CHUCK ROAST CHILI
on Sep 09, 2024, Updated Jun 23, 2025
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
Smoky and savory, this chili hits the spot. Make it on a cold day or for a winning game day recipe.
Chili is comfort food at its best. It’s hearty. It’s full of different textures and flavors. And it’s easy to make — the most important criterion for comfort food! My Chuck Roast Chili recipe hits all three marks for the ultimate, cozy day meal.
The recipe has all familiar subjects known to classic chili — canned tomatoes, spices, and beans. But rather than use ground beef, I opt for chuck roast. This fairly lean piece of beef, is the ideal choice for chili because it melts into tender, delicious bites as it cooks down.
Fairly often, I like to keep my chili simple with just a sprinkle of green onions. And when I’m really in the chili mindset, I also bake up a fresh batch of my craveable Gluten-Free Cornbread. It’s the ultimate dipper!
Like most chili recipes, the leftovers are even better than the first night you serve it. This chili is no exception.
Go ahead and do yourself a favor and make a big batch this fall. Freeze into individual portions so you know you always have a comforting meal within reach. Hope you enjoy it! Cheers!
Get the Protein-Empowered digital cookbook!
Ingredients for Beef Chili
It may look like a lot of ingredients, but you likely already have many of these items in your pantry and spice cabinet. Here’s a rundown of what you’ll need.
- Beef Chuck Roast: This relatively inexpensive piece of meat is ideal for low and slow cooking. I look for a boneless chuck roast and cut it into bite-sized cubes to make it sear easier.
- Spices: It wouldn’t be a chili without a good amount of spice, right? Chili powder, cumin, and paprika make for a great trifecta.
- Canned Goods: What makes this chili so simple is that it relies on a lot of pantry staples — fire-roasted diced tomatoes, crushed tomatoes, chipotle peppers in adobo, and beef bone broth.
Pin this recipe for later!
Pin It- Sweeteners: It may seem odd to add a tablespoon of coconut sugar and molasses to a savory chili, but both help heighten the meal and add another layer of complexity. If you don’t have molasses, you can leave it out.
- Veggies: Onion and red bell pepper are sauteed after the beef sears to form the aromatic base of the chili.
- Beans: Kidney and pinto beans add variety and extra protein to this one-pot meal.
How to Make Chuck Roast Chili
To get this chili going, you’ll want to season the chuck roast thoroughly with salt and pepper.
Heat the avocado oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high. Sear the meat in batches to ensure each piece gets nice and crusty on all sides. Remove the meat from the pot and set aside.
Add more avocado oil to the pan and cook the onions until translucent, about 4 to 5 minutes. Add the garlic, bell pepper, chili powder, cumin, and paprika, and cook for another 1 to 2 minutes. Stir together with the wooden spoon.
Add the diced tomatoes, crushed tomatoes, chipotle peppers, beef broth, tomato paste, coconut sugar, and molasses, and bring to a slow boil.
Return the meat to the pot. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cover. After two hours, add the drained and rinsed kidney beans and pinto beans. Continue to simmer for another hour without the lid.
Return the seared meat to the pot, reduce to a simmer, cover, and simmer for 3 hours. At the 2-hour mark, add the kidney beans and pinto beans. Leave the lid off for the last hour.
When ready to eat, serve and enjoy!
Other Cozy Recipes To Try:
- Chuck Roast with Au Jus
- Easy Dairy-Free Ground Beef Stroganoff
- Coffee-Rubbed Pork Tenderloin With Honey Garlic Glaze
- Roasted Lemon Chicken and Potatoes
- Turkey Soup and Dumplings
CHUCK ROAST CHILI
Ingredients
- 2 ½ – 3 pounds boneless beef chuck roast, cut into bite-sized cubes
- Salt and pepper, to generously season
- Avocado oil, to sear
- 1 large onion, diced
- 1 large red bell pepper, diced
- 5 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons chili powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- (1) 14.5-ounce can fire-roasted diced tomatoes
- (1) 14.5-ounce can crushed tomatoes
- 2 chipotle peppers in adobo
- 1 ½ cups beef broth
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon coconut sugar
- 1 tablespoon molasses (optional)
- (1) 15-ounce can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
- (1) 15-ounce can pinto beans, rinsed and drained
For Serving (optional):
- Chopped fresh cilantro
- Sliced green onions
- Crushed tortilla chips
- Shredded cheese (if not dairy-free)
Instructions
- Season the chuck roast with salt and pepper.
- Heat the avocado oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high.
- Sear the meat in batches. Remove the meat from the pot and set aside.
- Add more oil to the pan and cook the onions until translucent, about 4 to 5 minutes. Add the garlic, bell pepper, chili powder, cumin, and paprika, and cook for another 1 to 2 minutes.
- Add the remaining ingredients (diced tomatoes, crushed tomatoes, chipotle peppers, beef broth, tomato paste, coconut sugar, molasses), except for the beans, and bring to a slow boil.
- Return the seared meat to the pot, reduce to a simmer, and cover. After two hours, add the kidney beans and pinto beans. Continue to simmer for another hour without the lid.
- Serve and ENJOY!
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Add cornbread and a green salad to make a perfect savory meal for home or for a crowd!
Sounds so good! Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a comment and a review, Beth!
This is the best chili I’ve ever made. My husband doesn’t like beans so I left them out, I used granulated sugar (instead of coconut sugar) and chipotle chili powder (instead of chipotle in adobe) because that’s what I had in the cabinet. Came out great!
So happy to hear that, Noelle! Thank you!
The first time I made this, I followed the recipe exactly and thought it was the best chili I’ve ever had. This year, my husband and I needed to eliminate red meat from our diet for health reasons, so I didn’t make it again, but then I decided why not make it exactly The same except substitute ground turkey. I know that may sound odd, but believe me, it is just as fabulous. i’ve made it twice now with ground turkey. I use 2 pounds of ground turkey and then everything else the same in the recipe. So yummy!! so if there’s anyone out there that passes by this recipe because they don’t eat red meat, make it anyway!
That sounds delicious! Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a comment and a review (and make the recipe multiple times!)
This was such a hit in my family! The store was out of chuck roast, so I subbed tri tip and it worked great. Her recipes are always amazing
Omg – I’ve been making chili for my husband for 7 years in search of the best recipe. This is it! He said “this is my favorite thing you’ve ever made.” Olivia, you never miss. Thank you for giving my family such delicious dinners!
Wow, thank you so much, Brooke! So happy to be a resource for your family!
This chili recipe is delicious! I made it with Rancho Gordo beans that I simmered with the roast but everything pretty much as written. (Which is actually pretty unusual for me!) Thank you ❤️
That sounds amazing, Dana! So glad this was a hit and that you were able to tweak it to your liking 🙂
This chili is so good! I’ve made it 3 times and my family devours it. Always make OA’s cornbread recipe to go along with it. Highly recommend.
Is this 2 cans chipotle peppers in adobo?
Two chiles from a can of chipotle peppers in adobo 🙂
Just made this in slow cooker and it was delicious!!!!!
Okay this was sooooo delicious! It’s so rare that I make a recipe and don’t have to make any tweaks to it but honestly I would change nothing about this one! So dang good! My whole family gobbled it up it was also super simple and easy to follow the steps