A great bowl of chili doesn’t always require an all-day commitment or a complex list of specialty ingredients. This recipe is designed to transform everyday pantry staples—like canned beans and diced tomatoes—into a deeply layered, rich stew in a fraction of the time. By utilizing a foundational technique of blooming your spices and tomato paste directly in the rendered beef fat before adding any liquid, you eliminate raw metallic notes and unlock a velvet-smooth mouthfeel. Infused with a generous hit of smoked paprika and balanced with a savory beef bouillon base, this three-bean chili delivers a comforting, protein-packed dinner that tastes like it spent hours simmering on the stove.
Three Bean Beef Chili
A hearty, high-fiber, and satiating original chili. This budget-friendly recipe uses pantry staples like canned beans and diced tomatoes to create a professional-grade meal in under 30 minutes.
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- In a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat, cook the ground beef and diced onion until the beef is fully browned and the onions are translucent. Do not drain the fat.
- Stir in the minced garlic, 6 oz tomato paste, 2 tbsp chili powder, 1 tbsp cumin, 2 tsp smoked paprika, 1/4 tsp black pepper, and 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper. Sauté for 1–2 minutes, stirring constantly, until the tomato paste darkens to a deep mahogany and the spices are fragrant.
- Add the rinsed black beans, kidney beans, pinto beans, and the diced tomatoes (with juice). Stir to coat the beans and tomatoes in the beef and paste mixture.
- Pour in 1 ½ cups of hot water. Bring the mixture to a gentle boil. Once bubbling, add the 1 ½ tsp of Better Than Bouillon (Beef Base). Stir thoroughly until the bouillon is completely melted and incorporated.
- Reduce heat to low and cover. Simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally to ensure the beans don’t stick to the bottom.
- Serve hot in a bowl over a bed of fluffy white rice.
Nutrition
Notes
Technical Notes for the Recipe Card
- The “Toasting” Step: Do not skip stirring the tomato paste and spices into the meat fat for 1–2 minutes before adding the water. This “toasts” the paste, removing the raw metallic taste and deepening the color to a rich mahogany.
- The Fat Factor: If using 80/20 ground beef, the rendered fat is the “secret sauce.” The tomato paste will emulsify this fat into the broth, creating a velvety mouthfeel. Only drain the beef if you are using a very high-fat content (like 70/30) and see more than 1/4 inch of liquid fat in the pan.
- Rinsing the Beans: Be sure to rinse the beans thoroughly in a colander. The liquid in the cans (aquafaba) can be overly salty and contain metallic notes from the can that may throw off the balance of the Better Than Bouillon.
- The “Day Two” Rule: Like most stews, this chili is technically better the next day. The starches from the black, kidney, and pinto beans will continue to thicken the sauce as it cools. If reheating, add a splash of water to loosen the consistency back to its original “over-rice” texture.
- Rice Preparation: For the most satiating meal, serve over a firm-textured long-grain white or brown rice. The rice acts as a sponge for the smoky paprika-infused gravy.
