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
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.
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Notes
Nutrition
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!
Our go-to chili seasoning blend! No more packets for us! The amount of cayenne is lot of heat for my kids (tho the adults love it!). So I just cut it in half, or leave it out per the suggestions in the post.
I love this simple recipe. I usually use more garlic but the rest is a great balance.
I am so happy that I have most of them in my kitchen .thank you for these information.
I was looking for Coney Island style chili for Hot Dogs and this was perfect. I did add 1/4 t. smoked paprika and used a teaspoon of bone broth with a 1/2 cup of water and allowed it to cook down. In the past I have tried several chili seasoning recipes and just couldn’t find that taste I was after. Love tomatoes and beans in straight chili, but not for chili dogs. This mix was perfect blend of spices with no one spice overpowering the other. Thanks for sharing. I’ll be back.
Wonderful recipe!!!!
My family really enjoyed this in our chili! We will be using it again for sure. Thank you so much!
It was very good but was missing a little something IMO. I added a 1/2 teaspoon of smoked paprika and it was more to my liking. But the base recipe is good as is and like all recipes can be tweaked to personal preferences. Plus, it’s absolutely better than any packet of chili mix I have ever tried and I’ve tried many.
Just tried this and LOVE it. I used hot chili powder and no cayenne because I didn’t have any. Will continue to use this from now on. I like this so much better than the packet brand I have used for years.
It’s a great recipe. I doubled it and used the extra hot red chili powder – no cayenne. Next time I’ll use a little less salt but I think this will be our go to chili seasoning from now on.
Says 6 servings can you simplify it and just say how many pounds this mix is for
Yes, in the section titled “How to Use Homemade Chili Seasoning” you’ll see that this seasoning blend is good to use for about one pound of ground beef.
Just joining the chorus of folks saying this recipe has gotten me off packets for good. It’s delicious! I leave out the cayenne because I have little kids, and it still has lots of flavor.
I am going to try chili with. Fajita se ason with a splash of chili powder and garlic will post my results this is what I do all the time my kids to still talk about my ability to throw a great meal from m stocked kitchen in the day
Exactly how I cook…
Our family loves your blend. When using it, we “open up” the flavor of the spices by cooking them with the onion & garlic in olive oil following your recipe. Thank you.
Great seasoning recipe!!! My family loved the chili!!!
Delicious! Thank you.