Quick and Easy Beef Chili

I am so excited to share this Quick and Easy Beef Chili with you today! This recipe is made on the stove top and takes less than 45 minutes from start to finish (and 15 of them are just cook time!), which makes it a great weeknight dinner option. Bonus: the leftovers are equally delicious for healthy work lunches!

I don’t know about you, but during these bitter cold winter months, a big, hearty, warm bowl of chili just sounds SO comforting.

no slow cooker needed for this quick and easy beef chili

Don’t you hate it when you have intentions of making a meal in the slow cooker, but then you get halfway through the day and realize you forgot to put everything in it that morning?! Yeah, same.

As much as I LOVE slow cooker meals, I think it’s nice to have a non-slow cooker option for nights when you do have a little bit of time to cook and/or don’t plan ahead. Don’t worry — it’s still quick & easy to make. Promise! You could even do a little bit of the prep work (i.e. chopping veggies) the day before so it comes together even quicker!

ingredients needed for this quick & easy beef chili

• Ground beef (however, you can use any ground meat you like or have on hand)
• Onion
• Garlic
• Jalapenos
• Diced Tomatoes
• Bell Peppers
• Pumpkin
• Black Beans
• Kidney Beans
• Beef Broth
• Optional toppings: avocado, shredded cheese, plain Greek yogurt, salsa, corn chips, chopped red and/or green onions

how to make quick & easy beef chili

Heat a large dutch oven to medium high heat. (If you have a Ninja Foodi, I actually made the whole recipe in my Foodi using the saute function!)

Add in about 1 Tbsp avocado oil and chopped onions. Saute until onions are translucent, about 2-3 minutes.

Next, add in minced garlic and diced jalapenos. Saute for 30 seconds to 1 minute, stirring the whole time.

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Add in the thawed ground beef. Cook until beef is no longer pink. Use a wooden spoon or spatula to smash and stir the whole time until meat is broken up.

Next add in the spices: onion powder, paprika, cumin, chili powder and salt and pepper. Stir the spices into the meat until everything is combined.

Add in the bell peppers and sweet potatoes; cook for 3-4 minutes.

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Next add in the diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, pumpkin puree, beans and beef broth. Stir until everything is incorporated, then cover.

Keep the heat at medium high and cook for 15 minutes, or until sweet potatoes are soft and can easily be pierced with a fork.

Serve hot! Add desired toppings, such as avocado, shredded cheese, plain Greek yogurt, salsa, corn chips, etc.

Store leftovers in an airtight container for up to 4 days.

bye, bye food rules — see ya never

I had my blog for almost five years before sharing a recipe that called for ground beef. Before I began my intuitive eating journey and improved my relationship with food, there was a time that I really restricted and avoided red meat. Due to my food fears and silly rules I had created for myself, I had even somewhat convinced myself that I didn’t even like beef. I can tell you now that that was really never the case.

Thankfully, now I recognize that all foods can fit in an overall healthy, balanced diet, including beef. It contributes so many beneficial nutrients including iron, zinc, vitamin B12, and several other B vitamins, not to mention high-quality protein. It’s also extremely versatile, and did I mention that I find it to be super delicious, too?

what inspired this beef chili recipe

I combined a few different chili recipes that I have made and loved over the years and made a few tweaks and additions of my own.

Skinny Taste has an amazing turkey chili recipe in her Fast & Slow Cookbook that we LOVE that has pumpkin in it, so that’s what inspired me to add pumpkin here. Don’t worry; if you’re not a big pumpkin fan, it’s very subtle and you can barely notice it. But it adds some great nutrition and makes the chili nice and creamy!

The rest of this recipe was inspired by Joyful Healthy Eats 30-Minute Beef Chili Recipe. She has so many amazing recipes on her blog, so if you’ve never tried any, hop over there now!

I hope you love this delicious combination of flavors and textures!

how to serve quick and easy beef chili to baby

I am updating this post when Rhett is 11 months old, and we have mostly been using a baby-led weaning approach for starting solids with him since he turned 6 months. With that said, I am always trying to think of meals I can make that he can safely enjoy as well, and I often get questions about BLW-friendly recipes! I’m going to try to start adding a section like this to as many recipes as possible for my fellow mamas out there.

This is a great recipe to feed to your baby because it is PACKED with nutrition. The beef provides high quality protein, iron (especially important after the 6-month mark), vitamin B12, choline and more. Plus, there are so many other healthy add-ins, like a variety of veggies, beans, which provide lots of fiber, and you can serve with avocado for even more healthy fats!

You don’t have to do anything super fancy to serve this to baby. I will just cut the sweet potatoes into slightly smaller chunks, and use a fork to mash the beans. If you are nervous about serving it to your baby with jalapeno in it, you can omit. When I made it for all 3 of us, I just added one jalapeno instead of two. A few times I served it to him I tried picking them out, but then I stopped worrying about it and he didn’t seem to notice or have any issues with it!

Exposing baby to all of these different spices & flavors is so good for them, so don’t be afraid to add the spices!

Please show me all of your warm and cozy, quick and easy beef chili creations! Be sure to tag @wellnessforthewin and/or #wellnessforthewin on Instagram so I can repost you, and feel free to share the love and save this on Pinterest! : )

If you have a chance to make it, I would SO appreciate it if you could take one minute to leave a star rating and review! That helps more people find my recipes, which helps my small business grow! As always, I’m open to any and all feedback! : )

Thank you in advance and ENJOY!

XO,

Shanna