This keto chili recipe is a hearty and flavorful, meaty dish that's perfectly satisfying any time of year!
You can't go wrong with chili. It's an ultimate keto comfort food that's perfect for the colder months. But it also has great uses for any time of year. Chili is always delicious!
A long time ago I wrote about my delicious keto white chicken chili, and we're way past overdue for a delicious traditional keto red chili!
This awesome recipe is low in carbs and full of flavor! It can be adjusted to be made in the Instant Pot, the slow cooker, or like I'll show you, right on the stove top.
Is chili keto friendly?
Yes! You can totally fit chili into a keto diet with a few smart swaps. The highest carb ingredients in a traditional chili are usually the beans and the tomato sauce. While neither of those ingredients are bad for you, they can be tough to fit into a low carb diet in large amounts.
This recipe uses tomato paste so you get all of the traditional chili flavor with just a fraction of the calories.
What ingredients do I need to make keto chili?
What ingredients do you need to make an easy and delicious keto chili?
- Ground Beef
- Ground Italian Sausage
- Cooked Bacon
- Beef Broth
- Minced Garlic
- Chili Powder
- Cumin
- Paprika
- Salt
- Pepper
- Tomato Paste
- Diced Yellow Onion
- Green Bell Pepper
- Diced Tomatoes in Green Chilies
How do you make the chili?
- In a large pot, brown the ground beef and ground Italian sausage until no pink remains. Drain the excess fat set the cooked meat aside in a large bowl. Rinse or wipe the pot to remove excess grease.
2. In a skillet over medium heat, cook the bacon until the fat renders and it begins to crisp. Let cool then chop into bite size pieces. Reserve 1 teaspoon of the grease.
3. In the original pot, add the spices and a teaspoon of reserved bacon grease. Toast for about 30 seconds, until fragrant and add the garlic.
4. Stir together and add the chopped bell pepper and onion. Let cook for 1 minute then add the tomato paste. Pour in the broth and can of diced tomatoes.
5. Add the cooked ground meat and the bacon into the bowl and stir to combine. Increase the heat and bring to a rolling boil for 5 minutes, then reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 3 hours over low heat, stirring occasionally. The liquid will reduce and flavors will develop the longer it cooks.
6. Serve chili in bowls topped with your preference of toppings such as sour cream, shredded cheese, onions or jalapeños.
Don't Skip These Steps!
There are 3 things I definitely do not recommend skipping if you want the tastiest possible chili:
- Toast The Spices - this step adds more time, but it helps really bring out the flavors of the spices
2. Drain the Fat - you don't want a greasy chili. After the meat is browned, just strain out the excess grease. Keto is a high fat diet, but you don't want all that fat
3. Let it Simmer- the longer you simmer the chili the thicker it'll become as it reduces and the better it will taste.
How to serve low carb chili without beans
You can top your chili with everything from guacamole to sour cream, cheese crisps to sliced jalapeno. You can customize your keto chili bowl to fit your specific craving, so this recipe is very flexible.
Each serving is 1 cup, and the recipe makes 6 servings.
For one bowl of the recipe as written you're looking at:
Calories: 579 Calories
Total Carbs: 9.03 grams of carbs
Fiber: 2.85 grams of fiber
Net Carbs: 6.18 grams of net carbs
Protein: 38.08 grams of protein
Fat: 42.38 grams of fat
And here's a breakdown of nutrition based on the ingredients I used:
Can you freeze keto chili?
Absolutely! My favorite method is to pour the leftover chili into a large freezer-safe bag and freeze it in a flat block.
Whenever you make a big pot of chili, it's pretty common that you're going to have some leftovers, and it's pretty likely that your family will get burned out from eating the same thing. I also like to switch up this recipe by serving it as a keto chili cheese dip!
More delicious keto soup recipes:
- Keto Jalapeno Popper Soup
- Keto French Onion Soup from Wholesome Yum
- Chicken and Dumplings Soup from The Little Pine
- Keto Bacon Cheeseburger Soup
Keto Chili
This keto chili recipe is a hearty and flavorful, meaty dish that's perfectly satisfying any time of year!
Ingredients
- 2 pounds ground beef
- ½ pound ground Italian sausage
- 4 slices bacon
- 2 Tablespoons Chili Powder
- 1 Tablespoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt (or to taste)
- ½ teaspoon pepper (or to taste)
- 3 Tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 green bell pepper, chopped
- ½ cup diced onion
- 10 ounce can tomatoes and diced chiles (rotel)
- 32 ounces beef broth
Instructions
- In a large pot, brown the ground beef and ground Italian sausage until no pink remains, about 10-12 minutes. Drain the excess fat. Set the cooked meat aside in a large bowl. Rinse or wipe the pot to remove excess grease.
- In a skillet over medium heat, cook the bacon until the fat renders and it begins to crisp. Let cool then chop into bite size pieces. Reserve 1 teaspoon of the grease.
- In the original pot, add the spices and a teaspoon of reserved bacon grease. Toast for about 30 seconds, until fragrant and add the garlic and tomato paste.
- Stir together and add the chopped bell pepper and onion. Let cook for 1 minute then pour in the broth and can of rotel.
- Add the cooked ground meat into the bowl and the bacon and stir to combine. Increase the heat and bring to a rolling boil for 5 minutes then reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 3 hours over low heat, stirring occasionally. The liquid will reduce and flavors will develop the longer it cooks. Cook for slightly less time if you prefer a less thick chili.
- Top with your preference of toppings such as sour cream, shredded cheese, onions or jalapeños.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
6 ServingsServing Size:
1 CupAmount Per Serving: Calories: 579Total Fat: 42.38gCarbohydrates: 9.03gNet Carbohydrates: 6.18gFiber: 2.85gProtein: 38.08g