Best Chunky Chili Recipe with Beef and Veggies

This chunky chili recipe is loaded with healthy veggies, grass-fed beef and kidney beans, and it’s so easy to make! Even though it uses minimal spices, it’s packed with flavor and can be modified to suit your tastes. We have lots of kiddos, and I could eat chili every day of the week – so we triple this recipe to ensure leftovers. (But our kids love it so much that we often barely have enough left over to feed all of us the next day!)

What I Love About This Chunky Chili Recipe

My favorite thing about this chili is the superfood “secret ingredient” that we started adding to it as part of our health regimen … beef liver! 

If you’re not into beef liver or don’t have any, no worries. It’s totally optional! 

But adding this super nutritious organ meat to your diet is so amazing for your gut and hormone health. It’s a great source of essential B vitamins and minerals, and we’ve noticed things like increased energy and better moods since incorporating it into our meals. 

If you’ve never tried organ meats, this chili is a great opportunity to introduce them into your diet. The flavors from all the spices and veggies make it so you can’t even taste the liver! Our picky kids eat this all the time, and trust me when I say they don’t know the beef liver is there at all. 

So if you’re even remotely curious about how to eat beef liver and get it into your diet, even if you don’t like the taste, I encourage you to give this chunky chili recipe a try. It does not disappoint!

Here are some other things that make this ground beef chili a family favorite:

• Easily customizable: The chili seasoning in this recipe consists of just 3 spices, plus fresh minced garlic. You can tailor the amounts to suit your tastes and experiment with other ingredients and cooking variations to make it your own. (More on that later…)
• Fast and easy to make: This chunky chili recipe comes together in under an hour when cooked on the stove top. But you could also do a make-ahead version in the crock pot, or use a pressure cooker. Either way, just 15 minutes of prep, and you’re pretty much done. You can set it and forget it.
• Hearty & thick: Ground beef and beans add thickness and texture, while celery, onions and peppers balance it out with a slight watery crunch.
• Packed with nutrients: loaded with veggies and ground beef, this chili is already healthy as-is. Adding beef liver just gives it that extra boost of nutrients, while still maintaining a kid-friendly taste.
• Homemade: there’s nothing better than healthy food made from scratch with minimal, everyday ingredients. You’ll get that restaurant-quality taste without the guilt, and all you need are a few ingredients you likely already have on hand.
• One-pot meal: All ingredients are added to a single pot, which makes for fast, easy cleanup! 
• Kid-friendly: Because you can customize the ingredients and amount of spices to suit your taste, this recipe can be easily adapted to satisfy your pickiest little eaters.
• Great for large families: You can double, triple, or even quadruple this recipe to feed a crowd and still have leftovers!

Ingredients You Will Need to Make This Chunky Chili Recipe

• Grass-fed Beef: for the healthiest version possible, we prefer to use 100% grassfed and finished ground beef in this recipe. But if you don’t have grassfed beef on hand, you can just use regular ground beef. We buy ours from a local farm. It’s healthier than store-bought beef and less expensive (one of our many tips to save money and stay healthy as a large family!)
• Beef Liver (optional): Again, this is totally optional, so no worries if you don’t have it or can’t stomach the thought. But I promise you won’t even taste it if you prepare it the way we suggest and mix it into this flavor-packed chili. There are so many benefits to eating beef liver and other organ meats. It’s an incredible source of iron, B vitamins and other nutrients and has been said to benefit your skin, energy, cognitive function … the list goes on. I definitely recommend buying beef liver from a quality source like a local farm, or online from US Wellness Meats. Grocery store beef liver generally isn’t good quality and won’t give you the same health benefits.
• Veggies: Diced yellow onion, green pepper and celery add a slight crunch to this chili, giving it a unique texture. (If you don’t want any crunch, you can sauté the veggies a bit longer so they’re extra soft.) Minced fresh garlic tossed in once the veggies are softened adds even more flavor.
• Spices: The only spices you need for this recipe are chili powder, cumin, oregano, and sea salt. You can adjust the amounts for more or less heat.
• Canned diced tomatoes: You may prefer to substitute these with tomato sauce or tomato puree for a more classic chili, but it won’t be quite as chunky.
• Red kidney beans: Dark or light – either one works. You can also use black beans, pinto beans, chick peas, or do a mix of legumes for more varied texture and taste.
• Salsa (optional): Fresh garden salsa adds even more texture and flavor to this chunky chili recipe. If you’re trying to keep it kid-friendly, make sure you choose a mild variety. We like to throw in a cup or two of organic Jack’s Cantina Salsa from Costco. (Check out some of our other favorite healthy Costco finds in this post!)
• Tomato paste: This helps to thicken the chili while adding an extra boost of flavor! 

