Beef and Beer Chili

by Sabrina Snyder

Published on

10 Comments

5 from 4 votes
10 servings
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 15 minutes
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Beef and Beer Chili is a quick, easy weeknight meal in an hour! This crowd pleasing mild chili is crazy flavorful and perfect for parties or tailgating!

Whether for a busy weeknight meal, a potluck or a game day party, a Classic Beef Chili is one of the best Dinner Recipes you can make to feed a crowd!

Beef and Beer Chili scoop in ladle

BEEF AND BEER CHILI

This tasty Beef and Beef Chili is so easy to make and is ready to eat in about an hour. The hardest part of this recipe is not sneaking bites while it simmers and fills your kitchen with delicious aromas. Beef and Beer Chili is a great meal for busy weeknights or game day parties. This chili recipe is made in one large pot so there is little clean up. This means less time in the kitchen and more time with your guests!

Besides the ground beef, diced onions, and garlic cloves, all the ingredients in this easy Beef and Beer Chili are from your pantry. The secret to making this Beer Chili so delicious in a short time is browning the beef and onions in the chili seasoning. Bringing the beef broth and beer to a boil with the ground beef mixture burns off most the alcohol and leaves a rich beefy flavor that tastes like it’s been simmering all day.

This Beef and Beer Chili recipe would be a worthy contender in any chili cook-off! It’s hearty with layers of flavor plus you can easily turn it into your “secret recipe” using your favorite ingredients. Try adding heat with cayenne pepper and hot sauce or give it a subtle smokiness with chipotle powder and smoked paprika. With this great chili recipe to start with it’s hard to go wrong!

The Best Beer For Beer Chili

The best beer for Beef and Beer Chili is a dark beer like a stout. It brings out the beefy flavor in this chili without overpowering the seasonings. Other bottled beers like lagers, porters, or brown ales will work too. You don’t want to use hoppy IPAs and other strong flavored or fruity beers. If you don’t want to use alcohol, you can use a non-alcoholic beer or use more beef stock.

Beef and Beer Chili is an easy, hearty main course served with a side of Cornbread. Top with all your favorite chili toppings like green onions, sour cream, cheddar cheese, and avocado. You could also serve this chili recipe over Roasted Red Potatoes or with a side of veggies like Roasted Broccoli.

OTHER TASTY CHILI RECIPES

Beef and Beer Chili in pot

VARIATIONS ON BEEF AND BEER CHILI

  • Shredded Beef: Use beef stew meat or chuck roast for a shredded beef chili. Cook in sauce for 2 ½ hours or until tender, removed and shred with a fork. Return to pot and stir before serving. 
  • Meat: Add ground Italian sausage with the ground beef or cooked crumbled bacon halfway through. For a leaner chili recipe, use ground turkey or ground chicken instead of ground beef. 
  • Beans: You can use other canned beans like black beans, kidney beans, or white beans. Just make sure to rinse and drain them first.
  • Veggies: Sauté veggies like green or red bell peppers, carrots, and celery before you add the ground beef.
  • Spices: Feel free to adjust the spices to taste or add other spices like red pepper flakes and chili powder. If you have some made, this homemade Chili Seasoning Mix would taste great!
  • Vegan Beer Chili: Sauté onions, green chiles, and minced garlic cloves in 2 tablespoons olive oil. Follow the rest of the recipe, minus the ground beef, and use veggie broth. Stir in frozen vegan meat crumbles halfway through cooking.
  • Leftover Beef and Beer Chili Bake: Spread leftover Beer Chili into a baking dish. Cover with Cornbread batter and top with shredded cheddar cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 18-22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cornbread comes out clean.

Slow Cooker Beef and Beer Chili

Easily adjust this Beef and Beer Chili for the slow cooker. Brown the beef with the onions, green chiles, and garlic as usual. Add beef mixture and remaining ingredients except pinto beans to the slow cooker. Stir to combine. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours, or on high for 3-4 hours. Stir in the pinto beans and cook on high for an additional 30 minutes.

EVEN MORE CHILI RECIPES!

Slow Cooker White Chicken Chili with hominy, white beans, chicken and peppers is the perfect, easy white chicken chili of your dreams.

