• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
That Recipe
  • Recipes
  • Members
  • Subscribe
menu icon
go to homepage
  • Recipes
  • Members
  • Subscribe
  • follow the fun

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
  • subscribe
    search icon
    Homepage link
    • Recipes
    • Members
    • Subscribe
  • follow the fun

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
  • Γ—
    • Frosted pecan blondies on a plate
      Frosted Maple Pecan Blondies: Simple Indulgent Dessert Bars
    • green sauce in a jar
      Chermoula Deliciously Easy African Green Sauce
    • almond ricotta pie topped with strawberry sauce
      Almond Ricotta Pie: Rich Creamy Italian Dessert
    • shrimp and white beans on a plate
      Discover the Deliciousness of Shrimp Oreganata
    • top down view of shrimp spinach frittata topped with avocado
      Shrimp and Spinach Frittata Easy One Pan Meal
    • chicken and broccoli stir fry
      Easy Healthy Chicken and Broccoli Skillet
    • bowl of cocktail wieners in sauce
      Sweet and Spicy Cocktail Wieners
    • Welsh cakes (cookies) on a plate
      Welsh Cakes A Unique and Easy Dessert!
    • eggnog biscotti and a cup of coffee
      Eggnog Biscotti: Crunchy Holiday Treat
    • Southern Tea Cakes on a plate
      Southern Tea Cakes: Tender Tangy Treats
    • collage of no bake treats
      No Bake Recipes to sell at Bake Sales
    • mixed pickles on a plate with a sandwich
      Hot Mixed Pickles Recipe - Spice Up Your Pickling Game
    Home Β» Recipes Β» Beef and Lamb

    This site contains affiliate links to various websites, including Amazon.com. read more

    Wendy's Chili Copycat: Meaty Two Bean Chili

    Published: Feb 23, 2025 by Audrey Β· This post may contain affiliate links.

    Jump to Recipe Print Recipe
    Copycat Wendy's Chili recipe is inspired by the chili served at the Wendy's fast food franchise.

    If you love the chili at Wendy's fast food restaurants, try making it at home with this simple copycat recipe.

    It takes about two hours for all of the flavors to cook together to delicious chili perfection, or you could make it in a slow cooker (5-6 hours) or pressure cooker (20-30 minutes) if that suits your time frame better.

    close up of a bowl of chili with beans. topped with cheese.

    I have a few copycat chili recipes already on the site including Chasen's Chili from Chasen's Restaurant in Hollywood a favorite of movie stars and Tommy's Chili from a beloved southern California burger chain.

    One of the unique things about Wendy's Chili is it uses two kids of beans: pinto and kidney beans. Most chili recipes I have seen use none or one. But the combination really works wonderfully.

    Ingredients for Wendy's Chili

    All of the ingredients are easy to find in the US:

    • ground beef (15% fat or higher preferred)
    • canned low sodium pinto beans
    • canned low sodium kidney beans
    • can diced tomatoes
    • yellow onion
    • jalapeno pepper 
    • Spices: chili powder, cumin powder, salt and pepper

    I use canned beans for convenience, but you can use dried beans that have been soaked if you prefer. Use about ΒΎ cup of dried beans for each 15 ounce can. Soak them overnight in water, or do a quick soak, or cook longer. Discard the soaking water and add about Β½ cup of water for the additional liquid in the canned beans.

    I always opt for low sodium canned beans and add the salt to our preference at the end. Do what you prefer.

    Cooking Wendy's Chili in a Slow Cooker or Pressure Cooker

    Slow Cooker: brown the ground beef in a skillet on the stove then add everything to the crock of a 5-6 quart slow cooker. Cook 3-4 hours on high or 6-8 hours on low.

    Pressure Cooker: brown the ground beef in the cooker then add the remaining ingredients. Cook for 20 minutes on high, let pressure release naturally for 10 minutes then do a quick release of remaining pressure.

