Just last night, I won first place in a chili contest with this Chili Recipe with Corn. We love this chili. It is the perfect one-pot meal. It makes a great cozy dinner on a busy weeknight, or easily feeds a crowd for game nights, Halloween, or other fall and winter gatherings. Made with ground beef, chili beans, pinto beans, green chiles, broth, tomatoes, tomato sauce, seasonings, and corn, we love how the slight sweetness of the corn balances with the flavorful seasoned chili.
What we love about this Chili with Corn Recipe
The chili is delicious. I love the addition of the chili beans and mild green chiles, which add excellent flavor and a little heat. The chili is well seasoned, and we love the slight sweetness of the corn that balances with the chili ingredients and seasonings. There’s a reason why this is an award-winning chili. It just tastes good. The chili is balanced, flavorful, and not too spicy, making it kid-friendly.
I love how fast homemade chili comes together. Once you brown the beef, you just add the seasonings, tomato sauce, tomatoes, beans, broth, green chiles, and corn. This is a perfect one-pot meal for busy weeknights or for gatherings on the weekends. We make this chili throughout the year. It’s a fun Halloween night or game night dish, or a cozy dinner on a cold, busy day.
Have fun with the toppings! This chili is perfect for a chili bar, and we have even used it over hot dogs for a chili dog. Keep it warm in a crockpot, adding broth if necessary if it thickens, and it can be served for hours for a gathering. We always serve ours with sour cream, shredded cheese, corn chips (my kids love the Fritos scoops with it), or tortilla chips, and have added diced onion, avocado, cilantro, and more. Sliced cornbread is also a favorite side.
Looking for other easy family meals with beef? Try our recipe for Cheesy Mini Meatloaf, our Cottage Pie with Cheese, our Chili and Cornbread Casserole, or our Shredded Beef Sliders.
What you need to make this Chili with Corn
You will need the following ingredients:
- Ground beef
- Onion
- Garlic
- Chili powder
- Salt
- Cumin
- Oregano
- Brown sugar
- Coarsely ground pepper
- Chili pinto beans
- Pinto beans
- Tomato sauce
- Diced tomatoes
- Chicken broth
- Diced green chiles
- Frozen corn
Chili Recipe with Corn Substitutions
I know what it’s like when you don’t have everything on hand and the last thing you want to do is run to the store and pick something up. Here are a few ideas to substitute items on the ingredients list if needed:
- You could use ground turkey or chicken in place of the beef.
- You could use spicy chili beans or mild or chili kidney beans instead of pinto beans.
- You could try using chili seasoning if you don’t have the seasonings called for in the recipe, but the taste would slightly differ
- You could use hot or mild diced green chiles or substitute canned diced jalapeños for a little more heat.
- You could use canned corn in place of the frozen corn, but I would drain the corn before adding.
- You could use vegetable broth or beef broth in place of the chicken broth or substitute water if necessary.
- You could use a different cooking oil in place of the vegetable oil.
Step-by-step Instructions
Step 1. In a 12-inch cast iron or other oven-safe skillet, brown the ground beef and cook the chopped onion and minced garlic. Add the chili powder, salt, cumin, oregano, brown sugar, and pepper.
Step 2. Add to the ground beef the chili beans, pinto beans, tomato sauce, canned tomatoes, chicken broth, green chilies, and corn. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10-15 minutes.
Step 3. Serve warm with optional toppings including: diced white, red, or green onions, cilantro, avocado, jalapeños, tomatoes, shredded cheese, sour cream, tortilla chips, or corn chips.
Tips
- Chili will thicken as it sits, especially after storing in the fridge. Add additional broth (or water) to the desired texture if it thickens, and when reheating.
- Have fun with the toppings for the chili! This chili is great for a chili bar. We love serving this with chopped avocado, tomatoes, cilantro, white, red, or green onions, jalapeños, shredded cheese, guacamole, sour cream, tortilla chips, or corn chips (my kids love the Fritos scoops). Additional fun toppings for a chili bar could include pickled jalapeños, sliced radishes, crumbled bacon, lime wedges, black olives, flavored chips (like Doritos or hot cheetos), tater tots, corn nuts, Goldfish crackers, oyster crackers, sliced or cubed cornbread, queso, a variety of hot sauces, salsa, chipotles with adobo, sliced kielbasa or hot dogs. Sides could include hot dogs and buns, rolls, baked potatoes, jalapeño poppers, rice, tortilla chips and salsa, or a salad and fruit. Add ketchup, mustard, relish, ranch, buffalo sauce, or barbecue sauce for additional condiments.
