BEST Sweet Chili Recipe (2024)

Chili can be hit or miss with many kids. But this Sweet Chili Recipe is always a favorite with everyone who tries it! The slightly sweet sauce combined with the baked beans and ground beef are a welcome comfort food all year long! Plus this sweet chilii recipe is super easy to throw together! Thissweet chili recipe brown sugar and baked beansis sure to be a favorite with your whole family.

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Sweet Chili Recipe

Fall is our families favorite season. I don’t know if it is the brisk mornings, the beauty of colorful falling leaves, going to the pumpkin patch or the warm homemade soups with homemade bread. But whatever it is, our favorite sweet chili recipe is perfect to make any day for a quick supper! Fall and winter are the best time to whip up some healthy, easy, warm soup recipes. I know some kids bawk at soup, and to be honest there are lots of soup recipes my kids don’t like. But this sweet chiliis a favorite soup recipe that kids and picky eaters alike will LOVE!

Sweet chilli recipe

Have you heard of people making a sweet chili recipe brown sugar, but weren’t sure what they meant or how to make sweet chili? There are a variety of ways to make this popular chili. You can use sweet chili beans, baked, beans, brown sugar, molasses, or variety of other methods. Let me share with your my award wining,best sweet chili recipe that is both easy to make and the BEST homemade sweet chili you will ever taste!

Sweet Chili

All you need to make this delicious and satisfyingsweet chili are a few common ingredients you can quickly “thow” together.

6-8 slices bacon
1 pound ground beef
1 large sweet pepper
33 ounces tomato sauce
14 cup molasses or brown sugar
1 teaspoon dry mustard
2 large cans baked beans
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
1-2 cups corn (optional)

Best sweet chili recipe

Start out by cutting up and cooking 6-8 pieces of bacon in a large stock pot. We use bacon with no nitrates added. Cook bacon over medium, high heat until the bacon is lightly browned. It only takes about 3-5 minutes because it is already cut up.

Sweet chili recipes

Next, chop up one sweet pepper.

Sweet chili recipe brown sugar

Cook the sweet pepper in with the bacon and the bacon grease. You will continue to cook the pepper and bacon in the pan another 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent over growning.

Cooking the pepper in the bacon grease will add some extra flavor to your chili. You can use red, orange, yellow, purple or even the home grown chocolate pepper varieties.

How to make sweet chili

Then add 1 lb of lean ground beef to your easy sweet chili recipe. We use organic 100% grass fed and finished ground beef, but you could use ground turkey or steak meat if you prefer.

Sweet chili recipe with baked beans

Finally the easy part is dumping in cans of baked beans, brown sugar or molasses, salt / pepper, corn, tomato sauce, and dry mustard (secret ingredient that adds a little something special to your easy sweet chili). Cook until heated thoroughly, about 7-8 more minutes.

Chili with tomato soup and brown sugar

Your recipe can be made quickly in stock pot taking only 20 minutes or you can let it hang out over low heat to let the flavors take longer to mix and develop into a rich, sweet, robust flavor your family will love.

HINT: You can make this crock pot and freezer friendly recipe in an instapot if you prefer by putting it on sauté to cook bacon, pepper, and beef before adding remaining ingredients and setting your pot to cook for 5 minutes.

Easy sweet chili recipe

This hearty, satisfyingsweet chili soup is perfect to warm you up on a cold winters day!

Sweet chili recipe crock pot

Serve your yummy sweet chili with fritos, corn chips, tostitoes, or a slice of cornbread!

Molasses in chili

This easy-to-make, satisfying chili can be made ahead and re-heated, cooked conveniently in the crockpot, or whipped up in a jiffy in under 30 minutes for a quick weekday dinner.

