Keto chili made with loads of ground beef and all that chili flavor you’re craving! We’ve replaced our traditional chili recipe with this low carb chili and even the carb-lovers devour this one! It’s seriously just the best chili ever!
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There are a few recipes that I’ve been hesitant to make low carb.
Chili was one of those recipes.
You see, I had a recipe that I loved and I just didn’t believe I’d be able to make a low carb version that could compete with it.
Happy to admit I WAS WRONG.
I was so wrong. So so wrong.
I’m straight up obsessed with this low carb chili recipe and I think you will be too! It’s seriously flavorful and really easy to make! You’re going to want to make this one immediately!
How to make this low carb chili recipes:
We’re going to start by browning some ground beef with onion and bell pepper. This is a super hearty chili and we like lots of beef here!
Once the meat is browned, you’ll add in some minced jalapeno and garlic. The jalapeno doesn’t make this too spicy, but it does give it a nice little kick of flavor. Feel free to adjust to your own tastes.
Season things up with some chili powder, cumin, and salt.
Tomato products can be pretty high in carbs, so rather than using tomato sauce like I would in my traditional chili recipe, I’m using tomato paste and beef broth. Trust me…this is going to be good.
You’ll also stir in a can of diced tomatoes.
Simmer your chili for as you’d like…the longer it cooks the more flavorful it gets and the more tender the beef gets.
I like to let it simmer for a couple of hours over really low heat (you may have to add a little more beef broth if too much boils off) but I’ve also served this after just a 20 minute. It’s delicious either way!
We top our chili with freshly grated cheddar and a dollop of sour cream.
Chili without beans:
People have very strong feelings about chili and whether or not it should include beans.
I like it both ways, but if you’re eating a low carb diet, you should probably skip the beans. They’re loaded with carbs.
This keto chili recipe is plenty hearty and filling without the beans. Bet you don’t even miss them.
What to serve with chili:
I vote that you make my low carb cornbread. It doesn’t actually contain any corn, but I’ll bet you could completely fool your friends and family into thinking it’s the real deal. Taste and texture are spot on, if you ask me!
Other soup recipes to try:
Crockpot Broccoli Cheese Soup: It’s so cheesy and full of goodness!
Zuppa Toscana: My low carb version uses turnips instead of potatoes and you’d never even know the difference!
Chicken Taco Soup: You can make this in the crockpot or Instant Pot!
Chicken Zoodle Soup: Who needs pasta when you have zucchini?
Cauliflower Soup: I roast the cauliflower first for maximum flavor!
Keto Chili
Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds ground beef
- 1 yellow onion diced
- 1 green pepper diced
- 1 jalapeno minced
- 1 clove garlic minced
- ¼ cup tomato paste
- 15 ounces canned diced tomatoes
- 2 cups beef broth
- 2 tablespoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Add the ground beef, onion, and bell pepper to a large deep pot and cook over medium heat, breaking up the meat as it cooks. When meat is cooked through, drain fat from pan.
- Add the jalapeno, garlic, tomato paste, diced tomatoes, beef broth, chili powder, cumin, and salt and stir.
- Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Simmer for at least 20 minutes, preferably an hour for the best taste and texture.
- Serve with sour cream and shredded cheddar, as desired.
Paula Crumley says
Where is the sugar coming from?
Karly Campbell says
Mostly the tomatoes – there are natural sugars in all fruits and veggies.
Lifetime low carber says
This is a great recipe! It can absolutely be done in your pressure cooker. That’s how I am doing it.
People need to quit nitpicking and just be appreciative.
Thank you for sharing Karly!
Karly Campbell says
Oh, I bet it’s tasty in the pressure cooker! Thanks for sharing and for the kind words. 🙂
Catherine Long says
Could cook and transfer to the crockpot?
Karly Campbell says
Yep, you can also just brown the beef and then add it all the crockpot to slow cook for a few hours.
Jan says
Thank you! I’m hungry right now for your chili!
Karly Campbell says
Hope you give it a try! 🙂
Martine Lessard says
How much tomato paste please
Thanks
Karly Campbell says
1/4 cup, as called for in the recipe. 🙂
Useyourbrain says
Some of these comments are just stupid what are ya doing eating the whole pot at one time. It is for 6 ppl. so you are not getting all the carbs from the onion or the tomato pasta.
Jenn says
Lol! I just love this!
Michelle Howe says
Can this be made in the instant pot? I’m guessing I would just lower the cooking time?
Karly Campbell says
I haven’t tested it in the Instant Pot, but I think it would work fine. Not sure how long you’d want to cook it though.
Delana Qeseth says
You may call this “reduced carb” chili, because it has no beans, but it’s NOT low carb. One serving of tomato paste has 7 grams of carbohydrate and 4 grams of sugar. There are 11 grams of carbohydrate and 9 grams of sugar in one cup of diced yellow onion. That’s enough carbs and sugar for one serving to halt ketosis.
Karly Campbell says
Hi Delana! Actually, it’s perfectly acceptable for low carb and keto. The nutrition information that was calculated here shows 6 net carbs per serving. That’s perfectly low carb and reasonable for keto. This recipe isn’t calling for a cup of onion or a full serving of tomato paste in each individual serving, so those carb counts are being reduced.
Monica says
11 grams of carbs is not enough to halt ketosis…<20g is the recommended amount so you would still have 9 grams of carbs if 20g is your allotment (and mind you, 20g is just the recommendation for guarantee. Some people eat 25g of carbs and maintain ketosis).
