Wendy’s Copycat Chili Recipe

Wendy’s chili is amazing, but if you’re like me, you can’t be bothered to go out and grab it some days – no matter how badly you want to. And for me, Wendy’s is a haul (about 45 minutes), so if I want to snuggle up with their chili in a snowstorm… well, I can’t. Not until now, that is.

Wendy’s chili uses beef patties that didn’t make it into their burgers, and while I think it’s important to fry the beef as patties to give the chili some different textures, but it’s definitely easier to just fry the ground beef in non-patty form if you’re not feeling cooking. Additionally, if you’re running tight on time, you can cook it for less than an hour and 20 minutes, but the flavors don’t meld together quite as well that way.

 

This recipe is a great source of fiber, protein, iron, and potassium!

 

Serves	Prep Time	Cook Time	Total Time
10	15 min	1 h 20 min	1 h 35 min

 

Ingredients

• 2 tbs olive oil
• 2 lb. ground beef
• 2 stalks celery
• 1 onion
• 1 green bell pepper
• 42 oz. canned stewed tomatoes
• 10 oz. canned diced tomatoes with green chiles
• 14 oz. can tomato sauce
• 1 cup water
• 5 oz. chili seasoning (2 packs)
• 14 oz. canned kidney beans
• 14 oz. canned pinto beans
• salt and pepper (to taste)
• 1 tbs white vinegar (or to taste)

 

Directions

1. Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Press ground beef into pan to form one large patty. Let the bottom brown for 8 to 10 minutes. Break the ground beef into crumbles and cook until no longer pink, about 5 minutes.
2. While you’re waiting for your beef to cook, wash and chop your produce. Slice onion in half and mince into small chunks. Dice the green pepper into 1/2 in. sections, and slice celery into ½ in sections.
3. Stir celery, onion, and green bell pepper into ground beef. Cook until onion is softened, about 5 minutes.
4. Add stewed tomatoes, diced tomatoes with green chiles, tomato sauce, water, and chili seasoning.
5. Mix kidney beans and pinto beans into chili, season with salt and black pepper, and bring to a boil until fragrant, 1 – 2 minutes. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 1 hour.
6. Mix vinegar into chili before serving.

 

Nutrition

Calories	535
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 10.1g	13%
Saturated Fat 2.7g	14%
Cholesterol 81mg	27%
Sodium 614mg	27%
Total Carbohydrate 63.3g	23%
Dietary Fiber 15.1g	54%
Total Sugars 8.8g
Protein 48g
Vitamin D 0mcg	0%
Calcium 111mg	9%
Iron 23mg	126%
Potassium 1994mg	42%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calorie a day is used for general nutrition advice.

 

Notes

• Top with tortilla strips, cheese, sour cream, green onions, hot sauce – or all of the above!
• The extra chili freezes well so you can make a full batch and have an emergency dinner in the freezer if needed.
• Stores well in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, in the freezer for up to 2 months.