Quick and Easy Beer Chili
This easy beer chili recipe is made with hearty beef seasoned with a blend of spices and simmered with tomatoes, beans and pumpkin beer. It’s perfect for game day meal or a quick weeknight dinner. Either way, you’ll love it.
Why I love this beer chili recipe
Judging by the fact that it might hit 90 degrees this weekend – something it didn’t do all summer here – I don’t think fall is as officially here as we might like. But, can we just pretend for a minute, because I’m in desperate need of some cooler weather. Especially with this baby bump getting so big.
Either way, I have a quick and easy beer chili recipe for you that will get you through fall and into winter. It’s perfect for a quick weeknight meal, but it’s also football party quality. It’s not too spicy, either, making it perfect for crowds, but that can totally be adjusted if you want to kick things up a notch.
Other dairy free chili recipes: slow cooker white chicken chili | sweet potato lentil chili | buffalo chicken chili | Cincinnati chili / white turkey chili
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Here’s what you’ll need to make beer chili
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Buy Now → So, what beer goes best with chili?
As far as beer goes, you can use whatever you want. We happened to have a pumpkin beer in our fridge so that’s what I used. I think a dark beer like a stout or a brown ale would work really well in here, too, but you have to be careful to get a beer that is dairy free and/or vegan friendly (if you need it).
You could use a light style beer and it will work just fine. I’ve definitely done it in the past, but I would recommend using a full bodied beer if you have the choice. They just add so much more flavor and complexity to the chili.
How to make chili with beer
Prep your ingredients. To make this beer chili super easy, I opted out of chopping too many veggies. Normally, I tend to think chili needs bell pepper for flavor, but I only chopped one sweet onion for this one. I also used pre-minced garlic to save you some time. Just make sure your jar is fresh, or you’ll be missing out on flavor. Of course, you can still use fresh, and I’ve included the amount in the recipe, just in case.
Cook your onions and garlic. Heat a large pot (Dutch oven, stock pot or even a nice, deep skillet) to medium high. Add olive oil, garlic and onions to the pot and sauté them until the onions are translucent. Stir frequently to prevent them from burning.
Brown you beef. Add your ground beef to the pan and brown it. Use a meat chopper or spatula to break the meat into smaller pieces as it cooks. When it’s no longer pink, add your seasoning and cook until fragrant.
Simmer the chili. Add the rest of your ingredients and bring your pot to a boil. Reduce the heat and let everything simmer about 15 – 20 minutes. Adjust the seasoning with salt & pepper to taste before serving.
Everything you need to know about making beer chili
Beer is used in chili as a substitute for water, and it adds flavor and acidity to the chili. Different beer will provide different flavor in your chili, so you use one that you would like to drink.
Normally, kidney beans work best in chili, but I love a combination of beans in my chili. This recipe uses black beans and kidney beans, but you can use chili beans (rinse the sauce), navy beans, or even pinto beans. They are all very interchangeable when it comes to chili, and you can’t go wrong with one versus another.
To completely cook off the alcohol in your chili, you’ll need to simmer it for a long time. However, the chili will be safe to eat within the amount of time listed in the recipe. You can also use a NA beer if needed, but if you are abstaining from alcohol, this is probably not the best choice for you.
More chili recipes
More recipes with beer
- Instant Pot beer braised short ribs
- Pumpkin beer cheese soup
- Beer battered onion straws
- Dairy free clam chowder
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 sweet onion diced
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 2 teaspoons coarse salt divided
- 2 pounds ground beef
- 5 tablespoons chili powder
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- 2 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- 1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 28- ounce can petite diced tomatoes
- 1 cup tomato sauce
- 1 cup pumpkin beer
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 15- ounce can black beans drained and rinsed
- 1 15- ounce can kidney beans drained and rinsed
Instructions
- In a Dutch oven or large stockpot, heat olive oil to medium-high. Add onion, garlic and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Sauté, stirring frequently, until onions are translucent, about 5 minutes.
- Add ground beef and continue cooking, breaking meat into pieces as it browns. Add spices and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
- Add remaining ingredients and cook bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 15 – 20 minutes.
Video
Beer adds such a great flavor!
This was so tasty! I used a dark beer and it came out super flavorful!!
So so good, especially with the right dark beer!
This looks and sounds so comforting, and perfect for cold weather! I love the sound of an IPA with this. I’ll be trying this recipe soon, thanks so much for sharing it!
I haven’t made this one yet, but based on other chili recipes I’ve made, I recommend sam Adams cream stout as a chili beer.
That sounds great! I will have to give it a try. I love stouts and I’m sure it would pair really well!
This recipe is disgusting. I followed it exactly and it tastes like chilipowdered cardboard with a side of alcohol. We had to toss it.
I used a Mexican lager. Very good!
Highly recommend this recipe, it is always a hit and we make it often. I pretty much follow the instructions with a few changes
Any onion is fine, I use white and usually do a couple onions
I often use ground chuck 85/15 and always drain the oil/fat after I brown the beef, could probably use a lean beef like sirloin and may not need that step but with the olive oil to sauté the onions and garlic I would probably still do it so it is not oily, greasy
Where it calls for 1 cup tomato sauce, I just use a whole can of 14.5 – 15 oz.
I use any kind of full flavored beer whatever we have on hand
On the 2 cans of beans, I use whatever we have on hand, I drain but do not rinse ( I usually try to get a lower sodium can anyway with water and sea salt only). I have used the “chili beans” which are spiced and drain but not rinse, they actually make the dish a little spicier which we like but not burn your mouth spicy
If in a hurry it is perfectly fine to serve after about 20-30 minutes of simmering and is a little more liquidy but not too much, last time it probably simmered for 1-1.5 hours and was noticeably thicker, It tastes great both ways
As far as quantities, it says this makes 12 servings and I think that is probably close as long as you are serving it with spaghetti, if chili alone and no spaghetti I think it is more like 6 -8 servings
First time using beer in my chili and it came out great! I used 1/2lb spicy mexican sausage and 1lb 85/15 ground beef. Added 1/2 bottle of Sam Adams Oktoberfest lager, cans of pinto and red kidney beans to the mix. Simmered for two hours while we drank wine and my wife said it was my best chili so far!!