With your numbers…
7g per servicing of tomato paste (1 Tbsp is a serving and my tomato paste is actually 6g net carb but whatever, will use your numbers) * 4 (1/4 cup) = 28g carbs
One onion = 11g by your estimate (a cup of yellow onions do not have 11 grams by any source I can find…maximum I have seen, including on the the USDA website [https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/170000/nutrients], is 8 carbs per 100g.)
ground beef = 0g carbs
beef bone broth = 0g carbs
Cento Brand diced tomatoes = 3g net carb per 121 g = 3 * 4 servings (being generous, this is more than the 15 ounces the recipe calls for) = 12 grams
assorted spices, garlic, green pepper, and jalapeno= approx. 5g or so, depending on the size of the ones you pick
total: 28+11+12+5 = 56gram carbs in the whole pot
so, with all the very generous estimates, 56 grams in a pot/6 servings = 9.33 grams per serving. which again, is an overestimate and fine for keto and low carb.
Anything is keto as long as it fits your carb allotment. You could have a piece of bread if you wanted but you sure as hell as going to be hungry the rest of the day. Keto is not as complicated as you are making it out to be and this recipe is fine — I've been using it for two years and just adjust where I see fit. For instance, the 1/4 cup of tomato paste, ups the carb count more than it adds to flavor.
Unless…are you eating the whole pot in one sitting??????
James says
Laughably wrong.
kat says
wow your info is so wrong 1 yellow onion is 7 carbs wit 1.5 fiber …..
Claire says
I tried it tonight but I substituted a cup of decaf coffee (an old trick to give some depth of flavor) and liquid smoke instead of beef broth because I didn’t have any broth on hand. I also added some ground smoked ghost peppers. I also added a tablespoon of tomato paste, but no green peppers or jalapeños. It tasted great with some sour cream on top, I would definitely make it again. Not too heavy, but totally satisfying on a cold night.
Karly Campbell says
I’ll have to try the coffee trick sometime! Never heard of that before. 🙂
Georgia says
This is my favorite base chili recipe. I made it as the recipe was written the first time, but I’ve tweaked it after making it a million times. I love spicier chili, so I use a can of each fire roasted canned diced tomatoes and regular, a can of rotel, and I love them so I throw a can or two of mushrooms in there. Yummy yummy!!!
Karly Campbell says
Sounds delicious! Thanks for sharing, Georgia!
Sherri says
Just made this chili and it is delicious. I did pretty much the same recipe, did use 2 pounds beef, that’s what I had thawed out, had no regular beef broth so used beef bone broth which is a lot stouter but turned out great. Did the long hour simmer, so did have to add a little more broth. I always add more chili and cumin powder in all my chili’s and put in some rotel for a kick. The whole family loved it and it’s such an easy recipe to do, which is a big plus!! Thanks for the recipe!
Karly Campbell says
So glad you enjoyed it! I’m sure it was delicious with Rotel!
Nitesh Chauhan says
Easy and delicious! Simmered it for about 2 hours.
Karly Campbell says
So glad you enjoyed it!
DoriKay says
I made this tonight & doubled the recipe – followed your recipe exactly, but added extra spice. It is delicious! This is a keeper!
Karly Campbell says
I’m so glad you gave it a try! 🙂
Justin says
quick question… does this call for 1.5lbs beef or 0.5lbs beef? just want to be sure before starting 🙂 thank you!
Karly Campbell says
1.5 pounds.
Joli says
I make chili similar but use 5 fresh tomatoes put through food processorto make puree(=1 can) and no tomato paste which cuts out added sugars from both. I don’t use onion and peppers cutting out more sugars. You don’t miss them because meat is your texture. And once chili spice and cumin added that’s what you taste anyway. But it’s more keto friendly. And every carb helps. Because chili is barely carb friendly, anyway. Basically all you can have is 3/4 to 1 cup serving. Lol
Jan Drake says
The store had a special on Pork and Beef ground together, so I bought 2 lbs for this recipe. I used 1 1/2 diced onion and green peppers, and about 2 cups of diced celery. I used a 28 oz can of Cento petite diced tomatoes. 4T chili powder, 2T cumin, and 3 heaping Tablespoons of minced Garlic. I didn’t have any beef stock, so I cheated and used homemade chicken stock and added beef bullion paste. I cooked it for 3 hours on low heat. Everything blended together and was some of the best Keto chili ever! I did add a little Almond Flour to help thicken it up.
Karly Campbell says
Sounds like delicious changes! Thanks for sharing, Jan!
Margaret says
Have you ever considered using soy beans in chili since they are relatively low carbohydrate.
Karly Campbell says
Hi Margaret! My family doesn’t love beans in chili, so I’m used to eating it without. But yes, lots of people use black soybeans. I’ve also heard of people using boiled peanuts as a bean replacement. 🙂
Tammy Wood says
What is a serving size? A cup?
Karly Campbell says
Hi Tammy! I didn’t measure the servings by volume. Just divided into 6 equal servings. 🙂
George says
I did this with just a few changes based on what I had available. I like beans in my chili, and did not have any diced tomatoes. I used two and 1/2 cups chopped baby Bella mushrooms for the beans, added with the browning. When that was done I added 1 tsp vinegar (because no acid from the tomatoes) and one small box of tomato paste (no sugar added). Also, instead of beef broth I used 3 cups of my homemade bone broth (from beef bones). This added depth of flavor and some of the liquid missing from no diced tomatos. Most excellent!
Karly Campbell says
Sounds delicious, George! Thanks for sharing!
Todd says
Is there a crock pot alternative to making this?
Thanks
Karly Campbell says
You’d just brown the beef and then add everything to a crockpot. Let it cook on low for 4 hours or so and it should be good. 🙂
Jerry N Brendle says
This is the best chili recipe ever!!! Keto or not. I added mushrooms n zucchini. Sooo yummy. Filling and substancial too. Even without the bread or crackers. Thank you. Forever on my menu.
Karly Campbell says
Thanks so much, Jerry!