Wendy's Chili Recipe Copycat (2024)

Published: · Modified: by Raquel · This post may contain affiliate links · 4 Comments

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This Wendy's Chili Copycat recipe is made easily in your instant pot. Perfect when you want dinner to practically cook itself. So delicious and the family loves it!

Wendy's chili is so easy to make and you can pair this tasty chili up with our homemade cornbread for a wonderful meal!

Wendy's Chili Recipe Copycat (1)

Good Morning Friends!

This weekend we got our holiday decorations up and watched a few holiday movies. The weather had not quite felt like winter, but the evenings are cooler. I want to share a tasty comfort food recipe with you today.

Why You Will Love This Recipe

This Wendy's chili recipe copycat is perfect for cold evenings and days when you want a hot and hearty meal on the table. This delicious chili recipe has a few ingredients, but it comes together deliciously in your instant cooker.

This copycat version is just like what y0u can find at the fast food chain. I think it is actually better than the real thing. The spices in this recipe add a nice chili seasoning and is easily a favorite chili recipe.

This is a great recipe for your instant pot. Super easy with just a few ingredients and some canned beans. It is the perfect chili recipe for tailgate parties too!

Wendy's Chili Recipe Copycat (2)

So tasty and full of flavor. You can top it with sour cream, cheese, or onions if you wish.

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More Easy Chili Recipe Ideas

  • Zero Points Chili Recipe - One of our top recipes, made by thousands.
  • Stovetop White Chicken Chili- A quick dinner idea made on your stovetop.
  • Slow Cooker White Chili - Make chili in your slow cooker for thos busy days.
  • Bacon chili - A chili recipe for the bacon lover.
  • Slow Cooker Beef Chili - A delicious beef chili made in your slow cooker.

Ingredient List For Wendy's Copycat Chili

This recipe just takes a few ingredients you likely already have on hand.

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List of main ingredients:

Ground beef - I like to use an 80/20% (f 80 percent lean beef to 20 percent fat) for chili. You can also use ground turkey if you wish

Beans –I like using dark Red kidney beans for the chili. But you can use your favorite types of beans. Light Red beans work too. Pinto beans are also included in this recipe.

Tomato Puree –Tomato puree adds a nice thickness to this recipe. If you would rather use tomato sauce, you can use a ration of 1:3 with water to make a consistency similar to puree.

How to Make Wendy's Copycat Chili Recipe

The full recipe is below, but the basic steps are:

  1. Brown ground beef and drain.
  2. Add broth to the instant pot.
  3. Mix tomatoes.
  4. Add beans and the rest of the ingredients to the pot.

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Recipe Variations, Notes and Substitutions

  • You can use tomato sauce as a substitute for tomato puree.
  • Prepare your vegetables ahead of time. Chop ingredients and store in the refrigerator until ready to use.
  • No garlic? You can use garlic powder in place of the garlic cloves.
  • Store leftover chili in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3-4 days.

Serving Suggestions

  • Serve with saltine crackers and/or a variety of your favorite toppings. Try with chopped green onions, chopped green peppers, Cheddar cheese, or crushed tortilla chips.
  • You can also add a little hot sauce to warm it up.
  • Make a double batch and enjoy this chili over hot dogs or hamburger patties for a second dinner.

Don't forget to bookmark this recipe.

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Wendy's Chili Recipe Copycat

📖 Recipe

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Wendy's Chili Recipe Copycat

Raquel Pineira

This Wendy's Chili Copycat recipe is made easily in your instant pot. Perfect when you want dinner to practicsally cook itself. So delicious and the family loves it!

4.96 from 24 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 30 minutes mins

Total Time 40 minutes mins

Course Easy Dinner Ideas

Cuisine American

Ingredients

  • 2 lbs ground beef
  • 1 large onion diced
  • 1 stalk celery diced
  • 1 green bell pepper seeded and diced
  • 2 cloves garlic minced
  • 4 cups beef broth
  • 1 16 oz can light red kidney beans drained and rinsed
  • 1 15 oz can pinto beans drained and rinsed
  • 1 29 oz can tomato puree
  • 1 15 oz can petite diced tomatoes
  • 2 tablespoons dark chili powder
  • 2 teaspoons ground cumin powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • ½ teaspoon black pepper
  • ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper

Instructions

  • 1. Using the instant pot cooker on the saute mode, heat until “hot.” Add the ground beef and onion.

  • 2, Cook until the beef is completely browned.

  • 3. Stir the celery, bell pepper, and garlic into the meat so the residual heat will begin to soften the vegetables. Transfer the meat mixture to a colander to drain well.

  • 4. While the meat drains, pour the beef broth into the electric pressure cooker and scrape the bottom with a wooden spoon to deglaze the pot.
    Return the meat mixture to the electric pressure cooker. Then, add the beans and stir to evenly distribute the ingredients.

  • 5. In an large bowl, combine the tomato puree, diced tomatoes, and seasonings. Stir to combine and then pour over the mixture in the pressure cooker. Do not stir

  • 6.. Place the lid on the pressure cooker and set the valve to sealing. Program the pressure cooker on “manual” or “pressure cook” for 30 minutes.

  • 7. When the cooking cycle has completed, perform a quick release. Remove the lid and stir the chili.

  • Serve with desired toppings: diced onion, shredded cheese, and/or sour cream.

Nutrition

Serving: 1gCalories: 518kcalCarbohydrates: 39gProtein: 43gFat: 22gSaturated Fat: 8gPolyunsaturated Fat: 10gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 101mgSodium: 1211mgFiber: 7gSugar: 10g

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We hope you enjoyed this copycat Wendy’s chili recipe.

