Love Wendy’s Famous Chili? Try our Copycat Recipe (It May Just Be Better Than The Original!)
Try our Wendy’s copycat chili recipe!
Wendy’s is famous for many things…
From their signature Frosty to thick-cut fries and square hamburger patties, they really do stand apart from the masses. Upholding their mission to be unique, it’s no surprise that chili is a staple on the menu.
Whether on a potato, in a taco salad, or à la carte with a side of saltines, do you love Wendy’s chili as much as we do? If the answer is yes, then you’re sure to love our knock-off version as well… maybe even better!
What I learned about Wendy’s chili (and didn’t really want to know).
My first go at recreating Wendy’s chili was to craft a low-carb Wendy’s copycat chili recipe for our sister site, Hip2Keto. Here’s what I discovered…
While researching all the deets on the real Wendy’s chili ingredients, apparently, the trademark flavor of Wendy’s beloved chili comes from (drum roll please)…left-over, cooked hamburger patties!
Allegedly, we’ve heard claims that the ground beef used in the signature chili comes from leftover hamburgers. When the burger patties aren’t used within a certain amount of time, they’re “discarded” and placed in a container to be refrigerated. Then they’re boiled down and chopped up to be used in good, old (pun intended) Wendy’s chili.
Wendy’s states that everything it does follows health and safety procedures and using leftover hamburger meat in the chili decreases food waste. Hey, there’s nothing wrong with being economical—after all, we are Hip2Save! Go, Wendy’s!
That said, my family prefers the Hip2Save Wendy’s copycat chili WAY more than the real thing!
While there’s really no easy way of mimicking the flavor of old, greasy burger patties, this Wendy’s copycat chili hones in on the flavors we love so much about the original. It’s wonderful the night I make it and even better the next day. Leftovers are fabulous on a hot dog, smothered over nachos, or when I’m feeling healthy, poured over a steamy baked potato. 🥔
Hip Tip: If you like a kick to your chili, add 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper to the spice list or try a splash per individual serving of your favorite hot sauce. In our house, we love Merf’s! (My personal fave is Electric Lime.)
Wendy's Copycat Chili Recipe
yield: 8 SERVINGS
prep time: 15 MINUTES
cook time: 1 HOUR 30 MINUTES
total time: 1 HOUR 45 MINUTES
The closest thing to Wendy's chili, made from scratch at home!
Ingredients
- 2 pounds ground beef (I use 85/15)
- 1 1/2 cups yellow onion, finely diced
- 1/2 cup celery, finely diced
- 1/4 cup green bell pepper, finely diced
- 1 (15 oz) can light red kidney beans, drained
- 1 (15 oz) can pinto beans, drained
- 1 (15 oz) can crushed tomatoes in puree
- 1 (15 oz) can petite diced tomatoes, with juice
- 4 cups tomato juice (1 quart)
- 3 tablespoons chili powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon oregano
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
Directions
1
In a large pot, brown the ground beef until just done. Drain the fat leaving about a tablespoon or two.
2
To the pot with beef, add the onion, celery, and bell pepper. Cook over medium-high heat for another five minutes.
3
Now add all the remaining ingredients including the spices and Worcestershire sauce. Cover the pot and simmer for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally.
4
Uncover and remove from heat for 10 minutes before serving. If desired, top with shredded cheddar cheese and finely diced onions. Enjoy!
Our homemade Wendy’s copycat chili recipe makes a happy belly!
Your whole family is sure to love this knock-off Wendy’s chili. It’s mild enough for the kiddos and versatile enough to use the leftovers as a meal starter the following day. Try it over elbow macaroni topped with shredded cheddar for a quick chili mac — Yummm!
Thanks! Love chili. If anyone has a bojangles biscuit recipe would love to have it. Best ever!!
We don’t have bojangles but we have Popeyes and I think they are co-owned. If so, Popeye’s biscuits are a staple around here and I found a packet, in Walmart, recently to make your own. I haven’t made them yet but I’m excited to try them. I thought I would mention this here in case you can find the Popeyes mix and see if it’s similar to bojangles’ biscuits. I have already used the mix for Red Lobster biscuits and it was dead on and delicious. I’m hopeful about the Popeye’s one!
I’ve been wanting to make chili lately and have all the ingredients in the house for this. Super excited to try your copycat recipe 🙂
This is true. I worked at Wendy’s as an assistant manager for 8 years. They actually boil it first if they need to be put in the freezer to use for a later date. Then boiled again when needed for chili. Very yummy.. Try making taco salads with it too.
Can I follow the directions exactly starting from #2? My mom recently became a vegetarian, but she used to love this chili. I’d really like to make it for her!
Ketsy, maybe instead of ground beef you could use cooked mushrooms or textured vegetable protein. You’ll need something to substitute for the missing 2 lbs of ground beef, otherwise your chili might come out kind of soupy. I’m sure whatever substitute you make it will come out delicious!
Great idea, Bunny! Either way would work really well!
I’m a vegetarian. When it calls for beef I substitute brown rice, about 1/3 cup for this recipe. My husband is a beef eater and likes the rice substitute.
I agree 100% about trying soy-based TVP — you can buy it in bulk at WF or Sprouts. It has no flavor on its own but pulls in whatever flavor it’s cooked with. It’s very economical too — in fact, anybody on a budget ought to learn to sub it 50/50 with beef to cut your cost (and your bad cholesterol!) without cutting the amount of protein! The texture of TVP so closely resembles burger crumbles that most meat-eaters have no idea it’s not beef!
Thank you all so much for your replies! They all sound yummy. Can’t wait to try it!
Red lentils thicken up chili and soups and taste fantastic!