Sweet chili soup

There are several different ways you can play around with and tweak your dinner recipe to make it perfect for your family. Here are a couple additional ingredients you can add to make it uniquely yours:

fire roasted corn (has a deeper flavor)
corn with pimientos (for a little extra kick)
jalapenos (give your chili a sweet and tangy flavor
1/2 cup bbq sauce – adding barbecue sauce gives it a litte zesty twist to this chili recipe with brown sugar
fire roasted tomatoes to add more healthy vegetables (okay so technically it is a fruit, but it is good for you!)

Breakfast Recipes

Amazing Bread Machine Cinnamon Rolls
Homemade Oatmeal: Crockpot Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal,Slow Cooker Blueberry Oatmeal. Bannana Oatmeal, Chocolate Berry Overnight Oats, orButterscotch Oats – a really good oatmeal !
Cinnamon Zucchini Coffee Cake
Family Favorite Blueberry Muffins with a streusal topping
Blueberry Breakfast Casserole
Fall favorite, Breakfast Apple Cake
Breakfast Pizza is such a yummy, Easy Breakfast Ideas
Overnight French Toast Casserole
Dad’s Healthy Egg McMuffin
Heavenly Orange Rolls
Super Easy Egg Casserole you can make ahead
Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread
No Fail Pancake Recipe or our Yummy Banana Pancakes
Sourdough Crepes with Bananas Foster
Homemade, Bread Machine English Muffins – way better than the store bought and easier than you’d think
Pumpkin Waffles are so flavorful and taste like fall
Easy Breakfast Casserole with Croutons

Soup Recipes

BEST Sweet Chili Recipe
Easy Pumpkin Chili
Instapot Corn Chowder Soup
Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup
Best ever Tomato Soup with bacon
Leftover Thanksgiving Soup
Green Chicken Taco Soup
Early Autumn Fall Soup Recipes with sausage and apple

Recipes for Salads and Sandwiches

Creamy Avocado Egg Salad Sandwich
Shredded Chicken Sandwich Recipe that is perfect for company
Grilled Brie and Pear Sandwich
Kid Favorite Quesadilla Pizza School Lunch
Best Oriental Coleslaw with Soy Sauce
Beet Pear and Goat Cheese Salad
Easy Chicken Salad Recipe
Ground Beef Taco Salad
Easy Spinach and Berry Salad

Main Dishes

Mom’s Easy Lasagna Recipe
General Tso Chicken Recipe
Easy Cashew Chicken Recipe
Delicious Homemade Tortilla Recipe
Rich Mac and Cheese Pies
Sausage Make Ahead Foil Packet Dinners
Easy Barbecue Chicken Recipe
Juicy Lemon Chicken Pasta Instant pot
Jazzed up Creamed Chicken over Biscuits
Best Ever Mac and Cheese
Copycat Dave’s Gourmet Butternut Squash Pasta Sauce
Easy Cheese Souffle
Super Tender BBQ Roast
Homemade Copycat Godfathers Taco Pizza Recipe
Easy Crockpot Beef Stroganoff
Leftover Turkey Pot Pie Recipe
How to make homemade pasta
Super Flavorful Grilled Pork Loin
Healthy Pineapple Fried Rice
Seriously the Best, Make Ahead Twice Baked Potatoes
Easy Pasta Recipe with Ham, Walnuts, and Parmesan Cheese

Desserts

This Easy Oreo Cheeseball can be served as an appetizer or dessert!
Making this snow ice cream is one my kids’ favorite annual traditions!
Pumpkin Lava Cake is an ooey gooey fall dessert your family will want seconds of!
This sandcastle ice cream is so clever and EASY to make! You are sure to be the coolest mom on the block!
You don’t need a fancy ice cream maker; here is how to make ice cream in a bag
These homemade cinnamon sugar tortilla chips are the perfect dessert to go along with your Mexican dinner
If you’ve never tried our melt in your mouth sugar cookies, you are missing out!
Whip up a batch of this carmel chex mix for your next game night or potluck!
These snicker cookies are so decadent with a delightful melty middle!
This soft Gingerbread Man Recipe for kids is my most requested for every cookie swap!
I can almost smell this cooking, my perfect every time, best pumpkin pie recipe
My kids favorite cookies – Monster Cookie Recipe
Or make these classic Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
So good their gone, easy homemade brownies recipe
Perfect for summer, Lemon Bars with vanilla wafer crust
Homemade Ice Cream Cake – this is what I request for my birthday cake every year! YUM!
Classic Vanilla Ice Cream in a homemade ice cream maker
Our favorite cake ball recipes
So good you just can’t stop eating it Peanut Butter Chocolate Fudge
Mom’s Homemade Apple Pie