How to Prep the Beef Liver (if using)

The #1 complaint about beef liver and other organ meats is that they have a bitter, “gamey” taste. Even though adding it to a flavorful dish like chili will already help to mask it, you should also soak it in milk beforehand to reduce or even eliminate that undesirable flavor. 

Trim the clear, fatty tissue from the liver as best you can, put it in a small bowl or glass container and pour the milk over top so it’s completely immersed. For best results, I recommend soaking it in milk for at least 30 minutes. (I’m not exactly sure how this works, but it does!) 

Once it soaks, drain the milk and put the liver into a food processor or high-powered blender. Blend for about 60 seconds until the liver is a pourable liquid consistency. You’ll add it to the chili after browning the meat. It mixes right in!

How to Cook this Hearty Beef Chili

1. ​Soak the liver (if using), as shown above.
2. Brown the meat and drain the excess fat. If adding beef liver, pour it in and use a meat masher to chop it into the meat until it’s fully incorporated.
3. Mix in the veggies (onions, peppers & celery) and saute until softened. Then add a few cloves of garlic (minced) and cook for 1 more minute.
4. Add the spices and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
5. Pour in the canned tomatoes, beans, and salsa (if using). Make sure to include the liquid from the tomatoes and beans – don’t drain them! The starchy liquid from canned beans is called aquafaba and it adds thickness.
6. Add the tomato paste, stir everything together and let simmer on low heat for a minimum of 30 minutes. Feel free to simmer longer and allow all those flavors to really sink in!

This recipe can be cooked on the stove for a fast, easy weeknight meal. But you have more time or want to intensify the flavors, I recommend using a slow cooker or pressure cooker instead. Both of these alternatives will help tenderize the meat and allow the spices to really intensify.

Chunky Chili Recipe Variations

Here are some quick and easy ways to change up this recipe for even more variety!

Chunky Vegetarian Chili – Leave out the meat and add more beans and veggies for a hearty vegetarian version of this simple chunky chili recipe.

Chunky Sirloin Steak Chili – Substitute the ground beef with stew meat or add sirloin steak for an even chunkier option.

Ground Turkey Chili – Sub ground turkey for the ground beef for a leaner variety.

“Can I leave out the beans?” 

This is a common question when it comes to chili, and I totally get it. Not everyone loves beans. If that’s you, feel free to leave them out! You can add more meat and chili powder for more of a “Texas-style” chunky chili recipe.

What to Serve With Chunky Beef Chili

Our Favorite Toppings:

• Sour cream (or sub with Greek yogurt)
• Cheddar cheese
• Green onions
• Diced jalapenos
• Diced red onion
• Crumbled bacon (if you’re on a Biblical / kosher diet like us, beef or turkey bacon are both great options!)
• Chopped cilantro
• Avocado

On the Side:

We always serve this chunky chili recipe with homemade cornbread – made with fresh milled flour and drizzled with raw honey (recipe coming soon!) Corn chips, tortilla chips or fresh sourdough bread make for a great addition as well.

Recipe Tips

Use low heat. Low and slow is best for recipes like this. It helps to moisten and tenderize the beef, keeps the beans intact, and really allows the spices and flavors to meld together.

Use a slow cooker or pressure cooker. If you have time, a slow cooker is best, and the longer it cooks, the better. You can leave it for up to 12 hours in a crock pot on low heat. If you’re in a hurry, an Instant Pot will give you a similar result as a slow cooker, but in much less time. 

