Your New Favorite Chili Recipe (Starting with Dried Beans!)

While You’ll Love This Recipe

Budget-friendly brilliance. This recipe starts with dry beans (e.g., pinto beans, red kidney beans, black beans, great northern beans)  instead of canned, helping your family save money while delivering superior taste and texture at the same time.

Deeply nutritious. The overnight soaking process makes the beans more digestible and their nutrients more bioavailable, which reduces compounds that can cause digestive discomfort.

Incredibly versatile. Whether you prefer ground beef or turkey or want to keep it vegetarian, this chili adapts to your preferences and maintains its rich, hearty chili character. Serve with a side of cornbread, over corn tortillas, over a sweet potato, or with a side of corn chips.

Meal prep master. This recipe is a great way to meal prep! The flavors actually deepen overnight, making leftovers even more delicious.

What Is Chili From Dried Beans?

This hearty chili starts with dried beans that are soaked overnight and cooked until tender, which creates a foundation that’s far superior to canned beans. The home-cooked beans have a firmer texture and better absorb the rich flavors of the spices and broth. Whether you combine this chili with ground meat, aromatic vegetables, and warming spices, you’ll get deep and complex flavors that make it stand out from other traditional recipes.

Unlike recipes that use canned beans, this version allows you to control the texture of your beans just the way you like, ensuring that they’re never mushy. The end result is a satisfying, protein-rich meal that’s both economical and more flavorful than versions made with canned beans.

Why Soak Beans Overnight?

• Beans contain complex sugars called oligosaccharides that our digestive system struggles to break down. Soaking beans helps remove some of these sugars, which can reduce gas and bloating after consumption.
• Beans naturally contain compounds like phytates and lectins, which can inhibit the absorption of important minerals like iron, calcium, and zinc. Soaking helps reduce these anti-nutrients, making the beans easier to digest and their nutrients more bioavailable.
• Soaking reduces compounds like phytic acid, which can bind to minerals and prevent your body from absorbing them properly. By soaking the beans, you can enhance the availability of these essential nutrients.

Chili Ingredients

• Dried beans: We buy our organic dried kidney beans from Azure Standard for the best quality and value. Any kind of beans will work, though the texture would be a bit different.
• Ground beef: Use grass-fed for optimal nutrition and flavor. You could use venison or ground turkey, if you prefer.
• Bone broth: I like to add bone broth for extra nutrients! My go-to brand is Kettle & Fire from Thrive Market. You could use chicken stock, if that is what you have.
• Chili powder: This is pure chili powder, not a seasoning blend, for the most authentic flavor.
• Olive oil: Use high-quality extra virgin olive oil for best results.
• Optional toppings: Shredded cheddar cheese (always buy a block and shred it yourself!), Greek yogurt or sour cream, hot sauce, chipotle peppers, corn tortilla strips, tortilla chips and fresh garnishes.

A full list of ingredients and quantities can be found in the recipe card below.

How To Make Chili from Dried Beans

1. Rinse and sort the beans to remove any debris.
2. Place the dried beans in a large bowl and cover them with at least 3-4 inches of water. Let them soak for at least 6-8 hours or ideally overnight. Drain and rinse them in the morning before cooking. (Quick soak alternative: Boil the beans in water for 2 minutes, cover, and let them sit for 1 hour. Then drain and rinse.)
3. Place the soaked beans in a big pot or large Dutch oven and cover them with fresh water. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for about 1-1.5 hours until tender but not mushy. Drain the cooked beans and set them aside.
4. In the same pot or Dutch oven, heat 1-2 Tablespoons of neutral oil over medium heat. Add the ground beef and cook until browned, breaking it up as it cooks. Once browned, remove the meat from the pot and set it aside. Drain excess fat if necessary.
5. In the same pot, add a little more oil if needed. Add the diced onions and bell peppers, and sauté for 5-7 minutes until softened. Add the minced garlic, cooking for another minute until fragrant.
6. Stir in the chili powder, cumin, smoked paprika, oregano, salt, and pepper. Let the spices cook for 1-2 minutes to enhance their flavor.
7. Add the rest of the ingredients—diced tomatoes (with their juice), tomato paste, and broth—to the pot. Give it a good stir to combine. If you like a thicker chili, you can add less broth.
8. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat to low. Let the chili simmer uncovered for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. This allows the flavors to meld together.
9. Stir in the cooked beans and the browned meat (if using) into the chili. Continue to simmer for another 20-30 minutes, allowing the beans to absorb the chili flavors.
10. Transfer to bowls and top as desired—shredded cheese, green onions, jalapeños, avocado, etc.

Recipe Tips

• Sort through your dried beans before soaking to remove any stones or debris.
• Don’t add salt until your beans are fully cooked, as salt can prevent them from softening properly.
• For extra flavor, try adding a bay leaf while cooking the beans.
• Adjust the liquid level as needed—different beans may require slightly different amounts.