I made a pot of my basic chili a few weeks ago, which uses my homemade chili seasoning, so I wanted to post the homemade chili seasoning blend by itself to highlight the fact that it can be used for so much more than just chili.
How to Make Homemade Chili Seasoning
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How to Use Homemade Chili Seasoning:
This homemade chili seasoning is equivalent to one store bought chili seasoning packet. This homemade chili seasoning will be enough to season one 6 serving batch of chili, or a batch of chili that uses one pound of ground beef or ground turkey.
Brown the ground beef or ground turkey first, drain the excess fat if needed, then add the homemade chili seasoning. Continue to sauté the seasoning with the beef for about a minute more, which will toast the spices and make them a bit more pronounced. Continue making your chili by adding diced tomatoes, beans, or whatever else you prefer (see my Easy Chili Recipe).
In addition to making a big pot of warm and comforting homemade chili, you can add this chili seasoning to vegetables, meat, or fish before roasting or grilling (check out my Chili Roasted Potatoes), or even sprinkle a little into your mac and cheese. I mean, what can’t you do with chili seasoning?!
Homemade Chili Seasoning
Servings 1 recipeIngredients
- 1 Tbsp chili powder
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp approximately freshly ground pepper
Instructions
- Add all of the ingredients to a bowl and stir to combine. Store in an air-tight container, away from heat and moisture for up to six months.
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Notes
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!What is “chili powder”?
Chili powder is a blend of spices used to season chili, which is commonly sold pre-mixed in the United States. So, in effect, you could use just that alone to season your pot of chili, but my homemade chili seasoning takes it up a few notches.
Chili powder can vary in heat from brand to brand, so make sure to give yours a taste before making your chili. If the chili powder you are using is spicy, you can reduce or eliminate the cayenne pepper from this recipe.
The chili powder pictured above (Kroger brand) is spicy, as the label indicates, but not every brand is nice enough to let you know ahead of time if their blend is spicy. If you’re looking for a mild, not-spicy blend, check out McCormick’s chili powder. They also make a “hot Mexican” chili powder, which is quite spicy.
Can You Use Taco Seasoning for Chili?
They’re quite similar, but not exactly the same. For my Homemade Taco Seasoning, I use a slightly smokier blend of spices and add a little oregano. I do think you could use them interchangeably in a pinch, if needed, but prefer this slightly more simple blend for chili.
What is the Best Secret Ingredient for Chili?
The answer to this is subjective, of course, but in addition to your basic homemade chili seasoning you can add some fun “secret ingredients’ to your chili. Here are some fun secret ingredients for chili:
- Cocoa powder or dark chocolate, which gives an earthy flavor
- Beer: light Mexican or dark beer, like Guinness
- Brown sugar or molasses (sweet makes a great contrast to spicy!)
- Cinnamon, goes nicely with savory flavors as well as sweet!
- Red wine (for beef chili)
- Coffee or espresso (similar to cocoa, this provides a deep earthiness)
What are your favorite chili seasonings? Share in the comments below!
Nope! This seasoning mix was horribly bland!
Excellent. Just the right ratio of spices. My chili was a hit! I will make a batch to have on hand.
Add a little Allspice.
A great! Simple recipe.
If I make this in bulk do you know what measurements would be needed to add to a pot?
I would say 2 tbsp for a basic 6 serving pot of chili.
Making chili and realized I didn’t have any chili seasoning. This was the first recipe that came up. Oh my gosh, this is the best ever! Never buying chili seasoning again. Thanks so much for the recipe.
I was making chili and ran out of the bought seasoning mix and didn’t want to go to the store so I went online and found this. Hands down this is waaaaay better than what I usually make. Thank you so much for posting it. It will be my go to for chili mix from now on.
Made this again tonight. Such a good and reliable recipe. And easy to make with regular pantry staples.
How do you get 2.9 carbs? That’s incorrect or did you sneak in something else ?
It comes from the chili powder! If you look it up, store bought chili powder has more carbs that you’d think. I believe it’s from the the fiber in the chili peppers.
My go to chili seasoning! Super easy and delicious 😋
2841 mg sodium per serving. How did you get that Extremely High Number with your list of ingredients ? It’s pretty much impossible to do ?
That translates to roughly 1tsp of salt, which the recipe calls for…Great recipe btw :-)
Used this recipe because I forgot to by the packet of chili mix. Never again will I buy the store brand packets at $1.99 this was way better. Use 1/2 the recipe for 1lb ground turkey chili and saved the rest for next time. The money wasted when all of the spices were in my cabinet.
Needed a chili packet – turns out we didn’t have one in the pantry – but this recipe saved the day! As I sat down to add it to my collection I thought I’d take a minute first to say thanks for sharing. It will be our go-to from now on!
I also suggest 1/2 tsp smoked paprika (especially if you want to take the cayenne out). Love the chili I can make this with one.
Love this!! Will never buy the packet again. I get SO many compliments on my chili!!