    More Chili Recipes from #OurFamilyTable

    Our family table logo

    There are so many delicious ways to enjoy chili. Here are a few to try:

    Celebrating Chili Day

    • Cincinnati Chili 5-Way from A Kitchen Hoor's Adventures
    • Creamy White Chicken Chili from Crazy For Couponing
    • Slow Cooker White Bean and Chicken Chili from Karen's Kitchen Stories
    • Southern Living White Chicken Chili Recipe from Jen Around the World
    • White Chili with Pork or Chicken from Art of Natural Living


    We share Recipes From Our Dinner Table! Join our group and share your recipes, too! While you're at it, join our Pinterest board, too!

    close up of a bowl of chili with beans. topped with cheese.

    Recipe

    Print Recipe Pin Recipe

    Ingredients
     

    • 1 pound ground beef (15% fat or higher preferred)
    • 15 ounce canned low sodium pinto beans (with liquid)
    • 15 ounce canned low sodium kidney beans (with liquid)
    • Β½ cup chopped yellow onion
    • 1 medium jalapeno pepper (seeded and finely chopped)
    • 15 ounce can diced tomatoes
    • 1 cup water (plus more as needed)
    • 2 tablespoons chili powder
    • 1 teaspoons cumin powder
    • salt and pepper, to taste

    Instructions
     

    • Crumble ground beef into a large pot and brown over medium heat. Drain fat if desired.
    • Reduce heat to low, add remaining ingredients and stir to combine. Simmer for 2 hours, stirring every 15- 20 minutes, adding small amounts of extra water as needed.
    • Serve with grated cheese and chopped onions, if desired.

    Notes

    Optional directions for Slow Cooker or Pressure Cooker:
    Slow Cooker: brown the ground beef in a skillet on the stove then add everything to the crock of a 5-6 quart slow cooker. Cook 3-4 hours on high or 6-8 hours on low.
    Pressure Cooker: brown the ground beef in the cooker then add the remaining ingredients. Cook for 20 minutes on high, let pressure release naturally for 10 minutes then do a quick release of remaining pressure.

    Sound fabulous? Share it!

    Until next time, happy eating!
    ~Audrey

    More Beef and Lamb

    • top down view of beef noodle casserole in a backing dish
      Beef Noodle Casserole Hearty Comfort Food
    • top down view of bowls of pot roast
      How to Make Pressure Cooker Pot Roast
    • meatloaf slices on a plate
      Bacon Wrapped Meatloaf Makes A Hearty Comforting Meal
    • beef short ribs on the grill
      Grilled Beef Short Ribs Make an Easy Flavorful Meal

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Christie

      March 02, 2025 at 8:13 am

      I never thought to combine pinto beans and kidney beans! We usually just use light and dark kidney beans. I can't wait to try this. I LOVE their chili.

      Reply

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    Primary Sidebar

    audrey humaciu in kitchen

    Welcome, I'm Audrey, an avid "maker" that believes home made is better.

    Whether it's cooking, crafting, gardening, home dΓ©cor, even blog design, I love getting my hands dirty and trying new things... even if I make a mess in the process.

    learn more -->

    Spring Favorites

    • glasses of lemon blueberry punch with text overlay "sparkling lemon blueberry mocktail"
    • bowl of carrot soup
    • strawberry spinach salad in a bowl
    • square cake topped with fresh strawberries and fresh lavender blossoms

    See more Spring Recipes β†’

    Member Only Content

    Get access to members only content for FREE!

    collage of recipe guides

    Join today

    * indicates required
    /* real people should not fill this in and expect good things - do not remove this or risk form bot signups */

    Intuit Mailchimp

    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    About

    • Privacy Policy/Disclosures
    • Cookie Notice
    • Copyright Notice

    Newsletter

    • Sign Up! for emails and updates

    Contact

    • Contact
    • Work with me

    As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

    Copyright Β© 2025 ThatRecipe

    Manage Cookie Consent
    We use cookies to optimize our website and our service.
    Functional Always active
    The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
    Preferences
    The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
    Statistics
    The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
    Marketing
    The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
    Manage options Manage services Manage {vendor_count} vendors Read more about these purposes
    Preferences
    {title} {title} {title}