Slow cooker chili is a hearty stew filled with ground beef, vegetables, beans, and spices in a tomato sauce. This beef chili recipe is hearty, filling, and an easy family favorite dinner.
Slow cooker chili is the perfect recipe to start on a cold Sunday morning. The smell of onions, peppers, and spices will fill your home around midday. It’s a wonderful feeling knowing that dinner is cooking itself!
This slow cooker chili is filled with crumbled ground beef, tomatoes, beans, bell pepper, onion, and a variety of simple pantry spices. Plus, it's easy to customize to make spicier or milder to suit your tastes.
Serve this slow cooker chili with cornbread (try my skillet cornbread recipe), tortilla chips, or crackers. It's perfect for keeping warm during winter, tailgating during football season, or as a fuss-free weeknight meal.
Ingredients and substitutions
- Ground beef - Can be substituted with any ground meat you have on hand, like ground bison, ground turkey, or ground pork.
- Onion - White or yellow onions work well in this recipe.
- Bell pepper - For more heat, replace one bell pepper with three jalapeno peppers.
- Petite diced tomatoes - Can be substituted with diced tomatoes for a chunkier chili or crushed tomatoes for a thinner chili.
- Kidney beans - Any canned or cooked beans will work in this recipe. I like to use a combination of dark and light red kidney beans for a variety of color.
- Garlic - Minced garlic will add the best flavor to your chili. However, two cloves of garlic can be substituted with ½ teaspoon of garlic powder if needed.
- Spices - Chili powder, cumin, paprika, cayenne, red pepper flakes, and salt add flavor to your chili. For a mild chili, cut the cayenne and red pepper flakes in half.
Tips and tricks
Brown your meat first - It may be tempting to toss the raw meat in with the rest of the ingredients and avoid dirtying an extra pan. However, browning your meat adds extra flavor to the chili that you'd be missing out on by skipping this step.
For thinner chili - To make a thinner, saucier chili, substitute half of the canned tomatoes with a can of tomato sauce or use crushed tomatoes. This chili turns out chunky and thick when made as written.
Stir sparingly - I suggest stirring your chili once during the last half of cooking so as to not let out too much heat. Repeatedly opening your slow cooker releases heat and slows down the cooking process.
Frequently asked questions
On low heat, chili takes about 8 to 9 hours. On high heat, chili takes about 5 hours.
While it's not necessary, it does add extra flavor by browning the meat beforehand. I don't recommend skipping this step.
No. Raw or dried red kidney beans contain a toxin that needs to be heated to a certain temperature, for a certain amount of time, to kill it. For more information: Allrecipes: Why you should never cook kidney beans in a slow cooker
Yes - simply brown your beef in the bottom of a stock pot, then add your remaining ingredients and stir to combine. Bring to a simmer, cover, and reduce heat to low. Cook for 2 hours, stirring occasionally. I've included these directions in the recipe card below.
Slow cooker chili leftovers will keep in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 days. I'd argue that chili tastes even better the next day!
Yes, chili can be frozen for 3 months or more if stored in a well sealed container. I almost always make a double batch of chili and freeze half for future meals.
Shredded cheese, sour cream, crushed tortilla chips, chives, green onions, and pickled jalapenos make great chili toppings.
A few of our favorites include skillet cornbread, jalapeño cheddar cornmeal biscuits, and cowboy caviar.
Recommended
📖 Recipe
Slow Cooker Chili
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 large onion, diced
- 1 bell pepper, diced
- 30 ounces canned kidney beans, rinsed and drained
- 30 ounces canned diced tomatoes, with juices
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 2 teaspoon cumin
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
Instructions
Slow cooker
- Over medium heat, crumble ground beef into a hot sauté pan and cook until browned.
- Add cooked ground beef to your slow cooker. Add all of your remaining ingredients - onion, bell pepper, beans, tomatoes, garlic, and spices. Stir to combine.
- Cook on low heat for 8 to 9 hours, or on high for 5 hours. Stir sparingly (once during the last half of cooking will suffice).
Stove top
- Over medium heat, crumble ground beef into a stock pot and cook until browned.
- Add all of your remaining ingredients - onion, bell pepper, beans, tomatoes, garlic, and spices. Stir to combine.
- Bring to a simmer, cover, and reduce heat to low. Cook for about 2 hours, stirring sparingly.
Equipment Recommendations
Notes
- This recipe makes a mild chili. For a spicier chili, substitute bell pepper with 3 jalapenos, or add additional red pepper flakes and cayenne pepper (to taste).
- Slow cooker chili leftovers will keep in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 days.
- Chili can be frozen for 3 months or more if stored in a well sealed container or freezer bag.
- If frozen, remove from the freezer the night before to thaw. Reheat in the microwave or over medium heat on the stove top.
- Top with sour cream, shredded cheese, chives, crumbled bacon, or fresh jalapenos.
I couldn't stir everything once I added it add together with there being no water, so I added about 2 cups of water. Is that okay?
Hi Kassidy, did the ingredients look like the video and the process shots above when combined? It should be very chunky and thick to start, not liquid like a soup. The added two cups of water will make the chili a little thin and could dilute the flavor.
Do you recommend light or dark kidney beans?
Thanks!
I like to use a combination of dark and light red kidney beans for a variety of color, but all of one color would also work just fine.
Thanks! Also, for the beans and tomatoes, I can only find (14.5 oz & 15.5 oz) cans at my local store instead 15oz. Is that okay is it's about 31oz each?
Yes that's fine! Any of those sizes will work.
So good! My go to chili recipe
Very bland, definitely need more seasonings to taste.
Hi Brenda, this recipe makes a mild chili. If you're looking for spicier chili, you can absolutely add more spices to taste!
Looking forward to this! I added a can of green chili’s too. It smells wonderful already. Perfect for Super Bowl Sunday! Thanks.
Hope you enjoy it!
Hi! Are the beans cooked before putting in the pot?
Canned beans are already cooked, so there's no need to do any cooking beforehand. Just drain and rinse them, and add to the slow cooker.
If you're using fresh beans, you'll want to soak them for at least 5 hours, then cook them by boiling in water for 10 minutes. Cooking raw kidney beans in a slow cooker is not a good idea.
Why You Should Never Cook Kidney Beans in a Slow Cooker: https://www.allrecipes.com/article/kidney-beans-slow-cooker/
Hi! what do you consider to be 1 serving? 1 cup? or 1 1/2 cups? this recipe is amazing! 🙂
Hi Mandy, I'm glad you enjoy the recipe! I have never measured the chili once it is cooked, but we get six servings from one crock pot. Maybe one cup?
Made this and cooked on low for 10 hours, I thought it would be overcooked but it was perfect!
Do I add water or stock to the slow cooker chili
Hi Jacqueline, you do not need water or stock for this chili. It will look thick at the beginning, but the tomatoes cook down into a sauce by the end.
Hello! I was wondering if it would work if I switched out the diced tomatoes for like tomato juice or sauce? My hubby doesn’t like chunks of tomatoes and we like a little more liquid in our chili.
Yes you can use tomato sauce instead!
Would it still need to be 30 ounces of tomato sauce if I substituted?
30 ounces of tomato sauce will give you a saucy, thinner chili. If you'd still like a thicker, chunky chili (like this recipe is written) but without tomato chunks, I'd suggest substituting half with tomato sauce, and half with more of your other ingredients - beef, onions, or peppers.
Hi Brynda, just wanted to let you know that I made this using half tomato sauce and half tomato puree. (Crushed tomatoes work well too, but occasionally will have a some minor chunks). It turned out better than when I used all sauce .