Ground Beef Chili Without Beans (2024)

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By Serene

Oct 05, 2023

5 from 13 votes

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This easy to make Ground Beef Chili without beans is thick, hearty, and comforting. Using ground beef and chili seasonings this is a quick version of a Texas style chili.

Want more chili recipes? Make sure to try our authentic Texas chili, classic chili, and turkey chili recipes.

What I Love About This Ground Beef Chili without beans

Easy:Typically, when you think of Texas Chili, it brings to mind thick bites of beef slowly simmered in a red chile broth for hours. This ground beef version is a fun, easy version of an authentic chili.
Kid Friendly:Chili is always a hit in our home with the kids; this one is no exception! The spice level is entirely adjustable to make it to everyone’s tastes.
Fast:No long simmering is needed for this quick version. This easy Texas chili can be on your table ready to eat after 30 minutes of cooking.

Ingredients For Chili Without Beans

How to Make

Add the ground beef into a small Dutch oven and cook over medium heat, breaking up the meat while it cooks. Add in the diced onion and bell pepper when the ground beef is mostly cooked, only slightly pink. Continue cooking until meat is browned and veggies are softened.

Add in the minced garlic and cook for 30 seconds, until fragrant. Then add tomato paste, sauce, beef broth, chili powder, salt, paprika, cumin, and oregano. Stir to combine all of this, then add the bayleaves, cover and let cook for 15-20 minutes.

Remove the lid, and cook for another 10-15 minutes until the broth reduces if needed and the chili is thick.

Make Ahead and Storage Information

Make Ahead:Prepare the chili according to directions. Leftover chili can be stored in airtight sealed containers in the refrigerator for 3-5 days.
Freezing:Store in a freezer-safe container or bag for up to 3 months. Thaw by removing to the refrigerator overnight.
Reheating:Pour the cold chili into a saucepan or Dutch oven and heat on the stovetop over medium heat until warmed.

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Ground Beef Texas Style Chili Without Beans

5 from 13 votes

Prep: 10 minutes mins

Ingredients

▢ 2 lbs ground beef
▢ ½ white onion diced
▢ 1 red bell pepper diced
▢ 3 cloves garlic minced
▢ 2 (15 ounce cans) tomato sauce
▢ 3 tbsp tomato paste
▢ 2 cup beef broth
▢ 3 tbsp chili powder mild
▢ 1 tsp salt
▢ 2 tsp paprika
▢ 1 tsp ground cumin
▢ 1 tsp oregano dried
▢ 2 bayleaves

Toppings

▢ cheddar cheese shredded
▢ sour cream
▢ white onion diced
▢ jalapeno sliced

Instructions

Add the ground beef into a small dutch oven, cook over medium heat, breaking up the meat while it cooks.
When the meat is mostly cooked, only slightly pink, add in the diced onion and red bell pepper. Let those cook until softened.
When the meat is fully cooked, and the veggies are soft, add in the minced garlic and cook an additional 30 seconds.
Add in the tomato paste, tomato sauce, beef broth, chili powder, salt, paprika, cumin, and oregano.
Stir to combine.
Add the bay leaves. Bring to a simmer. Cover and let cook for 15-20 minutes.
Remove the lid, and continue to cook for another 10-15 minutes until the broth reduces slightly if needed and the chili is thick.
Add toppings as desired and enjoy

Equipment

dutch oven

Notes

Make Ahead:Prepare the chili according to directions. Leftover chili can be stored in airtight sealed containers in the refrigerator for 3-5 days.

Freezing:Store in a freezer-safe container or bag for up to 3 months. Thaw by removing to the refrigerator overnight.

Reheating:Pour the cold chili into a saucepan or Dutch oven and heat on the stovetop over medium heat until warmed.

Nutrition

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

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13 Comments

Just made this, and it turned out delicious!!! We Had everything on hand so it didn’t even require a trip to the Market! What a great way to welcome Fall! Thank you!!!
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Can you do this in a slow cooker?
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1. Yes you can! Simply brown the meat in a skillet then add the ingredients to the slow cooker.
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Got burned by automatically doubling this with the 2x button above. This probably explains why other reviewer found it too soupy. Instead of 2 15 oz cans Tit said 2-30oz cans.
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1. Oh no!! I’m so sorry about that. The calculations are done automatically and I unfortunately am unable to control how it calculates. My apologies for the recipe not turning out!
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I left out the onion and halved the chili powder to suit our families tastes and it was great. I’ve been searching for a no bean recipe for awhile now and this got devoured by a picky husband, 4yr, 2yr and 1yr old. I’ve never made it with beef broth before and growing up we always used tomato juice instead of sauce. This was so much darn better than the midwestern pot of beans and beef that I grew up with it.
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In the ingredients it says beef broth, but in the instructions it says beef stock. Does it matter which one we use?
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1. No it doesn’t 🙂
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Ah, someone who knows about chili. I have no made this yet, but this is the recipe I have used for almost 60 years. NO beans allowed, although you can serve the chili over beans and rice and top it with cheese. And cumin is essential.
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Ah, someone who knows about chili. This is the recipe I have used for almost 60 years. NO beans allowed, although you can serve the chili over beans and rice and top it with cheese. And cumin is essential.
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I’m making this right now and it’s really soupy despite about 20 minutes of simmering so far. I followed the recipe so I’m not exactly sure what’s wrong. Maybe needs the smaller can of tomato sauce.
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1. Hi Laura. What size tomato sauce did you use? The recipe calls for the 15 ounce can. I have made this several times and it has never been “soupy”. Maybe you added some extra broth?
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Yum! Haven’t had frito pie in ages…
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