Easy Slow Cooker Chili
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Come home to the best homemade chili! It’s an amazingly hearty, cozy beef chili that cooks low and slow for 8 hrs in the crockpot!
Featured Comment
Outstanding! Made this tonight and my family loved it. My picky husband even went back for thirds. I added a jalapeño and a 28oz can of crushed tomatoes in place of the diced tomatoes (my husband doesn’t like them) and the flavor was so good. Served it up with green onions, cheese and sour cream with a side of corn bread. Will put this in the rotation this Winter. Thank you for the recipes Chungah!!
reasons to make slow cooker chili
- Crowd-favorite. Chili is a guaranteed crowd-pleaser, great for big crowds and family gatherings, tailgating, and game day. And the leftovers taste even better the next day, and the day after that.
- True dump-and-go recipe. All the ingredients get thrown right in the crockpot, letting the flavors fully meld and deepen for 7-8 hours on low heat.
- For all the corn chips. A big pot of chili is the most perfect excuse to open up a bag of corn chips for topping or snacking.
tips and tricks for success
- Lean ground beef is ideal. The best ground beef has some fat – 80/20 or 85/15 are both great options. Extra lean meats can be drier (and blander).
- Brown the meat first. Browning beforehand is key, deepening its rich, meaty taste.
- Use a blend of beans. Using different beans will add contrasting textures and flavors. Using a blend of pinto beans, kidney beans, and black beans offers even more variety whereas cannellini beans and kidney beans will be slightly milder.
- Use good-quality stock. The better quality your stock, the better your chili. Many brands love to pack in the salt so always opt for unsalted or a lower-sodium variety.
- Add garnishes. Garnishes are always optional but a fresh sprinkle of green onions or some corn chips will certainly take your chili to the next level, adding more flavor, texture and contrast.
what to serve with slow cooker chili
Easy Slow Cooker Chili: Frequently Asked Questions
Do I have to use ground beef?
Not at all! Ground pork or ground turkey can be used instead of ground beef.
How can I store leftovers?
Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days.
Is this freezer-friendly?
Yes! You can freeze the leftovers in individual freezer bags, thaw overnight, and reheat on the stovetop.
Can I make this in the Instant Pot?
Absolutely! We have a recipe for that here.
Easy Slow Cooker Chili
Come home to the best homemade chili! It’s an amazingly hearty, cozy beef chili that cooks low and slow for 8 hrs in the crockpot!
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 pounds lean ground beef
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 medium sweet onion, diced
- 1 poblano chili, minced
- 2 ½ cups beef stock
- 1 (16-ounce) can red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 (16-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 (15-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
- 1 (14.5-ounce) can petite diced tomatoes
- 3 tablespoons chili powder
- 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon hot sauce, optional
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- ½ cup sour cream
- 2 green onions, thinly sliced
- 1 cup corn chips
Equipment
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a large cast iron skillet over medium high heat. Add ground beef and cook until browned, about 3-5 minutes, making sure to crumble the beef as it cooks; drain excess fat.
- Stir in garlic, onion and chili powder until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Place ground beef mixture into a 6-qt slow cooker. Stir in beef stock, kidney beans, black beans, crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes, chili powder, paprika, oregano, cumin and hot sauce; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Cover and cook on low heat for 7-8 hours or high heat for 5-6 hours.
- Serve immediately, garnished with sour cream, green onions and corn chips, if desired.
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I make chili in the crockpot often because I have many guests. I live near a ski mountain. This recipe, hands down, is my favorite and my guests favorite. It is PERFECTION !!!! Keep the amazing recipes coming and updates on you and your Corgis! Love your website.
Delicious Chili! I made it exactly as directed, cooking it for 5 hours on high, the last hour with no lid to thicken it up a bit. It smelled so good cooking that I confess I had a scoop after 3 hours and it tasted so good! My family keeps showing up in the kitchen, asking what time we’re having dinner (it’s still afternoon). Sometimes the simplest recipes yield the most delicious meals. Thanks for another great, easy recipe!
Sounds delish but no crock pot, instant pot or slow cooker. How can the cooking directions be modified for and old fashioned top of the stove pot?
Thank you
Hello Janet,
To make this the old-time way, after completing step 1 of the directions, add all the remaining ingredients except the sour cream, green onions and chips to a very large Dutch oven or stew pot. Stir, bring to a boil, turn down to a low simmer for about 2 hours covered with a lid stirring occasionally. After this time, uncover and turn heat up to medium-low and stir cooking for another 20 minutes or so. Serve with the sour cream, onions and chips or whatever suits your fancy. Hope this helps!
