This will be the best chili you’ll ever make. Your belly will thank you. And, there is no need for beans since this All Meat and Veggie Paleo Chili recipe is so hearty you won’t even miss them, guaranteed.
My husband and I love chili. He loves to have a big bowl of hearty meaty goodness during football season while I prefer a meaty and bean free version. This is a great compromise for both of us and a recipe loved by our guests as well. But first, check out how easy it is to make:
Chili is such a versatile meal that is great for dinner or lunch. It also pleases the whole family. If you are not following a strict Paleo diet, you can top it with cheese and sour cream.
This is one of the meals included in my Family KickStart Program, so you are getting a special sneak peek today!
If you haven’t heard about Family KickStart yet, it’s the 30-day program I created to help busy families ours to eat real food together. I’ve tried so many other 30-day or 21-day challenges and programs and all of them fell flat for me because they were set up for individuals and there was nothing there that my kids would eat.
I knew there had to be a better way, so I created it myself! When you sign up for the Family KickStart Program, you’re given everything you need to succeed at eliminating sugars and processed foods as a family. This includes over 50 recipes, meal plans, and even shopping lists to help make the process painless for you and your kids! Learn more about the Family KickStart Program here!
One of the reasons I love this recipe is because I get my chili fix without the need for beans. That’s right, full flavor and no beans. I tweaked the seasonings for over two years until I came up with, what I think is, the perfect balance of smokiness and heat.
I love cooking this chili on a large cast iron skillet (as shown) or a Dutch oven. I really think the cast iron’s ability to hold the heat helps the seasonings penetrate the meat and veggies.
Do you know what else is great about this recipe? You can brown your meat and throw it all inside a slow cooker, for 4 hours on high or 6-8 on low and it’s a zero fuss way to eat chili. You are welcome.
Although I eliminated the beans in this recipe, all the hearty vegetables add the filling volume our hungry bellies want and need. Plus, it’s super colorful and looks gorgeous when served, not to mention delicious.
This chili is very thick. If you want to make it more soup-like, add 2 cups of stock to thin it out. It’s the perfect topping for baked potatoes or sweet potatoes. My kids don’t eat it as is so I used the mini-chopper to finely chop all the veggie chunks and topped their pasta with it for what they call: chili-pasta. Win-win!
You know why else I love this chili? Because I can make this recipe ahead of time and after a long day of work I can have a quick hearty meal. You can read many of the comments below, they all agree that this chili tastes better a few days later! Try it once and make sure you double the recipe and freeze extras. And when you are done with this paleo chili, you can try one of my other dinner ideas.
Ingredient Substitution Ideas:
Whether you don’t have some of the veggies around, have picky eaters who don’t eat carrots or zucchini, or you simply want to make the most out of this recipe and add variety, the following are great substitutions and add-ins to this recipe.
- Some of my readers have found that replacing the carrots with sweet potatoes is a great option if you have kids who don’t eat carrots or want to up the carbohydrate count of this recipe.
- Add 8 ounces of mushrooms to the recipe when sautéing the veggies. They’ll add a delicious earthy flavor to the recipe.
- Substitute the zucchini with butternut squash, either fresh or frozen.
- Substitute the ground beef with ground turkey or chicken. However, the latter has very little fat so the chili might be a bit dryer in texture.
- Replacing the ground beef with chicken is also a popular choice, however, the recipe will vary a little so I went ahead and created the Paleo Chicken Chili Recipe in this post.
- Add 2 to 4 additional cups of broth or stock to this recipe to make it more soup-like. The chili texture is thick.
- Many of my readers have loved this chili recipe so much that they’ve replaced the ground beef with 2 15-ounce cans of black beans to make it a vegetarian meal.
- In addition, some have used cubed tofu in this recipe and kept it vegetarian with no beans.
- Add 1/2 to 1 whole finely chopped jalapeño when sautéing the veggies for added heat. This chili is rich and smoky not very spicy.
How to Freeze Chili Leftovers
This recipe freezes very well. I like to freeze leftovers in 1 cup to 1 1/2 cup servings for quick lunches or single-serve dinners.
Of course, you can fill leftovers in a gallon zip bag and freeze for another dinner.
How to make Paleo Chili in the Slow cooker
You can make this paleo chili recipe in the slow cooker after you brown your meat. For the full recipe and directions on how to do that, I have a Slow Cooker Paleo Chili Recipe right here if you want to make the whole thing that way.
How to keep paleo chili warm for a party:
Make this paleo chili recipe a day or two ahead before a party and store in the refrigerator. The day of the party, simply warm it up and keep it “warm” in your slow cooker so your guests can serve themselves or in a large pot on your stove on the lowest setting.
Most of us think it tastes better the next day!
How to Cook Paleo Chili in the Instant Pot:
Brown your meat in the Instant Pot and then add all remaining ingredients. Cook for 10 minutes and it’s ready.
The only downside of cooking this recipe in the Instant Pot is that the zucchini will be cooked a lot and very soft. For this method, I recommend substituting the zucchini with diced sweet potatoes.
Paleo Chili Toppings
You can’t go wrong with a big bowl of this paleo chili recipe. However, just like any of my taco recipes, the more toppings the better! Here are some of my recommended toppings for this recipe:
- Chopped cooked crispy bacon
- Sour cream, if you can have it
- Grated cheese, if you can have it
- Served with organic corn chips, if you can have them
- Served over cauliflower rice, to stretch this meal and eat extra veggies
- Over spaghetti squash
- As a topping for baked sweet potatoes
- With my Paleo Drop Biscuits inside my Grain Free Cookbook
- With Paleo “Corn Bread” in my Family KickStart Program
All Meat Veggie Chili {Paleo}
This paleo chili recipe is even better than the traditional kind. It’s hearty, filling and full of delicous flavor from veggies & meat.