HOW TO STORE BEEF AND BEER CHILI

  • Serve: This Beef and Beer Chili can be at room temperature for up to 2 hours. Keep warm in a slow cooker for up to 4 hours.
  • Store: Cool chili completely and place in an airtight container. Refrigerate Beer Chili for up to 5 days.
  • Freeze: Freeze Beef and Beer Chili in a sealed container for up to 3 months. To reheat, first thaw in the refrigerator overnight and heat on the stove top.

Beef and Beer Chili scoop in ladle

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Dinner, then Dessert

Beef and Beer Chili

Beef and Beer Chili is a quick, easy weeknight meal in an hour! This crowd pleasing mild chili is crazy flavorful and perfect for parties or tailgating!
Yield 10 servings
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 15 minutes
Course Dinner
Cuisine American
Author Sabrina Snyder
Beef and Beer Chili in pot
PrintRate

Ingredients
 

  • 2 pounds ground beef , (85/15)
  • 1 yellow onion , diced
  • 3 cloves garlic , minced
  • 4 ounces diced green chiles
  • 2 teaspoons kosher salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
  • 1 tablespoon cumin
  • 2 teaspoons paprika
  • 1/2 teaspoon oregano
  • 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
  • 12 ounces beer
  • 2 cups beef broth
  • 8 ounces tomato sauce
  • 30 ounces pinto beans , drained and rinsed

Instructions

  • Add the beef, onion, garlic and chiles to a large dutch oven on medium heat.
  • Cook, breaking the beef apart until the beef is no longer pink, about 6-8 minutes, and the onions are translucent.
  • Add in the salt, pepper, cumin, paprika, oregano and cayenne and stir well until evenly coated.
  • Add in the beer, beef broth, tomato sauce and stir well.
  • Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes.
  • Add in the beans and simmer for an additional 30 minutes.

Nutrition

Calories: 352kcal | Carbohydrates: 27g | Protein: 26g | Fat: 15g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Cholesterol: 62mg | Sodium: 828mg | Potassium: 809mg | Fiber: 9g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 337IU | Vitamin C: 4mg | Calcium: 75mg | Iron: 5mg

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Beef and Beer Chili collage

About the Author: Sabrina Snyder

Sabrina is a professionally trained Private Chef of over 10 years with ServSafe Manager certification in food safety. She creates all the recipes here on Dinner, then Dessert, fueled in no small part by her love for bacon.

Sabrina Snyder is a professionally trained personal and private chef of over 10 years who is the creator and developer of all the recipes on Dinner, then Dessert.

She is also the author of the cookbook Dinner, then Dessert – Satisfying Meals Using Only 3, 5 or 7 Ingredients, published by Harper Collins.

She started Dinner, then Dessert as a business in her office as a lunch service for her coworkers who admired her lunches before going to culinary school and becoming a full time personal chef and private chef.

As a personal chef Sabrina would cook for families one day a week and cook their entire week of dinners. All grocery shopping, cooking and cleaning was done along with instructions on reheating. As a private chef she cooked for private parties and cooked in family homes in the evenings for families on a nightly basis after working as a personal chef during the day.

Sabrina has been certified as a ServSafe Manager since 2007 and was a longstanding member of the USPCA Personal Chef Association including being on the board of the Washington DC Chapter of Chefs in the US Personal Chef Association when they won Chapter of the year.

As a member of the community of food website creators Sabrina Snyder has spoken at many conferences regarding her experiences as a food writer including the Indulge Food Conference, Everything Food Conference, Haven Food Conference and IACP Annual Food Professionals Conference.

Sabrina lives with her family in sunny California.

See more posts by Sabrina

Dinner, then Dessert, Inc. owns the copyright on all images and text and does not allow for its original recipes and pictures to be reproduced anywhere other than at this site unless authorization is given. If you enjoyed the recipe and would like to publish it on your own site, please re-write it in your own words, and link back to my site and recipe page. Read my disclosure and copyright policy. This post may contain affiliate links.

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Comments

  1. Hands down, this is my favorite chili! I swap the pinto beans for black beans and add corn for a southwest take on it. This recipe is superior to all other chili recipes in my opinion. Thank you, Sabrina!!

    Reply

    1. I’m so glad you enjoyed it enough to give it 5 stars. I really appreciate you coming back to let me know.

      Reply

  4. We’re still having cool weather where I live and this hit the spot. What a yummy recipe! Can’t wait to make it again.

    Reply

    1. I would recommend using an online calculator when adjusting the recipe to find out the accurate numbers.

      Reply