Who doesn’t love the iconic Wendy’s Chili? You can recreate this copycat Wendy’s chili at home, like the restaurant. You can prepare this in under 45 minutes; this tastes even better the next day!
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Why This is the Best Copycat Wendy’s Copycat Chili Recipe
If you are looking for a tried and true copycat recipe, look no further. I developed this copycat version over 20 years ago. This recipe has stood the test of time. People love this recipe.
This chili is perfectly seasoned—not too spicy and just enough spice. This easy chili recipe is going to become one of your go-tos. You can enjoy the leftover chili the next day.
Wendy’s Chili Meat
It is said that Wendy’s chili is made from grilled hamburger patties that weren’t made into their burgers. You don’t have you start with hamburger patties, you can use fresh ground beef.
It is easier to start this way when you make your chili. We suggest that you brown the beef very thoroughly before making your chili.
If you are a die-hard Wendy’s Chili fan, you can start with about 2 pounds of ground meat and fry it up as hamburgers, but you must cook them until they are very well done.
Did you know?
- Wendy’s Chili is gluten-free.
This Wendy’s chili copycat recipe has lots of fresh ingredients, and it can be put together in no time. It has onions, celery, green bell pepper, two types of beans, beef, and chili seasoning.
You won’t be disappointed when you make a delicious bowl of this amazing chili from scratch. You’ll enjoy the wonderful aroma of chili cooking on the stovetop.
Wendy’s Chili Recipe Ingredients
Here’s a list of what you need:
- Ground beef – Ground chuck is recommended due to its fat and lean meat ratio
- Tomato juice – This is added instead of water, so the chili has a rich tomato flavor.
- Tomato puree – I use this instead of tomato sauce or stewed tomatoes because it has more flavor. I prefer this over chopped tomatoes in a can because the tomatoes are already broken down, and you can get a lot of flavor this way.
- Canned red kidney beans – drain and rinse before using
- Canned pinto beans – drain and rinse before using
- Onion – white onions are recommended; they have a good flavor, and tend not to be spicy like yellow onions
- Celery – adds a nice crunch and texture to this chili
- Green bell pepper – layers in additional flavor
- Chili powder – McCormick brand is recommended, we find it has a good balance of flavors.
- Ground cumin – adds richness and a bit of smoke
- Garlic powder – you can use fresh garlic, but garlic powder
- Salt – is used to balance out the flavor
- Ground black pepper – layers in some heat, but not too much.
- Oregano – this chili adds a bright earthy flavor
- Cayenne pepper – if you need your chili to have more spice, I recommend adding a bit more
- Sugar – this rounds out the chili flavor
Tomato juice enhances the flavor of this chili, as does the chili powder, though you may want to start with a little less chili powder. I find 1/4 cup isn’t too hot and is still very flavorful.
How does Wendy’s make their chili?
Wendy’s makes chili in a big pot with leftover hamburger patties and chili ingredients. You only need a skillet to brown some ground beef and a big pot to cook the chili. Here are the easy steps:
- In a skillet, brown the ground beef over medium-high heat.
- Drain the browned ground beef.
- Put the drained beef and the remaining ingredients in a 6-quart pot.
- Add the remaining ingredients and stir to combine.
- Bring the chili to a boil, then cover the pot and reduce the heat to low. Let it simmer for 1 to 1½ hours, stirring every 15 minutes.
- Serve this delicious chili and enjoy it as-is or with your favorite chili toppings and side dishes.
Recipe notes
It is important to cook this chili the entire time, as listed in the recipe. The flavors mellow and change over the cooking time.
I understand that some people also feel that three tablespoons of chili powder is too much. I think it’s best to stick with standard brands of chili powder.
Chili powder is a combination of several spices. There isn’t a chili powder plant. Stick with a well-known brand, and if you naturally like less spicy foods, consider using less. Again, I fully stand behind the three tablespoons as listed in the recipe below.
Recipe variations
If you cook the recipe as written, you will get the best-tasting copycat of Wendy’s chili. But you can make substitutions. Some people like to use ranch-style beans instead of pinto beans for a unique flavor, while others love to use just dark red kidney beans. You can add chipotle powder to this recipe, about 2 teaspoons to 1 tablespoon, if you want to add a wonderful rich smokiness to your chili.