Frequently Asked Questions
| How to store and reheat chili? |
| a. Once cool to room temperature, place in a covered container and refrigerate. Do not leave at room temperature for more than 2 hours. Chili can be stored in the fridge for 3-4 days and in the freezer for 2-3 months. b. To reheat chili, heat in a pot on medium-low heat for 10-15 minutes or until warm or microwave in a covered microwave-safe container for 1-2 minutes or until warm. Chili thickens once stored in the fridge. When reheating, add additional broth (or water) to reach the desired consistency. If frozen, thaw overnight in the fridge, and then reheat as indicated. |
| What to serve with chili? |
| We love serving this with shredded cheese, sour cream, and tortilla chips, or corn chips (my kids love the Fritos scoops). Add chopped avocado, tomatoes, cilantro, white, red, or green onions, jalapeños, or guacamole. Additional fun toppings for a chili bar could include pickled jalapeños, sliced radishes, crumbled bacon, lime wedges, black olives, flavored chips (like Doritos or hot cheetos), tater tots, corn nuts, Goldfish crackers, oyster crackers, sliced or cubed cornbread, queso, a variety of hot sauces, salsa, chipotles with adobo, sliced kielbasa or hot dogs. Sides could include hot dogs and buns, rolls, baked potatoes, jalapeño poppers, rice, tortilla chips and salsa, or a salad and fruit. Add ketchup, mustard, relish, ranch, buffalo sauce, or barbecue sauce for additional condiments. |
Chili Recipe with Corn
20
minutes25
minutes6-8
Servings45
minutesJust last night, I won first place in a chili contest with this Chili Recipe with Corn. We love this chili. It is the perfect one-pot meal. It makes a great cozy dinner on a busy weeknight, or easily feeds a crowd for game nights, Halloween, or other fall and winter gatherings. Made with ground beef, chili beans, pinto beans, green chiles, broth, tomatoes, tomato sauce, seasonings, and corn, we love how the slight sweetness of the corn balances with the flavorful seasoned chili.
Ingredients
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 1/2 pound ground beef
½ large onion, chopped
1 tablespoon minced garlic (about 3 cloves)
1 ½ tablespoons chili powder
1 ½ teaspoons salt
1 ½ teaspoons cumin
1 ½ teaspoons oregano
2 teaspoons brown sugar
½ teaspoon coarsely ground pepper
1 16-ounce can chili pinto beans
1 16-ounce can pinto beans, rinsed and drained
1 15-ounce can tomato sauce
1 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes, do not drain
1 -1 ½ cups chicken broth (to desired consistency, with additional broth to thin if needed)
1 4-ounce can diced green chiles
1 ½ cups frozen corn
Optional toppings: diced white, red, or green onions, cilantro, avocado, jalapeños, tomatoes, shredded cheese, sour cream, tortilla chips, or corn chips
Directions
- In a large pot or Dutch oven, warm vegetable oil over medium heat for 2-3 minutes. Cook brown beef, breaking it into smaller pieces as you cook, for 5-7 minutes over medium heat until browned. Add the onion and cook for an additional 5 minutes until the onion softens and starts to look translucent. Add minced garlic and cook for an additional minute. Drain excess grease.
- Add chili powder, salt, cumin, oregano, brown sugar, and pepper, and stir into the meat mixture to season the beef.
- Stir in chili beans, drained pinto beans, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, chicken broth, green chilies, and corn. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10-15 minutes.
- Serve chili warm with any of the optional toppings listed. To keep the chili warm for a long period of time, transfer the chili to a crockpot and keep it on a warm setting, adding additional broth if it thickens.
Notes
- Chili will thicken as it sits, especially after storing in the fridge. Add additional broth (or water) to the desired texture if it thickens, and when reheating.
- Have fun with the toppings for the chili! This chili is great for a chili bar. We love serving this with shredded cheese, sour cream, and tortilla chips, or corn chips (my kids love the Fritos scoops). Add chopped avocado, tomatoes, cilantro, white, red, or green onions, jalapeños, or guacamole. Additional fun toppings for a chili bar could include pickled jalapeños, sliced radishes, crumbled bacon, lime wedges, black olives, flavored chips (like Doritos or hot cheetos), tater tots, corn nuts, Goldfish crackers, oyster crackers, sliced or cubed cornbread, queso, a variety of hot sauces, salsa, chipotles with adobo, sliced kielbasa or hot dogs. Sides could include hot dogs and buns, rolls, baked potatoes, jalapeño poppers, rice, tortilla chips and salsa, or a salad and fruit. Add ketchup, mustard, relish, ranch, buffalo sauce, or barbecue sauce for additional condiments.
- This chili is easy to use for entertaining. It can be doubled or tripled easily. I would start with 1 cup of chicken broth per batch and then add more broth if needed to thin. Put it in a crockpot and it will stay warm for hours.