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Wendy's Chili Recipe Copycat (8)

Wendy's Chili Recipe Copycat (9)

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About Raquel

Southern California mom who blogs about time-saving recipes, entertaining and party ideas.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Tamara

    I haven't had Wendy's in AGES and we were talking about it tonight. I totally loved their chili! I'm going to try this!

    Reply

    • Raquel

      It's been a while for me too - this is really close to theirs.

      Reply

  2. Donna Reidland

    This sounds delicious, warm and hearty. A great combo this time of year!

    Reply

  3. Linda

    Love this chili! And even better because I can cook this in an Instant Pot.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Wendy's Chili Recipe Copycat (2024)

FAQs

What makes Wendy's chili taste so good? ›

The reason we love Wendy's chili so much really comes down to three things: the beef, the beans, and the fact that it's straight comfort food.

What are the ingredients of Wendy's chili? ›

Chili Concentrate: Chili Sauce (Water, Tomato Juice, Tomatoes, Calcium Chloride, Seasoning (Sugar, Salt, Corn Starch, Dried Chilies, Spices, Flavor Enhancer [Dextrose, Salt, Yeast Extract, Silicon Dioxide, Modified Corn Starch], Citric Acid, Disodium Inosinate, Disodium Guanylate, Xanthan gum), Beans (Pink Beans, Red ...

What is Wendy's hot chili seasoning? ›

The ingredients listed on the real Hot Chili Seasoning are water, corn syrup, salt, distilled vinegar, natural flavors, xanthan gum, and extractives of paprika.

What secret ingredient will deepen the flavor of your chili? ›

Stir some puréed pumpkin into your chili just after sautéing your aromatics (onions, garlic, etc...) and before adding any liquid. This will deepen and sweeten its flavor, making it a great balance for all the chile peppers and heat.

What does Wendy's use as fillers in their meat? ›

Our signature square hamburger patties have no fillers or additives, because we know the beef is what matters when it comes to making the best hamburger in the game.

Is Wendy's chili made from leftover burgers? ›

He even asked himself, “what do you do with the leftover hamburger?” The answer was simple: combine the beef we use for our hamburgers with a hearty helping of vegetables, chili beans and a dash of spice. Creating the perfect chili recipe wasn't easy, but Dave knew it would be worth it.

What adds the most flavor to chili? ›

Cocoa powder, bacon, cinnamon, ground coffee and tomato paste will all add a rich sweet & salty flavors that are sure to surprise and delight. Warming spice blends, like Garam Masala, Ras el Hanout or Baharat are another simple and delicious way to add layered flavors to this simple one-pot meal.

How unhealthy is Wendy's chilli? ›

According to the Wendy's website, a large chili contains 1,270 milligrams of sodium. This is approximately 55 percent of the recommended daily sodium allowance for adults, which is under 2,300 milligrams. Furthermore, the chili has 15 grams of total fat, 30 milligrams of cholesterol, and 31 grams of total carbs.

Is Wendy's chili made fresh every day? ›

Made fresh every day

We prep from scratch every day—slicing our tomatoes by hand, preparing our house-made chili and cooking our bacon to ensure quality and freshness in every order.

Is Wendy's selling canned chili? ›

Get the same delicious flavor you love—minus the beans—with this no-bean canned chili, inspired by the famous Wendy's chili recipe. Hearty seasoned beef, tender peppers, and savory spices come together in this flavorful favorite. Heat and enjoy.

What company makes Wendy's chili? ›

The canned product is made by Conagra, the massive corporate owner of other canned foods such as Wolf brand chili and Chef Boyardee, so you know manufacturing Wendy's restaurant chili as a mass-marketed canned product is bound to be this company's forte.

Why is Wendy's chili different? ›

The meat in Wendy's chili starts as something else

The meat that's used for Wendy's chili might never have been frozen, but it wasn't browned specifically for a batch of chili. It's actually leftover meat — but that's even more reason to love it.

Is Mccormick chili seasoning the same as chili powder? ›

Is chili powder the same thing as chili seasoning? No. Chili powder is made with ground chilis and sometimes the addition of paprika, cumin and Mexican Oregano. Chili seasoning is a combination of 8 spices used to make chili or other recipes that call for chili seasoning.

Does Wendy's chili have garlic? ›

This Wendy's chili is made of ground beef, onion, celery, green pepper, green chilies, kidney beans, pinto beans, crushed tomatoes and beef broth. It's super flavourful thanks to the wide range of seasonings including Worcestershire sauce, chili powder, sugar, cumin, onion powder, paprika, salt, pepper and garlic.

What is the sand in Wendy's chili? ›

Wendy's Chili: Sand

One key ingredient to Wendy's chili is an anti-caking agent called silicon dioxide. Street name: sand or glass powder.

Does Wendy's use real beef in their chili? ›

The Wendy's Chili recipe ingredients are simple at their core, but at Wendy's it's all about blending our signature beef with the perfect mix of hearty vegetables, chili beans and savory spices. The result is a taste that's both satisfying and sentimental, and it's the perfect comfort food anytime of the year.

What gives chili its distinct flavor? ›

Cumin, Chile Powders, and Paprika are the most common spices in chili followed by garlic, onion, coriander, Mexican oregano, and bay leaves. These ingredients can be combined to create a savory and well-balanced pot of top notch comfort food.

What are some facts about Wendy's chili? ›

Nutrition Facts
  • Nutrition Facts.
  • Amount per serving.
  • Calories240.
  • Total Fat11 g14.1%
  • Saturated Fat4.5 g22.5%
  • Trans Fat1 g.
  • Cholesterol20 mg6.67%
  • Sodium930 mg40.43%

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