The flavor of this chili is excellent. However, after nine hours on low, I still find it too watery for my taste, and that’s the reason for four rather than five stars. Some have suggested flour or cornstarch to thicken it, but I have read that those thickeners will not work in a slow cooker. I tried adding one tablespoon of cornmeal, as recommended online, but that didn’t seem to work either. I could have added one more tablespoon and seen what happens, but I decided instead to let the chili cook for one or two hours more on high with the lid off. But again, excellent flavor. Just the right amount of spices and tomato. I will make it again but reduce the amount of beef stock.
If I may add to my review—-after I wrote it, I decided I would add one more tablespoon of cornmeal, and let the chili cook on high with the lid off. It then took about 45 minutes to thicken to the right consistency for my taste. So that’s my advice if you find this chili too watery—two tablespoons of cornmeal and 45 minutes on high with the lid off. Now it’s perfect. In fact, I don’t think I will reduce the beef stock in the future—that might mess up the flavor. I’ll just go the cornmeal and high temperature route. Great recipe.
Janice something you might want to consider if you have issues with your chili being runny is adding in a small can of Tomato paste. It’s also used to inexpensively thicken, color, and enrich the flavor of tomato sauces and other semi-liquids such as soups and stews.
Janice, just open your slow cooker for a while when cooking until the desired amount of moisture evaporates.
I made this recipe and it was more than enough to feed 2 for 2 days. It was a little heavy on the chili powder. I’d make it again and reduce the amount of chili powder in it. Great recipe otherwise!
That was amazing, i just followed your instructions for a family dinner and they loved it!
It’s a really good base recipe. I don’t use as much stock since I like a thicker chilli. Always watch how liquid you add to a slow cooker. If you find it too thin/liquidy just take the lid off for the last hour.
I also used cayenne pepper rather than hot sauce.
Is it possible to do this in the instant pot? I’m short on time today!
Hi 🙂
Can l use turkey mince for this recipe?
Would it be the same cooking time as the beef mince?
Thank you 🙂
I use turkey instead of beef and I cook it at the same time and it turns out great! Love this recipe! My go to chili recipe now!
I use half beef, half pork. I’m sure turkey would be a good substitute. It should be the Same cooking time and it turns out just as well as straight beef.
This recipe is amazing! Thank you!
I use this recipe every time. It never fails!
Absolutely adore this, my partner as well! I have made several chili recipes (living in the cold and rainy Iceland) and this is the one! Today is my 4th time making this chili and I cannot wait for dinner!
I’ve been on a batch cooking bonanza today and this chilli recipe has been bubbling away since this morning. I’ve just portioned it out ready for the freezer and I couldn’t help but put some aside to eat now! I’ve made a lot of slow cooker chilli recipes over the week and this one is by far the best! I’ve been trying to work out why it tastes so good and I have a feeling it may be the oregano. I’m sure I’ll be making this time and time again 🙂
I am currently making as I write this. Its been on high for about an hour and my apt is smelling Yummy! I added 4 fresh Jalapeno seeds and all and diced some celery along with all the other ingridients. Oh I also added a jar of chili sauce. I think homemade fresh cut french fries and a little cheese on top sounds like a good start! Followed by a Chili dog! Um Um!!!!! I can not wait!!!!!!
Making it as we speak! Hope it turns out ok
First of all – thank you so much for your recipes! I love this blog and have been using your recipes as I learn to cook 🙂 I loved this chili so much – and I appreciate you putting “to taste” in spices because, I use a lot! haha I had a budweiser in the fridge that i used (half bud, half beef stock) and this came out sooo good. What kind of hot sauce does everyone use? I had a tamarind ghost pepper sauce
Just made this today, saved this recipe for a cold snowy Sunday. Also happens to be the Super Bowl. TIMING!!?? This chili is thick and robust with some heat. I did add a jalapeño for that zesty kick and I’m glad I did. I also added some tomato sauce for some extra depth. I was not disappointed. Cooked low and slow and filled my apartment with the most amazing smell. Garnished with some green onion, sour cream and cheddar cheese. Bowl of corn chips on the side for some crunch. This recipe did not disappoint, will be my go to chili recipe now. This recipe did make alot so I put the rest in some Tupperware and popped them into the freezer!!
I love this recipe a lot and make it quite often. I like the selection of spices which are just the right amount. I like to season my ground beef while browning for a better flavor. While I do not add any beans, I do add a can of Rotel and 3 Tablespoons of Louisiana Hot Sauce. What I really like is I always have all of these ingredients on hand. Great recipe, thank you!
Excellent chili! It took me a little more time to make than 20 minutes but it was really good! The combination of spices is excellent. I used the green tabasco for hot sauce; probably should have used the red for a little more heat. This is my go to recipe for chili.
This crockpot chili recipe is the bomb. I cook it the same way everytime . Always in a rush so I do 5 hours on max temperature.