TVP (textured vegetable protein) will work great. Look for it in the Bob’s Red Mills section of your grocery.
You can use two cans of pinto beans and two cans of kidney. I make a similar copycat recipes and that’s what we do! We are vegetarian 🙂
I love Wendy’s chili after reading this post I will never eat it again. But I will definitely try the copy cat chili.
I worked at Wendy’s during high school, for five years. The hamburgers were put on the grill and could only be turned and pressed TWICE before having to put away as “chili meat.” They weren’t disgusting or had been sitting around for hours. They were immediately placed in the freezer and could only be kept (frozen) for 5 days. When needed, the burgers were boiled and chopped finely before being added to the chili.
Well, you might have to just stop eating out, because 90% of the food in restaurants has been pre-cooked somewhere else, MONTHS or YEARS ago. It’s a rare and expensive restaurant that will cook you a fresh chicken breast. It came frozen, with cute grill marks already painted on. Soup and chili comes frozen in a bag, or in a huge can. Most places don’t even clean and chop their lettuce for salads.
At least Wendy’s chili is really made from fresh, never frozen, excellent quality meat, right there at the restaurant. And don’t you use your own leftover meat the next day?
That’s not dramatic at all lol
Why would people act like it’s disgusting that they would use the leftover patties to make the chili?? It’s not like it’s rotten or something! Don’t a lot of us use leftovers and turn them into something else? I’ll continue to eat their chili!
Not only that do know that some pig farmers rely on discarded food to feed pigs. We call it recycling food. All of our left overs go to our pigs. Nothing is wasted. We also feed pig feed in addition to scraps.
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I grew up on a farm so I know what you are talking about. However in many states this is now an illegal practice for meat sold to the public. Other states allow it but specify what can and can’t be fed to hogs. There is a risk of transmitting disease to the hogs from humans and back to people. Complicated. I can remember my dad coming home with large containers of slop from the cafeteria of the school where he worked.
I know! Seem’s Wendy’s was really forward thinking, so as to not waste their patties!
And if they didn’t, then people would be offended by that. Some folks just need a reason to complain about every little thing all the time. It’s kind of sad, actually.
I used to work at Wendy’s they take the old burgers and drop them into this big plastic bucket on the floor that sits there for a looong time then put them in the fridge overnight for the next day chili. I never ate the chili after that lol. Definitely make it yourself at home!!
That’s definitely not the way it was done at the Wendy’s I worked at.
How many does this serve? We’re making chili tonight, and I think I may follow this recipe instead!
Hi Mackyjane! The recipe serves eight. The servings info. is currently located at the top of the post but we’re working on moving it above the ingredients list within the recipe. Enjoy!!
Can this be made in a pressure cooker ( instant pot ) .. if yes can you please tell me how you would do it… i have one and never ever use it, i want to start using it thank you
Hi Debbie. I haven’t tried that cooking method yet but I consulted with my instant pot buddy and here’s what she said: Do steps 1 & 2 on the saute setting. Then follow step 3 using the cook/manual mode. I would imagine the cooking time can be cut down to 20-30 minutes. I’d love to hear how it turns out! 😊
I used to work at Bill Miller’s. Never get the “chop” sandwiches. These are the shredded meat sandwiches with sauce. Poor boy sandwiches are great!! I still eat at Bills; everything is good except these chopped sandwiches. There’s a reason they’re so cheap.
Just made this recipe with a few tweaks… it is awesome!! I did 1.7 lbs of meat, added an extra can of beans, skipped the celery but used a whole green pepper (chopped). Awesome!!!
Yay—That’s great to hear! I love chili because it’s so easy to tweak and modify. I’m very happy that you enjoyed it! Warm wishes!
Hi Marley! Just made this and the only tweak was I cut the recipe in half because it’s just the two of us.
It’s so yummy and perfect for a cold winter day. Thank you for posting 🙂
Bunny, thanks so much for letting me know that you liked it! Happy holidays to you and your other half! ❤️
My chili is four ingredients. A pound of ground meat – turkey, chicken, beef; I’ve used all of them. A packet of chili seasoning. Two small cans, 8 ounces I think, or one large can, 15 ounces, tomato sauce. One can of dark red kidney beans, rinsed. That’s it. I guess I usually do add a little water too. Makes three or four servings, depending how much you eat. Easy to double, triple. I like to eat leftovers in a tortilla.
I’ve known for years that Wendy’s uses the leftover patties in the chili, it’s usually not chopped super fine so you can still tell what it is, I assumed they weren’t trying to hide it lol. I make homemade chili a few times a year but I still love Wendy’s chili with cheese and saltines! Thanks for sharing your version, I might try this instead of my own next time!
TVP (textured vegetable protein) will work great. Look for it in the Bob’s Red Mills section of your grocery.
Thanks. I love this chili!
Yay! That’s so great to hear!! 🙂
What if I wanted to use burgers that didn’t get quite well-done enough for my liking, that just need a little more cooking…how long to cook? An hour+ makes me think the meat would turn into something inedible.
Throw them back in a pan, overcook them, then put into your chili.
On the contrary, its completely easy to mimic old, greasy hamburger patties. Overcook them!
This recipe is spot on. We have it about once a month. I’ve done 93/7 turkey and 80/20 beef in addition to the recommended 85/15. It’s mild just like Wendy’s. Now if only I can find a good wendy’s chili seasoning recipe!
I use Spicy V8. Makes it extra YUMMY! 😋😋😋
Thanks for sharing that suggestion! Sounds delicious! 🌶
Sounds good, but beans are not Keto.
Hey Debra! Here’s our Keto version without the beans! https://hip2keto.com/recipes/wendys-keto-chili/ Enjoy! 💞🤗
Thank you.
You’re very welcome! ❤️