My potato chili skillet is a hearty one-pan dinner made with simple pantry staples. It’s cozy, customizable, and made completely on the stovetop. I love making this skillet on busy weeknights because it’s filling, delicious and requires minimal clean up.
- One-pan dinner with minimal cleanup: I love a one-pan meal, and this one is just that! You’ll cook all the ingredients together in one skillet, and then you can even serve it right out of the skillet as well.
- Easy to customize: Want to swap the beans? Great! Want to use a different variety of potato? Go for it! Substituting ground chicken or turkey for the ground beef? Love it!
- Hearty and filling: This is a hearty and filling dish with 21g of protein per serving.
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Diced white onion: Feel free to use yellow or red onion if you prefer.
- Spices: Chili powder, ground cumin and garlic powder is all you’ll need. My chili seasoning works great, too!
- Mini golden potatoes
- Ground beef: Ground chicken or turkey will also work with this recipe.
- Cherry tomatoes: You’ll slice the tomatoes in half, and they’ll burst and cook down perfectly.
- Diced green bell pepper: Or any color bell pepper of your choice!
- Canned kidney beans: Feel free to substitute for garbanzo beans, pinto beans or black beans.
- Diced tomatoes with green chiles: You’ll just need a small can. Want to amp up the spice? Grab a can of diced tomatoes with jalapeños.
- Beef broth: I love the robust flavor of beef broth, but feel free to use your favorite broth.
How to Make a Potato Chili Skillet
- Sauté the onions, garlic, chili powder and potatoes: Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the diced onion and season with salt, and sauté until the onion is translucent. Add the garlic, chili powder, and potatoes to the skillet and toss to coat. Sauté for a few more minutes until the potatoes start to soften.
- Add the remaining ingredients to the skillet: Add the ground beef and cook it until it is mostly cooked through. Then, add the cherry tomatoes, bell pepper, kidney beans, diced tomatoes, broth, cumin, garlic powder, and the additional chili powder and salt, and bring it to a boil over high heat.
- Simmer over low heat: This step will take 15-20 minutes. Make sure to stir occasionally to be sure the potatoes aren’t sticking to the bottom of the pan. You’ll know the dish is ready when the potatoes are fork-tender and most of the liquid has evaporated or been soaked up.
- Serve and enjoy! Serve immediately topped with Greek yogurt, cheddar cheese and green onion. Yum!
Variations & Easy Swaps
- Ground beef –> Ground chicken, ground turkey, or a plant-based ground
- Kidney beans –> Pinto beans, garbanzo beans or white northern beans
- White onion –> Red onion or yellow onion
- Mini gold potatoes –> Any potato cut into 1 in. chunks
What to Serve With It
This recipe is amazing served as-is, or you can jazz things up with any (or all!) of the following toppings:
- Chips – tortilla chips or Fritos!
- Cilantro
- Greek yogurt or sour cream
- Green onions
- Hot sauce
- Shredded cheese
How to Store & Reheat
This potato chili skillet keeps well in the fridge to enjoy throughout the week. I’ve also tested freezing it for later, and that works great, too.
Storing in the Fridge
Store the chili skillet in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
To reheat: Either place multiple servings of the potato chili skillet back into the skillet and heat over medium heat until boiling or place 1 serving of chili skillet into a microwave-safe bowl and microwave on high for 1 minute and 30 seconds to 2 minutes.
Storing in the Freezer
This recipe is the perfect chili to freeze! I wrote an entire post on how to freeze soup and it works the exact same way for a potato chili skillet.
- Let your chili skillet cool completely.
- Then, transfer it into an airtight container or freezer-safe gallon-size bag.
- Remove as much air as possible and seal.
- Freeze for up to 3 months.
I recommend freezing your chili in a freezer-safe gallon-size bag or freezer-safe storage container. Make sure that you remove as much air as possible before sealing.
To thaw + reheat: let thaw overnight in the fridge. Then, transfer back into a large skillet and heat over low/medium.
More of My Favorite Skillet Recipes
Should you boil potatoes before pan-frying them?
You don’t need to for this recipe! Because you simmer this dish for 15-20 minutes with all the ingredients, the potatoes cook to fork tender without boiling.
Can you make a potato chili skillet with sweet potatoes instead of regular potatoes?
You definitely can! I would just make sure you peel and then slice the sweet potatoes into 1 in. chunks.
Can you make a vegetarian version of a potato chili skillet?
Absolutely! Simply substitute the ground beef for a plant-based ground or shredded tofu.
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Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and season with ½ teaspoon of salt. Sauté for 3-5 minutes. Add the garlic, 1 tablespoon chili powder, and potatoes to the skillet and toss to coat. Sauté for an additional 5-6 minutes.
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Add the ground beef and cook it until it is mostly cooked through. Add the cherry tomatoes, bell pepper, kidney beans, diced tomatoes, broth, cumin, garlic powder, and the additional chili powder and salt. Bring to a boil over high heat.
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Simmer over low heat for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally to be sure the potatoes aren’t sticking to the bottom of the pan.
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When the potatoes are fork-tender and most of the liquid has evaporated or been soaked up, the dish is ready.
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Serve immediately with optional Greek yogurt and cheddar cheese.
- I used small golden potatoes, but feel free to use fingerling potatoes or baby red potatoes.
- Feel free to add or substitute any vegetables in this skillet. You can even omit the fresh veggies and use just pantry staples!
Calories: 524 kcal, Carbohydrates: 40 g, Protein: 28 g, Fat: 29 g, Fiber: 9 g, Sugar: 6 g
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Photography by: The Wooden Skillet
