of pumpkin puree with three kinds of beans and forty-two ounces of tomatoes, plus cinnamon and two and a half teaspoons of cumin. Nineteen ingredients and genuinely filling. View the full recipe — 55 minutes · 6 servings · 19 ingredients

Meatless Crockpot Chili Mac

Pinto and kidney beans with twenty-eight ounces of crushed tomatoes in the slow cooker, then eight ounces of whole wheat elbow macaroni and a cup and a half of cheddar stirred in near the end. Six hours fifteen, almost all unattended. View the full recipe — 6 hours 15 minutes · 6 servings · 13 ingredients

Chili Mac

Chili and macaroni cooked in the same pot. Both of these are thirty-five minutes, which makes them the fastest full dinners on this page.

Easy Instant Pot Chili Mac

Nine ingredients: a pound of ground beef, two and a half cups of elbow macaroni, diced tomatoes with green chilies, tomato sauce, chili powder, cumin, water and colby jack. Everything goes in at once. View the full recipe — 35 minutes · 6 servings · 9 ingredients

One Pot Chili Mac and Cheese

The longer version on the stove: eighteen ingredients including crushed tomatoes, kidney beans, eight ounces of macaroni and two cups of cheese, seasoned with paprika, cumin, onion powder, oregano and cayenne. View the full recipe — 35 minutes · 6 servings · 18 ingredients

Regional Styles

Two chilis that are not what most Americans mean by chili, and both are worth making for that reason.

Cincinnati Style Chili

Two pounds of ground beef simmered with cinnamon, allspice, cloves, cocoa powder, cider vinegar and Worcestershire, then ladled over twelve ounces of spaghetti. Thin by design, and the spice profile is closer to a Greek stew than to Texas chili. View the full recipe — 1 hour 55 minutes · 6 servings · 18 ingredients

Pork Chili Verde

Two pounds of pork shoulder with a full pound of fresh tomatillos and eight ounces of green chilies, simmered two and a half hours with cumin, cilantro and lime. Green, tart and completely different from every other chili here. View the full recipe — 2 hours 30 minutes · 6 servings · 12 ingredients

Long-Simmered

Two that reward the extra hour on the stove.

Cocoa Beef Chili

Two pounds of ground beef with six ounces of tomato paste, twenty-eight ounces of crushed tomatoes, a tablespoon each of cumin and smoked paprika, brown sugar and a teaspoon of cocoa powder. Serves eight. View the full recipe — 1 hour 45 minutes · 8 servings · 15 ingredients

Leftover Brisket Chili

Two cups of already-cooked brisket with three tablespoons of chili powder, crushed tomatoes, half a cup of beer and brown sugar, simmered until the brisket falls apart further. The best thing to do with brisket you did not finish. View the full recipe — 2 hours 45 minutes · 6 servings · 14 ingredients

Chili as a Topping

Two dishes where the chili is the sauce rather than the meal.

Homemade Chili Dogs with Beef Chili and Cheese

A from-scratch chili with twelve seasonings and two beef bouillon cubes, ladled over six smoked sausages in buns with white onion, Colby Jack and yellow mustard. Twenty-three ingredients and no canned chili anywhere. View the full recipe — 50 minutes · 6 servings · 23 ingredients

Chili Cheese Potato Skillet

A pound and a half of roasted potatoes under a pound of ground beef cooked with diced tomatoes with green chiles and a can of chili beans, topped with cheddar, sour cream, green onions and jalapenos. One skillet, fifty minutes. View the full recipe — 50 minutes · 6 servings · 16 ingredients

Chili Questions, Answered

Beans or no beans?

It depends which tradition you are in. Texas chili has no beans, and the chuck roast chili here follows that. Everything else on this page except the no-bean beef chili and the chili verde uses them, usually kidney or pinto or both. Neither is wrong; they are different dishes.

Why do several of these add cocoa powder or chocolate?

It deepens the color and adds a slightly bitter note that balances the sweetness of the tomatoes. The amounts are small, a teaspoon of cocoa in the chili con carne and the venison chili, an ounce of dark chocolate in the Texas chili, and none of them taste like chocolate.

What is the fastest chili here?

The two chili macs at thirty-five minutes, since they include the pasta. Of the actual chilis, four finish in forty to forty-five minutes, and the six-ingredient version is the least work of those.

Is chili better the next day?

Yes, and noticeably so for the quick ones. The spices need time in liquid to bloom, which a forty-minute simmer does not fully allow. The long-simmered and slow cooker versions already have that time built in, so the overnight improvement is smaller.

How do I thicken a chili that came out watery?

Simmer it uncovered longer, which is the simplest fix. The Texas chili uses two tablespoons of masa harina, the traditional thickener, which also adds a corn flavor. Tomato paste works too, and several recipes here use it for exactly this reason.

Which chili feeds the most people?

Cocoa Beef Chili at eight servings. Fifteen of the twenty-five serve six, which for most people means dinner plus leftovers or a freezer portion.

Can I freeze chili?

All of these freeze well except the chili macs, where the pasta goes soft. Cool it fully, freeze in portions, and thaw in the fridge. Bean chilis freeze better than no-bean ones, which can separate slightly and need a stir on reheating.