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Crockpot Chili is everything you want in hearty beef and bean chili! Made with ground beef, beans, and an award-winning chili seasoning blend, this slow cooker chili recipe delivers maximum flavor with minimal effort!
Looking for more cozy chili recipes? Don't miss Lentil Chili, Crockpot White Chicken Chili, and Black Bean Sweet Potato Chili.
The Very Best Crockpot Chili Recipe
When the temps begin to drop, the very first recipe my family begs me to make is chili. Specifically, Crockpot Chili.
And with good reason! Crockpot Chili is rich, hearty, and perfectly spiced. As the chili cooks low and slow in the slow cooker, the flavors have time to meld and blend together, while the beef becomes incredibly tender.
Crockpot chili is not only one of the easiest recipes to make, it also happens to be one of the most flavorful recipes out there!
How to Make Chili in the Slow Cooker
The following tips are provided to help you achieve perfect results. You will find the ingredient quantities and detailed instructions in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
- Brown the Meat. Saute the meat with the onion until the ground beef is fully cooked through and the onion has softened. This begins to build flavor and texture to the chili.
- Combine Ingredients. Add the browned beef, onions, garlic, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, beans, and chili seasoning together in the base of the slow cooker
- Slow Cook Chili on Low. While you can opt to cook the chili on high heat, this is one recipe that benefits from being cooked low and slow when time permits. It will give the dried spices time to infuse the tomatoes and beef with rich flavor.
- Serve with Toppings. While this crockpot chili is delicious without any toppings, I highly recommend adding your favorite toppings, like shredded cheddar cheese, diced avocado, minced onions, tortilla chips, Fritos, sour cream, or pickled jalapenos, etc. Any topping YOU like!
Chili Recipe Modifications
- Swap out the beef. In place of ground beef, use ground bison, ground turkey, or ground chicken. Regardless of the type of ground meat you opt to use, I would still recommend sticking to an 85 lean/15 fat or 90 lean/10 fat ratio for the best results.
- No kidney beans? Feel free to use pinto beans or red beans in place of the kidney beans.
- Hate the texture of diced tomatoes? Use additional crushed tomatoes in their place.
- Like it spicy? Saute up to 1 finely minced, seeded jalapeno along with the beef and onions.
- Have an Instant Pot? Use my recipe for Instant Pot Chili. It delivers the same great flavor in a fraction of the time!
How to Store Leftover Chili
Chili is one of those recipes that tastes EVEN better a day or two after it has been prepared. That means it is perfect for leftovers!
- Refrigerate: Allow the Crockpot Chili to cool to room temperature. Transfer it to airtight containers and store it in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
- Freeze: Allow the chili to cool to room temperature. Transfer it to airtight, freezer-safe containers leaving 1 inch of space for expansion. Freeze the chili for up to 3 months.
- Reheat: If needed, defrost the chili overnight in the refrigerator. Reheat on low in the slow cooker, in a saucepan on the stove over low heat, or in heat-safe bowls in the microwave in 1-minute intervals until warmed through.
Creative Ways to Serve Leftover Chili
While everyone loves a bowl of crockpot chili topped with shredded cheese served with a side of cornbread, I have a few suggestions for creative ways to serve chili. This is a great way to transform leftover chili into a new dinner!
- Serve the chili over cooked spaghetti noodles or Instant Pot Brown Rice or Instant Pot White Rice. This is a great way to stretch a batch of chili to feed a crowd.
- If you find yourself with a small amount of leftover chili, use it to top an Instant Pot baked potato, Air Fryer Baked Potato, or Instant Pot sweet potato with a bit of cheese.
- This chili also makes a delicious base for Tamale Pie. Simply pour the prepared chili into a baking dish, top with the cornbread batter, and bake as the recipe directs.
- Use this chili as a topping for nachos or as a topping for hotdogs to make chili dogs.
- Replace taco meat with leftover chili for a creative spin on taco salad.
More Favorite Crockpot Recipes
- Crockpot Chicken Chili
- Crockpot Minestrone Soup
- Crockpot "Baked" Ziti
- Crockpot Beef Stew
- Crockpot Pulled Pork
- Crockpot Pot Roast
I hope that you enjoy this recipe for Slow Cooker Chili and would love for you to leave a comment and review below.
Crockpot Chili
Video
Ingredients
- 2 pounds lean ground beef, or ground turkey or chicken
- 1 small yellow or white onion, diced
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes
- 1 (15.5 oz) can diced tomatoes
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce, see note
- 2 tablespoons chili seasoning, see note for recipe
- 1 (15.5 oz) can dark red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 (15.5 oz) can light red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
Instructions
- In a large non-stick skillet, brown 2 pounds lean ground beef with with 1 small yellow or white onion (minced) over medium-high heat, breaking the meat up into small pieces, as it browns. Once the meat is fully cooked, add in 1 tablespoon minced garlic and cook for 1 minute, just to toast the garlic.
- Remove the meat and onion mixture from the heat and if needed, drain off any excess grease. Add the browned meat to the base of the slow cooker.
- Add 1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes, 1 (15.5 oz) can diced tomatoes, 1 tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce, 2 tablespoons chili seasoning, 1 (15.5 oz) can dark red kidney beans (drained and rinsed) and 1 (15.5 oz) can light red kidney beans (drained and rinsed) to the slow cooker. Mix well to combine all the ingredients.
- Place the lid on the slow cooker and cook on low for 8-10 hours or on high for 4-5 hours.
- Serve with cheese, sour cream, chips, cornbread, etc.
Equipment
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Good
as an old retired single senior, youre crockpot recipes save my bacon,hahaha..love youre articles..thank you..
You are so very welcome! I am thrilled you are enjoying my recipe.
Do you add any liquid? Seems pretty dry as is.
Hi Abbey! This is a pretty thick chili, but the tomatoes and juice from diced tomatoes thin it out. Feel free to add up to 1/2 cup of beer or beef broth.
I’m 83 years old and I have never had chili this good thank you for the recipe I will be make it again
You are so very welcome, Brenda! Thank you so much for leaving a review.
Yesterday was the first day of nice fall weather and all I wanted was to make chili, and this was the just delicious! thank you so much for sharing this amazing recipe!
You are very welcome, Jess! I am thrilled to hear you enjoyed so much!
I have never used red wine or beer in my chili...which is your preference? What kind of red wine do you prefer to use?
Thanks!
Hi Kate. I personally prefer a light lager (like Corona, Coors, etc.) That said, a dry red wine (that is suitable to drinking like a Cabernet or Merlot) is delicious as well.
The ultimate!! And finally a recipe my whole family eats! We served with warm cornbread.
Gotta love a dish that the whole family loves! Happy to hear you enjoyed!
This had amazing flavor! It was the perfect comfort recipe this weekend!
I am so glad you enjoyed, Pam! Thank you for sharing!
I added 2 can of hot beans to this and used 1 can of dark red and 2 cans of light red beans. This is my go to chili recipe every single time I make it. I won a chili cook-off at work as well lol.
That's so awesome! I knew this was award-winning 🙂