Fall is here and so are all of the delicious, hearty recipes. One of our household favorites is my slow cooker chili recipe. The whole house smells amazing all day from it, and it just warms you from the inside-out.
The heart of this recipe is how simple it is to make. Good chili will always have kind of a lot of ingredients but not having to chop and prepare a bunch of them really helps.
You’ll notice this recipe doesn’t feature too many vegetables. However, you can easily customize this recipe to your liking (I’ve added onions, jalapeños and more before) but this recipe as-is keeps it as simple as possible without compromising flavor.
Slow Cooker Chili Recipe Ingredients
Don’t let the list intimidate you, I’m betting you have a majority of these in your spice rack at home as we speak.
- 1 1/2 to 2 pounds of ground beef (can use any ground beef, the leaner the better for me though)
- 6 oz tomato paste
- Beef bouillon cubes/powder
- Minced Garlic
- Onion powder
- Red pepper
- Paprika
- Chili powder
- 28 oz crushed tomatoes
- Red kidney beans
- Black beans
- White rice
- Salt and pepper
Optional Serving Ingredients
- Fritos Scoops
- Shredded cheese
- Sour cream
- Green onion
How to Make My Slow Cooker Chili Recipe
Making chili is pretty involved no matter how you do it. It’s truly a labor of love, I assure you, so always be sure to express your thanks to anyone who makes it for you!
My slow cooker chili recipe tries to keep it as simple as possible though, and here’s how you do it:
- Start cooking the beef in large skillet, breaking it up as it cooks.
- Combine the kidney beans, black beans and crushed tomatoes in the slow cooker on low and cover.
- While those are happening, begin cooking the white rice. I use a mini rice cooker, which is the only way I make rice. It’s SO EASY. It especially makes balancing the rice cooking part of the chili making process much easier.
- Once your rice is cooked add it to the slow cooker with the beans and tomatoes. Add a few sprinkles of paprika, chili powder, onion powder, crushed red peppers, salt and pepper to taste. Stir well.
- Once the beef is fully cooked, add 3/4 cup of beef bouillon and stir.
- Once the beef bouillon has fully covered the cooked beef, add tomato paste, paprika, onion powder, minced garlic, red pepper, chili powder, and salt and pepper to taste.
- Simmer all together for a few minutes, until beef bouillon is mostly gone.
- Once your beef is fully cooked and all of the ingredients have mixed together well, add the beef mixture to the slow cooker.
Let the fully combined mixture simmer on low in the slow cooker for at least two hours, giving the flavors time to mingle together.
Serving the Chili
There’s no wrong way to serve your chili, but my policy is the more toppings the better.
I will provide shredded cheese, sour cream, green onion and saltines, but by far my most highly recommended serving suggestion is Fritos Scoops. The final product almost reminds me of a big bowl of Walking Tacos (remember those??). Saltines will give your chili texture, but Fritos provide texture and taste. Don’t knock it before you try it!
Though not an essential, I love also having a cute set of chili bowls to serve my final product in. Mine are a cherished hand-me-down from Kevin’s Grammie so I don’t have a link (they’re Mud Pie brand if you want to go re-sale hunting), but I also love this natural chili bowl set or this white chili bowl set with handles.
I’m curious to hear your thoughts after reading through (and hopefully trying) my easy slow cooker chili recipe. And also want to know if you’ll try it with Fritos, Scoops or otherwise? Share in the comments, please!
