Description
Crock Pot Beef Chili is the perfect fall and winter meal to slow cook all day and pile up with toppings for dinner at night. This beef chili recipe is a classic one with just a little heat that you can dial up or down depending on preferences. Freeze leftover chili for future meals or use the leftovers to make nachos!
Ingredients
Units
Scale
For the chili:
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 3 medium onions, minced
- 6 garlic cloves, minced or pressed through a garlic press
- 1/4 cup chili powder
- 1/4 cup tomato paste
- 1 tbsp ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
- Salt
- 1 (28 oz) can diced tomatoes, undrained
- 2 (15.5 oz) cans dark red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 (28 oz) can tomato puree
- 3 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 2-4 tsp minced chipotle chiles in adobo sauce (optional)
- 2 lbs 85% lean ground beef
- Ground black pepper
Toppings suggestions:
- Sour cream or plain Greek yogurt
- Diced avocado
- Shredded sharp cheddar cheese (or Monterey jack, pepper jack, colby, etc.)
- Diced raw onions
- Chopped cilantro
- Chopped scallions or chives
- Tortilla chips, Fritos, or both (!!)
- 2 limes, cut into wedges
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onions, garlic, chili powder, tomato paste, cumin, red pepper flakes, and ¼ teaspoon salt, and cook for 10-12 minutes, stirring frequently, until the onions have softened.
- Stir in the diced tomatoes and their juices and scrape up the brown bits on the bottom of the pan. Transfer the onion mixture to the slow cooker and mix in the beans, tomato puree, soy sauce, oregano, sugar, and chipotle until evenly combined. Season the ground beef with salt and pepper (just on the exterior of the molded chuck of meat) and break it up into smaller pieces in the slow cooker while you stir it into the other ingredients. Cover and cook for 8-9 hours on LOW or 5-6 hours on HIGH.
- Before serving, skim off any visible fat floating on the top of the chili. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve with toppings.
Notes
adapted from The Best Slow and Easy Recipes, by the editors of Cook's Illustrated
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Additional Time: 0 hours
- Cook Time: 8 hours 30 minutes
- Category: crock pot recipes
- Cuisine: Tex-Mex
