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Copycat Wendy’s Chili: Beef and Bean Recipe
Wendy’s Chili
Inspired by Wendy’s Chili Not the official recipe
- 1 hr 35 min
- Makes 8 servings of about 1¼ cups
- ~$2.54 per serving~£1.10 per serving
- Not enough ratings yet
A thick, beefy chili in the style of the Wendy's classic, with two kinds of beans, celery and green pepper. One pot, about 90 minutes, eight generous bowls.
Clone Score
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Rate the cloneCost at home
~$2.54 each at home
- Homemade
- ~$20.34 for 8 (~$2.54 each)
- At Wendy’s
- ~$22.32 for 8
~£1.10 each at home
- Homemade
- ~£8.80 for 8 (~£1.10 each)
Estimate · prices checked Oct 2026 · vary by location · excl. tax & delivery.
Estimate. Restaurant prices checked Oct 2026. Prices vary by location; tax and delivery fees are not included. Pantry staples (salt, oil…) are not included.
Ingredients
- Pantry
- Pantry
- Pantry
Pantry staples are not included in the cost estimate.
Ingredient cost
- Homemade
- ~$20.34 for 8 (~$2.54 each)
- At Wendy’s
- ~$22.32 for 8
- Homemade
- ~£8.80 for 8 (~£1.10 each)
Method quantities are for the original 8 servings of about 1¼ cups.
Kitchen gear
- Large heavy pot (Dutch oven or casserole)
Method
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Heat a large heavy pot (Dutch oven or casserole) over medium-high heat. Press the beef into 4 thin patties and sear them 2 at a time for 3 to 4 minutes per side, until well browned. Move them to a board.
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Turn the heat to medium. Cook the onion, celery and green pepper in the beef fat with a pinch of salt for 6 to 8 minutes, until soft.
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Chop the seared patties into pea-size pieces and return them to the pot with any juices. Add the chili powder, cumin and black pepper and stir for 1 minute, until fragrant.
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Add the tomatoes with their juice, the tomato sauce, the water, the sugar and the salt. Bring to a boil, then stir in both kinds of beans.
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Lower the heat and simmer uncovered for about 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes, until the chili is thick enough that a spoon dragged across the bottom leaves a trail.
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Taste and adjust the salt, then serve hot.
Tips for a closer clone
- Searing the beef as patties and then chopping it gives browned, chunky pieces instead of fine gray crumbs.
- Simmer uncovered: the chili should be thick and spoonable, not soupy.
- It is even better the next day. Cool it, refrigerate it, and reheat gently with a splash of water.
- Freeze single portions in airtight containers for up to 3 months.
- Classic toppings: shredded cheddar, diced raw onion and saltine crackers (cream crackers in the UK).
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The Clone Score is how close cooks say it gets to the original. Taste stars are separate: a dupe can taste great without being identical.
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About this dupe
UK and US: In the UK, use beef mince (20% fat), mild chilli powder, two 400 g tins of chopped tomatoes and a 500 g carton of passata in place of the US cans. UK chilli powder is mostly ground chillies, while US chili powder is a seasoning blend, so start with mild and taste before adding more. Wendy’s lists pink beans and red kidney beans; pinto beans are the closest match on both sides of the Atlantic, and kidney beans alone also work.
vs the original: Wendy’s says its chili has been on the menu for more than 50 years and is sold in all of its US restaurants (Wendy’s blog, checked 14 Oct 2026). Wendy’s UK lists a Chili con Carne side made with ground beef, pink and red kidney beans, tomatoes, onions, celery and green peppers (Wendy’s UK menu, checked 14 Oct 2026).
Where this recipe comes from
Untested: a starting point written with AI help and checked against our recipe rules. Nobody has cooked it yet. Make it, rate how close it gets, and tell us what you changed. How we label recipes
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Copycat recipe inspired by the restaurant original. Not the official recipe. DupeEats is not affiliated with Wendy’s.
The original
From dupeeats.com/d010 · Copycat recipe, not the official recipe. DupeEats is not affiliated with any restaurant brand.