You can swap the ground beef and use ground turkey if you want. You could also swap the meat entirely for some vegetarian meat crumbles.
Can you make Wendy’s Chili in a slow cooker? Yes, you can!
Can you make this delicious chili in a Crockpot slow cooker? Of course! Brown the ground beef, drain the beef, pour everything into a slow cooker, and cook on low for about 4 to 6 hours.
I hope you enjoy this recipe!
What to Serve with Wendy’s Chili
Here are some sides, toppings, and other dishes to go with this hearty chili:
- Baked Potato
- As a topping on a chili dog
- Corn Chips or Tortilla Chips (or make nachos with chili on top of them)
- French Fries
- Garlic Parmesan Buffalo Wings
- Grilled Cheese Sandwich
- Jalapeno Peppers
- Salad
- Saltine Crackers
- Shredded Cheddar Cheese
- Sour Cream
How to Store Wendy’s Chili
This recipe makes quite a bit. Chances are, if you don’t invite the whole team over for chili, you will have plenty to enjoy. Let’s go over how you can best store the chili!
- Refrigerate – in an airtight container for up to five days.
- Freeze: Cool the chili to room temperature. Please place it in an airtight freezer-safe container or a vacuum-sealed bag. Keep it in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Best Way to Reheat Leftover Wendy’s Chili
If you need to reheat a portion of Wendy’s chili, I recommend doing so in the microwave. If you need to reheat several portions, I recommend doing so on the stovetop in a pot over medium-low heat.
Homemade Wendy’s Chili Copycat
Ingredients
- 2 pounds fresh ground beef
- 1 quart tomato juice
- 29 ounces canned tomato puree
- 15 ounces canned red kidney beans drained
- 15 ounces canned pinto beans drained
- 1 large onion chopped (about 1 1/2 cups)
- 1/2 cup diced celery
- 1/4 cup diced green bell pepper
- 1/4 cup chili powder you may want to use less, as some people find this is too much
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar
- 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Instructions
- Brown the ground beef in a skillet and drain the grease.
- Put the drained beef and the remaining ingredients in a 6-quart pot or slow cooker and stir to combine.
- If using a pot, cover and simmer for at least 45 minutes. If you have time, I recomment to 1 1/2 hours, stirring every 15 minutes, for the best flavor.
- If using a slow cooker, cook on low for 4 hours.
Video
Nutrition
Check out my other Wendy’s copycat recipes
- Baconator
- Breakfast Baconator
- BBQ Ranch Chicken Salad Recipe
- Instant Pot Wendy’s Chili
- Wendy’s Apple Pecan Salad
- Wendy’s Frosty Recipe
- Wendy’s Strawberry Salad
- Wendy’s Taco Salad
More Chili and Stew Recipes
Be sure to look at more fast food to make and homemade soup recipes.
What’s in the chili packet? After you make the chili
I haven’t worked on those chili oil packets. I appreciate your suggestion.
A family favorite in my home! I add an extra can of kidney beans and a little extra ground beef. This recipe is always in the rotation during the winter months!
can you please get a recipe for Bob Evans vegetable soup. They discontinued it about 2 years ago, said they might bring it back but nothing has happened. Thank you for your recipe and your hard work.
Thank you for your suggestion.
Tomato soup with beans. Not even close to Wendy’s. Don’t understand all the positive reviews.
Well Gary, I am sorry you were disappointed in this recipe, most seem to like it. Did you add the chili powder, the most frequent thing that has come up has always been using 1/4 cup of chili powder, because some people think it could be too spicy.
perfect and easy to make – and healthy!
Going to give it a try, as my wife is a Wendy’s chili lover! I’ve bought the canned Wendy’s chili from the store and she says it’s good but different, bought the canned Wendy’s chili off amazon and she says way different, so I’m going to try this!
I would really like to see a recipe for Wienersnitzel chile thats close to the real thing. Every copycat I’ve ever tried is so far off the real stuff the recipes are a joke. Even wienersnitzel doesn’t know what their doing. They canned the chili and sold it for a while for $5.00 a can and the stuff was like dog poo.
Thank you for your request.
Stephanie
Thank you. My wife and i love Wendys chilli. But my wife cant deal with the spices. So i cook two pots. One for her and one for me. Its now the only chilli we make. Bottom line.
YOU ROCK.
