A low carb chili recipe that’s easy to make and full of flavor. It’s a beanless chili suitable for a paleo or keto diet. Enjoy it mild or spiced up with more hot chili peppers.
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We grew some red hot chili peppers this year in the garden. I thought they’d be perfect in keto Mexican recipes.
Since we had so many, I used them to spice up a beanless keto chili. It’s difficult to come up with a no carb chili, but this recipe does have fewer carbs than my chili made with canned tomatoes.
The peppers I used were green on the plant most of the summer. It wasn’t until late summer that they all started to turn red. And I was surprised at how many peppers shot off the small plant we planted.
I was told that these peppers can be dried and used as a seasoning throughout the year. They are a hot pepper, though not the hottest you can get.
Since I wanted a beanless chili recipe, I omitted the beans and used canned black olives instead. I suppose I could have used black soy beans, but I didn’t have any on hand.
How to make low carb chili
To begin, about 1 to 2 pounds of ground beef is browned over medium high heat in a large pot or Dutch oven. But an Instant Pot can be used as well on the sauté setting.
While the meat is being cooked, it’s a good time to chop up the fresh peppers. I like to use a hand chopper to speed things up. With hot peppers, you’ll want to wear gloves when chopping to prevent getting the juice on your skin.
Keep in mind, when working with hot peppers, you need to be careful not to get the juice near your eye. I provide warning based on my own experience. It’s also important to practice safety in the kitchen!
I didn’t measure the amount of peppers I used, but it was around 1/4 cup, maybe a little less. In all, I used one regular sized pepper and two small ones in this low carb chili recipe.
Once the ground beef is brown, I add all the other ingredients. I also add a small amount of cinnamon because it enhances the flavor. I thought the amount of hot peppers used was just right, but feel free to adjust the amount to your own preferences.
Using an Instant Pot or Slow Cooker
You can make this easy low carb chili in an Instant Pot or Slow Cooker rather than on the stove top. It’s basically the same process with slightly different cooking times.
For the Instant Pot, you brown the ground beef on the sauté setting. Then you add in the remaining ingredients and lock the lid is into place.
Next, you set the pressure cooker on manual high pressure for ten minutes. When the time is up, I let it sit to naturally release pressure before opening the valve and lid.
To make the chili in a crock pot, just add all the ingredients into the pot. Then let it slow cook for about 3-4 hours on high or 6-8 hours on low.
Thoughts on the beanless chili
My family absolutely loves this low carb chili recipe without beans. And there’s no need for beans anyway. They are just a cheap filler like rice. But most fillers are very starchy. The black olives add flavor as well as healthy fat.
I will definitely be making this beanless chili recipe again. That’s because it makes a fabulous low carb meal for lunch or a light dinner. And it’s a great recipe to make for game days or when gathering with friends or family.
How do you like your chili? With bean or without? Hot or spicy? Or, maybe you like Texas style chili.
Other Keto Chili Recipes
If you like this recipe, you may want to give some of my other keto chili recipes a try as well. So I listed some below:
- Crock Pot White Turkey Chili
- Low Carb Paleo White Chicken Chili
- Turkey Pumpkin Chili
- Texas Slow Cooker Beef Chili
You can also use this keto chili recipe to make zucchini nachos.
Kitchen Tools Used
I made the beanless chili in a Dutch oven, but a large pot works too for the stove top. But you may want to speed things up in an electric pressure cooker or slow things down using a Crock Pot.
- Dutch oven or large pot
- Instant pot (optional)
- Crock Pot (optional)
- Hand Chopper (optional)
I hope you enjoy this meaty stew. And be sure to leave a comment if you tried it to let us know how it turned out.
Low Carb Chili (Beanless, Keto, Paleo)
Ingredients
- 3 cups water
- 1 1/2 pounds ground beef
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 3/4 teaspoon cumin
- 1/4 cup onion chopped
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce check ingredients for paleo
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 2 tablespoons chili powder
- 3/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon allspice
- 6 ounces tomato paste
- 3 bay leaves
- 2.25 ounces sliced black olives
- 1/4 cup chili peppers finely chopped
Low Carb Sweeteners | Keto Sweetener Conversion Chart
Instructions
- Brown ground beef in large pot and drain out fat.
- Add remaining ingredients, bring to a boil. Then simmer about 2 hours, stirring occasionally.
Notes
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Nutrition
Additional Info
Note on Nutritional Information
Nutritional information for the recipe is provided as a courtesy and is approximate only. We cannot guarantee the accuracy of the nutritional information given for any recipe on this site. Erythritol carbs are not included in carb counts as it has been shown not to impact blood sugar. Net carbs are the total carbs minus fiber.
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Post updated in March 2019. Originally published September 2010.
Lisa MarcAurele has been creating low carb recipes for herself and sharing them with others since 2010. She enjoys experimenting in the kitchen. The results are low sugar foods that taste like high carb favorites!