Appetizers

Pepperoni Cheeseball Game Day Appetizers
My famous pineapple cream cheese dip
Zesty Spinach Artichoke Dip
Our GO TO Salsa Recipe with gardne fresh tomatoes
Grab your veggies, they are going to want to take a dunk in this Southwestern Dip
Family Favorite appetizer meatballs with super quick secret sauce!
Quick Pineapple Salsa made from scratch
Sweet and Sour Bacon and Water Chestnut Appetizer
Go to Peanut Butter Dip for Apples
It wouldn’t be Christmas without serving up this family traditional Wassail Recipe

Breads and Side Dishes

Super Moist Southern Cornbread recipe with creamed corn
Easy Bread Machine Hamurger Buns
Super Yummy Quick Yeast Rolls
Rosemary Crock pot Bread
Sweet Potato Sourdough Buns
Delicious Yeastless Bread – quick bread recipe no yeast

Print Recipe

How to make sweet chili

BEST Sweet Chili Recipe

Beth Gorden

Chili can be hit or miss with many kids. But this Sweet Chili Recipe is always a favorite with everyone who tries it!

4.38 from 40 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Course Main Course, Soup

Cuisine American, Fall, winter

Ingredients

6-8 slices bacon
1 pound ground beef
1 large sweet pepper, chopped
33 ounces tomato sauce (1 box)
1/4 cup molasses or brown sugar
1 teaspoon dry mustard
2 large cans baked beans
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
1-2 cups corn, optional

Instructions

In a large stock pot cook 4-6 slices of cut up bacon over medium high heat until it looks about half way done – just about 2-3 minutes.
Add a chopped pepper (any color) to the bacon and continue to cook another 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add 1 lb ground beef and continue to cook until book is thoroughly cooked.
Now add the remaining ingredients and continue cooking until heated thoroughly, about 7-8 more minutes.
Serve with cornbread or tortilla chips.

Beth Gorden

Beth Gorden is the creative multi-tasking creator of 123 Homeschool 4 Me. As a busy homeschooling mother of six, she strives to create hands-on learning activities and worksheets that kids will love to make learning FUN! She has created over 1 million pages of printables to help teach kids ABCs, science, English grammar, history, math, and so much more! Beth is also the creator of 2 additional sites with even more educational activities and FREE printables - www.kindergartenworksheetsandgames.com and www.preschoolplayandlearn.com. Beth studied at the University of Northwestern where she got a double major to make her effective at teaching children while making education FUN!

FAQs

What is the secret to really good chili? ›

Only Add Flavorful Liquids

Instead of adding water to your chili, add some more flavor with chicken or beef broth, red wine vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, or even beet or wine. Each one of these options brings out different notes and levels of sweetness that will enhance your culinary creation.

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What makes chili taste sweet? ›

The real key to great chili however is brown sugar! In fact, brown sugar is what gives the chili a subtle sweetness you never even knew you were missing. With both subtly sweet tones and punches of heat, this Sweet and Spicy Chili, lives up to it's name, it truly is sweet and sassy!

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How do you make sweet chili more savory? ›

If you need to balance that sweetness with a little bit of tang, lemon juice's contrasting flavor can do just that, transforming your chili from sweet to spicy and savory. To use this hack, you are going to want to follow a wash, rinse, repeat approach.

