TL/DR – Slow Cooker Chili. Get most of it ready the night before, then do the meat in the morning. It’s great to come home to this hot, spicy, hearty chili ready to eat. –
This has a lot of ingredients, but it comes together quickly. To save time, put all of the ingredients except for the meat into the slow cooker insert the night before, cover and refrigerate. Then in the morning, quickly brown the meat and stir it in.
Any ground meat will work; try venison, bison, beef, turkey, pork or a mixture. It’s nice to use lean beef with some ground pork. Drain at least some, if not most of the fat so it’s not oily, but definitely allow for some fat to flavor the chili.
Kids are great helpers for this, too. Lots of draining and dumping of ingredients. It’s also a great starter recipe for college-bound kids. The slow cooker is the gift that keeps on giving! For an Asian inspired slow cooker recipe, try Slow Cooker Pork Egg Roll Bowls.
Slow Cooker Chili
Ingredients
- 1 T canola oil
- 1 lb. ground beef or bison
- 1/2 lb. ground pork
- 2 T tomato paste
- 1 t kosher salt
- 1/2 t pepper
- 1/2 yellow onion, diced
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 1 poblano pepper, diced
- 1 jalapeño pepper, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 small can green chiles
- 1 14.5 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 14.5 oz can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
- 1 14.5 oz can tomato sauce
- 3/4 c chicken broth
- 2T chili powder
- 1/2 t garlic powder
- 1/2 t onion powder
- 1 t cumin
- 1 t coriander
- 1 t oregano
- salt and pepper to taste
Directions
- Step 1 Brown the ground meat in the oil. After about 4 minutes of browning, drain most of the fat, except for about 2 T, then sprinkle 1 t salt and 1/2 t pepper and stir in tomato paste. Cook for another minute.
- Step 2 Add browned meat to slow cooker along with all other ingredients except for additional salt and pepper.
- Step 3 Cook on low for 8 hours.
- Step 4 Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Step 5 Serve with sour cream, shredded cheese and minced green onions for garnish.