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 30 mins
- Total Time: 40 mins
- Yield: 8 servings 1x
- Cuisine: Just great food. Hands down.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds ground beef
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped
- 2 tablespoons (30 ml) oil
- 1 1/2 cups onion, diced, about 1 large onion
- 1/2 cup chopped celery, about 1 stalk
- 1 1/2 cups carrots,peeled and diced, about 4 medium carrots
- 2 tablespoons chili powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
- 4 cups zucchinis, diced, about 2–3 medium zucchinis
- 1 15-ounce can tomato puree or tomato sauce
- 1 15-ounce can diced tomatoes
Instructions
- In your seasoned skillet or 5-6 quart large cast iron pot, brown beef and garlic. Cook over medium heat until beef is thoroughly cooked and browned. Drain off excess fat, set aside.
- Add oil, onions, celery, carrots, and seasonings to the skillet and cook until translucent over medium-high heat, about 5-7 minutes. Once onions are golden and veggies are midway cooked, add zucchini and cook for 2 minutes, making sure you stir everything well.
- Add cooked beef, tomato puree/sauce, and tomatoes into the pot and stir well. Bring everything to a boil, stirring frequently, reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes.
- Check on the amazing mixture every so often and stir. Serve immediately.
Notes
This is a very thick chili recipe. Add up to 1 cup of additional liquid (tomato sauce or water) to thin out the sauce if you prefer.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 294
- Fat: 10.3g
- Carbohydrates: 27.3g
- Protein: 26g
I’m laughing at myself for epically failing on this one and yet it still tastes so good.
1) I did 1.5x the veg because I had 1kg of beef…. turns out it was only 600g. It was VERY veggie heavy. ♀️
2) We are on day 4 of Whole30, and it turns out the tomato sauce I have is a 4 cheese one. ♀️♀️
Ended up subbing for more tomatoes, some tomato paste, and a bit of beef broth.
Between Whole30 & being 22 weeks pregnant (with baby #4!) I have approximately 5% of the brain I had preconception. It’s rough over here. With that said, this is an incredibly forgiving recipe. I topped with some dill cashew cream and happily ate my little heart out. I didn’t even ask the kids or the husband what they thought because by the time we were eating I could not have cared less about their opinions. But they did eat it, and no one complained, and that’s a 5 star win in this house!
★★★★★
I’m smiling that you came back to leave a review! It’s a VERY forgiving recipe… no such thing as messing it up! Glad it turned out and hey, you got more veggies into your day!
This chili is a staple in my house, I make it at least twice per month and have given the recipe to everyone I know. Thanks for posting it.
Sharing my recipes with a friend is the biggest compliment, Vance. Thank YOU!
This is so tasty I ended up making it twice this week because my husband loved it so much! I have to admit that I changed a couple of things because I had them in the fridge. I used ground lamb and some leftover chicken, half a butternut squash the mushrooms and some homemade bone broth. It’s been delicious both times! Thank you for your recipe.
★★★★★
This is my go to chili recipe. I have made it numerous times over the years and it always turns out amazing. Sometimes I am really lenient and use beer as my liquid instead of water or tomato sauce 🙂
★★★★★
OMG. the beer as your liquid sounds A-H-M-A-Z-I-N-G! -I need to try this next time I make it.. prob next week.
I’ve been making this for a couple years now; at least I think it’s been that long. My boyfriend said it’s his favorite chili and my daughter loves it as well.
I made very small adjustments.. I cut the chili powder in half, used 2 carrots instead of 4 and added 1-2 yellow squash.
I do think the prep time is understated if the veggies are to be diced as opposed to just chopped. It takes me a good 30 minutes to dice everything up, but it’s still so worth it!
I made a double batch about a month ago and froze a small portion for the first time. I just ate it today and it still taste just as good as when I first made it.
★★★★★
Delicious! didn’t change a thing.
★★★★★
This is my favorite chili recipe! I make this every time I do a Whole30 (and even when I’m not), and I always look forward to eating it.
★★★★★
Very delicious… We do a couple of things different, we do not strain the fat out of the meat and we like extra spicy so we use mexican spicy chili powder! Yummm! We also simmer for 2 hours very low to get all those ingredients to have time to marry!
★★★★★
Great tips, Matt!
A question, since I count my carbs every day: How much is a serving size in your nutrition facts? I have made this recipe a few times, and my “serving size” is two cups.
Also, my organic, grass-fed ground beef comes in 1# pkgs, so I use less meat than in the recipe.
★★★★★
Never mind, my internet connection was slow, took a while for the ‘nutrition table’ to load. I see it now. Thank you for this recipe.
★★★★★
LOVE this recipe! I wonder if I could do this recipe in the Instant Pot or Slow Cooker??
★★★★★
Glad you found them! 🙂
Could you purée the veggies and tomatoes in a food processor instead of chopping them? I’m trying to hide them from my kids
absolutely! That’s what I do as well. I use a food processor to finely chop all the veggies. Then I cook it with meat. The size and texture is smaller than the mean and my kids don’t notice they are there.
I usually add zucchini 5 minutes before it’s ready. Same for soup. Keep the pot covered and the heat will cook the zucchini. That way zucchini stays crunchy.
★★★★★
Great tip!
I’ve made this chili a few times and it does not disappoint. The combinations of vegetables are wonderful.
Thank you Rebecca for coming back and sharing how much you enjoyed it!
This is the 1st recipe that I made from your website, and it is my go-to for meal prep rotations! I was looking for paleo dinner ideas, and stumbled upon this one. I never wanted to make chili before because of all the carbs (i.e., beans), but loved your version of paleo chili!
★★★★★
I am so glad you enjoyed this recipe, Sharon. You can check out other lower-carb recipes here.