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What does adding sugar to chili do? ›

Why is sugar used in this chili recipe? Sugar is used to cut the acidity of the tomatoes used in my homemade chili recipe. Using a small amount of sugar balances the flavors which in turn creates a smoother and richer taste overall.

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What not to put in chili? ›

Beans and non-vegetable fillers such as rice and pasta are not allowed." If that sounds a bit uptight, the ICS's Homestyle Chili competition defines chili as: "any kind of meat, or combination of meats, and/or vegetables cooked with beans, chili peppers, various spices, and other ingredients.

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What adds the most flavor to chili? ›

If you want more of a smoky flavor, add cumin, Spanish paprika, ancho chili powder, or a combination. If you are looking for more heat, add cayenne, crushed red pepper, or Hungarian paprika. If it's too spicy add a little brown sugar and some sweet paprika.

Read On ›

Should I put brown sugar in my chili? ›

Mmm! Now for the piece de resistance: 1-2 heaping Tablespoons brown sugar. The chili tastes completely different without the brown sugar so if you like a subtle sweetness in your chili then you've just got to go for it! Trust me, it will not make your chili taste like candy.

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What is the sweetest chili? ›

Unlike other peppers that have a one-dimensional heat profile, the Leysa pepper has a complex flavor that includes notes of sweetness and tanginess. This makes it a versatile ingredient in many dishes, from salsas and hot sauces to soups, stews, and curries.

Should I put honey in my chili? ›

The sweet taste offsets some of the spice. I was reluctant to make this because I thought the combination of cinnamon and honey would be bad but it was outstanding. My family has asked me to make this again but to turn up the heat. Excellent chili recipe.

How do you fix sweet chili? ›

However, if you find you are plum out of lemons and your chili is skewing toward the sweet end of the culinary spectrum, you can substitute a little vinegar to help rescue its taste. Just remember to start with a small amount so you don't ruin your pot of chili altogether.

How do you make chili taste deeper? ›

Coffee. A cup of strong, brewed coffee will work wonders for your pot of chili, imparting a deep, roasted flavor that will make the chili taste like it simmered away all day long.

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What is sweet chili sauce made of? ›

It is commonly made with red chili peppers (often Fresno chile, Thai or red jalapeños), rice wine vinegar, sometimes garlic, sometimes fish sauce, and a sweetening ingredient such as fruit or a refined sugar or honey.

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Why do you put vinegar in chili? ›

With only about 1 tablespoon per pot added toward the end of the cooking process, the vinegar will make the flavors more vibrant without overwhelming the dish with its biting tang. Through just a splash, everything becomes a little brighter, and the chili's flavors are more balanced.

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Why do people add brown sugar to chili? ›

The brown sugar gave it a sweet/tangy flavor that reminded me of BBQ-sauce! Th chili was so good - it was hard to stop eating it! I did had some extra veggies (1 cl. garlic, 1 celery stalk, 1 carrot, 1 bell pepper, 1 hot pepper) and used a can of diced tomatoes rather than tomato juice.

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Why do people put baking soda in chili? ›

According to the magazine's food experimenters, the baking soda treatment will definitely keep the meat tender and juicy when cooked.

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What makes the best chili meat? ›

When making chili, former Southern Living Test Kitchen Director, Robby Melvin, recommends using a mix of ground chuck and ground sirloin. "It's the best of both worlds," he says. "You get a balanced lean-to-fat ratio from the chuck and the hearty, beefy leanness from the sirloin."

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Why is my chili not flavorful? ›

Change up the beans. Use black beans, pintos, or a combination of beans to give more flavor. Cook the chili! If you don't cook it long enough (or put in a pressure cooker to speed up the process), it won't taste quite right.

Does sugar make chili taste better? ›

Now for the piece de resistance: 1-2 heaping Tablespoons brown sugar. The chili tastes completely different without the brown sugar so if you like a subtle sweetness in your chili then you've just got to go for it! Trust me, it will not make your chili taste like candy.

Know More ›

Why add vinegar to chilli? ›