The temperatures are finally starting to fall, which is exciting for countless reasons. But at Yummly, it's exciting because it opens up the menu for a whole different set of dishes and recipes to explore. Salads are replaced by casseroles, and we push aside sandwiches for the warmth of soup. But one of our favorite things to eat in the fall is chili. Chili is an easy one-pot meal that can be on the table fairly quickly, depending on the recipe. However, if you follow the keto diet, you may require a special recipe to make chili keto-friendly. We put together a list of our favorite keto recipes to help you find the right low-carb chili for you.

Before You Get Started

If you're new to the world of keto recipes, what you should know is that most beans are too high in carbs for the keto diet. While beans are one of the key components in common chili recipes, most of these recipes don't contain beans in order to make them keto-friendly. However, in some of the recipes that don't contain meat, you may find a small amount of beans to give the recipe some protein.

30 Minute Hearty Keto Chili

30 Minute Hearty Keto Chili by Perfect Keto
This recipe is about as simple as it gets for a keto chili recipe. Made with tomato paste, bell peppers, and a whole pound of grass-fed beef, you won't miss the beans at all. If you let the stew reduce a bit, you can repurpose this chili for use in tacos with avocado and shredded cheddar to make an easy Mexican meal.

Keto Instant Pot Chunky Chili

Keto Instant Pot Chunky Chili by Beauty and the Foodie
While many beanless recipes rely on extra meat to make it filling, this recipe calls pumpkin into play to give it heft and texture. Pumpkin is a surprisingly low-carb vegetable that is much lower in calories than kidney beans, but has much more flavor. This recipe also includes cauliflower and zucchini so it tastes slightly different (read: better) than traditional chili.

Keto Short Rib Chili

Keto Short Rib Chili by All Day I Dream About Food
If you want to try a truly low-carb chili, this one is almost pure protein. This recipe leaves out tomato paste and tomato sauce and instead uses canned fire-roasted tomatoes. While this blogger turns up the heat with minced jalapeños, you can cool it down with a dollop of sour cream.

The Easiest Low Carb Keto Chili

The Easiest Low Carb Keto Chili by Fit to Serve
This recipe also leaves out tomato paste and opts for less carb-heavy crushed tomatoes and chopped cherry tomatoes. It's an excellent candidate for meal prep, as most of the ingredients can be chopped or measured ahead of time to make weeknight meals easy.

Beanless Pumpkin Keto Chili

Beanless Pumpkin Keto Chili by Wicked Stuffed
This is another recipe that calls on pumpkin for flavor and texture, but takes it a leap further with pumpkin pie spice. If that sounds too daring, consider that Cincinnati's famous chili is made with cinnamon; if a city of 300,000 people approves of it, you might like it, too.

Keto Vegetarian Chili

Keto Vegetarian Chili by Hello Veggie
Making a keto chili that's also vegetarian sounds like a tough task as most keto recipes rely on animal protein. This recipe incorporates crumbled tempeh for the protein and replaces beef broth or bone broth with vegetable stock.

Vegan Keto Walnut Chili

Vegan Keto Walnut Chili by Abbey's Kitchen
Vegan keto chili is just as easy to make as the vegetarian version. This recipe uses a few unexpected ingredients in addition to the walnuts, like mushrooms, coconut milk, and cocoa powder, all of which add texture and flavor. It also calls for soy meat of your choice, which means you can choose from items like soy burgers or soy sausage for the protein. On top of being a high-protein vegan dish, it's also gluten-free and dairy-free.

Super Easy Keto Chicken Chili

Super Easy Keto Chicken Chili by Fit to Serve
This keto chicken chili is slightly more unusual, not because it calls for chicken, but because of the addition of cream cheese. It doesn't add much more protein, but it does add fat and improves the texture of the chili.

Slow Cooker Keto Chili

Slow Cooker Keto Chili by Liv Breathe Keto
If you're a "set it and forget it" cook and low-carb diet follower, this might be the recipe you're looking for. Just don't forget to add the xanthan gum at the end of cooking for a thick chili. If you want a complete meal, try this recipe for keto cornbread.

Keto Chocolate Chili

Keto Chocolate Chili by Keto Size Me
This is, by far, the most unusual low-carb chili recipe on the list. While the heat from cayenne pepper and paprika is smoothed out by cocoa powder, extra flavor is delivered via black coffee and Worchestershire sauce. It also gets an extra protein injection from bacon and kielbasa in addition to the ground beef (or ground turkey if you'd like).

One Pot Keto White Chicken Chili

One Pot Keto White Chicken Chili by Mama's Geeky
If you're not in the mood for a tomato and beef chili, perhaps you can be tempted by chicken and cream. This recipe uses all the traditional chili spices (cayenne, cumin, chili powder, onion powder, and garlic powder), but uses cream cheese and mozzarella cheese for its flavor base instead of crushed or diced tomatoes. For the veggies, this recipe calls for green peppers, which is not unusual — but spinach is. And it works.

Instant Pot Turkey Sweet Potato Chili

Instant Pot Turkey Sweet Potato Chili by Tasty Thin
For those who don't eat beef, this turkey chili is laden with so many good things, your beef-eating friends might ask you for a taste. Of course, this recipe calls for sweet potatoes, which do have 17-20 grams of net carbs. How many carbs you can handle in a day depends on your meal plan, but that just means you have to be cognizant of how much you're putting in the chili as well as your serving size of chili. Garnish it with cilantro for a one-dish keto meal that also happens to be paleo-friendly.

Hungry for more?

If you didn't find exactly what you were looking for, here are several more keto chili recipes to explore on Yummly.