Thicken it up. The tomato paste in this recipe, along with the starchy liquid from the canned beans, helps to add some thickness, and our family enjoys it this way. But there are other ways to thicken it up even more if that’s your style. Try blending a portion of the beans before adding them. Arrowroot powder is also a great thickening agent. Mix 2 tbsp of the powder with 1 tbsp cold water to make a slurry. Stir it into the chili about halfway through cooking. It should thicken up as it continues to simmer. Cooking the chili with the lid off also allows some of the liquid to evaporate, resulting in a thicker stew.

Make-Ahead Options & Storing Leftovers

You can mix all the ingredients for this chili together ahead of time and store it in a gallon freezer bag for an easy dump-and-go meal. Simply thaw it out, dump it into your slow cooker, and cook for at least 3 hours on high heat or 6 hours on low.

Store leftover chili in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. Or freeze it for up to a month after it’s cooked.

If you enjoyed this chunky chili recipe, let us know in the comments!

Healthy Chunky Chili with Beef & Veggies (and a Secret Superfood Ingredient!)

Learn how to make the best healthy chunky chili recipe, loaded with beef and veggies, and finished with an optional secret superfood ingredient – beef liver! This hearty classic chili is packed with flavor and nutrients and is sure to become a staple for the whole family.

5 from 3 votes

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 30 minutes mins

Course Dinner, Main Course, Soup

Cuisine American

Servings 4

Equipment

• 1 large pot (or you can use a slow cooker or pressure cooker instead)
• 1 meat masher

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 1/2 cup yellow onion diced
• 1/2 cup celery chopped
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 1 cup green pepper diced
• 1 can kidney beans (can also use black beans, chick peas, or pinto beans)
• 2 tsp chili powder (add more if you like more heat!)
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 2 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp sea salt to taste
• 1 15 oz can diced tomatoes
• 1 lb grassfed ground beef (can add or substitute with stew beef, sirloin, or ground turkey)
• 1 cup fresh garden salsa (optional)
• 4 oz beef liver (optional, but highly recommended for an added nutrient boost!)
• 8 oz milk (for soaking the beef liver – also optional)

Instructions

 

• Trim the clear, fatty tissue from the beef liver and soak it in milk for at least 30 minutes. (If not adding beef liver, you can skip this step.)
• Drain the beef liver and place into a high-powered blender. Blend for 60 seconds until it turns into a pourable liquid consistency.
• Cook the ground beef in a large pot until browned; drain the excess fat. If adding the beef liver, pour it in and use a meat masher to chop it into the beef until it's fully incorporated.
• Mix in the diced onions, celery and peppers and sauté until onions are translucent, about 3 to 4 minutes.
• Stir in the minced garlic and cook for another minute.
• Add the chili powder, oregano, cumin and sea salt. Continue cooking, stirring frequently for another 5 to 6 minutes.
• Stir in the canned tomatoes, beans, tomato paste, and salsa if using. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for a minimum of 30 minutes. (Longer is better for more flavor!)

Notes

• The beef liver in this recipe is optional but highly recommended due to its dense nutrient content! It’s a great source of protein, iron, B vitamins, minerals, amino acids and other nutrients. Adding just 4 oz of this amazing superfood to your diet once a week can work wonders on your gut health and hormones, and give you a boost of energy.
• You can use a crock pot or pressure cooker for this recipe instead of cooking it on the stove. Slow cooking chili helps to moisten and tenderize the beef, keeps the beans intact, and allows the flavors to intensify and fully meld together.
• Make sure to include the liquid from the canned tomatoes and beans. The starchy liquid in canned beans is called aquafaba and it adds thickness!
• Follow the tips in this post to make this chunky chili recipe even thicker and heartier. Sub out different meats and veggies for more variety.
• Store leftovers in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 4 days, or freeze for up to 1 month. You can also mix all the ingredients together ahead of time and freeze for a quick dump-and-go weeknight meal.
• Top with sour cream, cheese, and any of your other favorite chili toppings, and serve with a side of cornbread.

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