I followed this recipe, exactly how it was written, and enjoyed making this chili. I did add two cans of 15 ounce diced tomatoes. It taste exactly like Wendy’s chili
Thank You So Much For A Great Recipe.
Made your recipe for Christmas last year and everyone loved it. Doing it again this year.
I currently have this in my crockpot and just finished a taste test. I immediately put the spoon down and flounced past my partners office, and said, “You may want to taste that chili. I just owned Wendy’s. This is theirs but even better.”
It legit tastes like theirs when it’s a GOOD day and it hasn’t been sitting around for 12hrs getting crusty.
THANK YOU so much for this!!
I am so glad you like it!
Except for the celery, this is pretty much identical to a recipe I grabbed from All Recipes called Chili By George. I’ve been making it for many years which is why I recognized it just by the ingredients. Is it Wendy’s? Is it George’s? Who knows? It’s a good recipe, but it’s also all over the internet.
I have had this recipe on my website since about 1995. So I think this may have been the source recipe, and others have copied it and put it all over the place.
I can attest to this recipe from you being up in the 90’s… but dad used to make it… and now it’s the only chili I make! It’s a hit at pot lucks.. but I don’t share the secret 🤫 🤣
Aww 😉 I am so glad you enjoy the recipe.
Can you freeze the leftovers?
Super recipe….my “go-to” always. I double the beans as we like It less soupy, and add a red pepper and some jalepenos now and again. Thanks so much for sharing…its a big hit in our house!
Best recipe ever
Is it correct, low for 4 hours in the crock pot? Not high?
I would do this on low, providing you browned your meat first. Everything is already cooked.
I have not tried this one yet, but just looking at the recipe, I likely would back off the chili powder just a little and step up the cumin and oregano substantially. Otherwise, the use of onion, bell pepperand celery is exactlyhow i like chili..
That’s the great thing about making chili at home, is you can modify it any way you like.
Stephanie, I was looking for a good copy cat recipe for Wendy’s chili when I came across your website. I read everything on this recipe and even watched your video and have a few questions.
In your video, you dropped in the hamburger to cook it and then you added all of the other ingredients but without draining the grease. But in your instructions, you always say cook the hamburger and drain the grease. Not sure why the process is different in your video? I did drain the grease by the way. And there is the question on the Celery – I went out and purchased a large order of Wendy’s chili and found no celery but everything else so when I made mine, I didn’t include the celery. So I’m wondering why you added that – just curious! You also called out Red beans in your ingredients instead of Red Kidney beans – was that a typo? Also, I did have McCormick’s chili powder but only added 3 tablespoons vs the 4 in your recipe. Next time I will add all 4. You know when I cook hamburger and the recipe calls for onions, I always cook them together which simplifies things a bit as well as add salt and ground pepper at the same time. I suppose that it falls into the “6 of one and 1/2 doz of the other logic”. But when I finished this recipe – I felt that your recipe was just like Wendy’s. So Thanks! This was great! I did double the Cayenne pepper amount as I love hot/spicy in my chili. Now I can’t wait to try some of your other copy Kats!
Lots to unpack here.
The video was not edited to show that I drained the grease. Please drain your grease in the chili.
The recipe requires 1/2 cup of sliced celery in the chili, it was in the recipe. It was called for in step 3 of the stovetop directions.
I have amended the recipe from red beans, to red kidney beans, I made a typo.
Let me know if you need anything else.
Love it! I have lost count how many times I have made this. I speed it up with an instant pot most times on chili mode. I will sometimes make it with ground turkey or bison or go vegetarian with impossible burger. It’s a hit with all involved which is a feat since we have several nutritional restrictions in our household. Thank you!
This is my youngest son’s favorite chili. He no longer lives close enough to a Wendy’s so I make a double batch and can what’s left from a meal. I love this recipe but do tweak it by using what ever beans I have on hand from canning. Black beans are great just rinse them off, great northern are good also. You are only limited by your imagination add what you love and delete or cut back what your family doesn’t care for. I also ad 2 grated carrots for sweetness, after cooking they just about disappear.
I love this recipe so much! I could eat the whole batch by myself, but I DO freeze some of it …most of the time. I also took the suggestion of adding black beans and like that a lot. Today I will be making it again and I’m out of tomato juice so I’m going to substitute V8 juice…couldn’t hurt, right? Thanks again for this wonderful recipe. It is definitely a keeper!