This crockpot chili recipe is cozy, hands-off comfort with bold, hearty flavor. It slow-cooks ground beef, tomatoes, and beans in a rich, seasoned broth until everything is tender and full of flavor.
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Holly’s Recipe Highlights
- Flavor: This hearty meal has a balanced flavor with a rich tomato base, and all the cozy chili goodness you expect.
- Recommended Tools: Just a 6-quart slow cooker and a frying pan!
- Prep Note: Great for big gatherings or planned leftovers, this recipe makes a big batch.
- Serving Suggestions: Serve this with cornbread to soak up every last spoonful.
Ingredients
- Meat: Ground beef is ideal for this recipe; use lean ground beef (80/20) with just a bit of fat for flavor. Ground turkey or chicken work well, too.
- Veggies: This recipe keeps the veggies simple. Onion and bell pepper add flavor; try adding in extra vegetables like mushrooms, corn, or shredded zucchini.
- Beans: I love kidney beans as they hold up well in the crock pot. You can replace kidney beans with black beans, pinto beans, garbanzo beans, or white beans. Rinse canned beans in cold water before using.
- Sauce: Canned tomatoes and tomato sauce give this recipe just the right texture and consistency. A little bit of beer is one of my secret ingredients. It doesn’t make the chili taste like beer, but adds rich, savory flavor. The alcohol cooks off as it simmers, but you can easily swap in beef broth or an alcohol-free beer.
- Seasoning: This chili is well seasoned with chili powder, cumin, and smoked paprika for a deep, savory flavor. The seasoning mix is doubled, and some is added to the meat before cooking. Spice it up a bit with jalapenos, extra chili powder, or a pinch of cayenne pepper.
How to Make Crock Pot Chili
- Brown seasoned beef with onions and garlic in a skillet (full recipe below).
- Drain excess grease, add beer, and simmer until almost evaporated.
- Place cooked beef and all remaining ingredients in a slow cooker and cook.
Add your favorite toppings, like shredded cheddar cheese, crushed tortilla chips, avocado, sour cream, fresh cilantro, or green onion, and serve.
Storing Leftovers
Keep leftovers covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Freeze portions in zippered bags with the date labeled on them for up to 4 months.
Reheat on the stove top or in the microwave. To stretch leftovers even further, spoon them over a baked potato or hot dog to make chili dogs.
More Chili Favorites
Did you make this Crockpot Chili? Be sure to leave a rating and comment below!
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3 pounds lean ground beef *see note
- 2 medium yellow onions diced, ½-inch
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 12 ounces light beer about 1 can or bottle
- 1 (28 ounce) can canned whole tomatoes with juice
- 1 (14 ounces) can canned diced tomatoes with juice
- 1 medium green bell pepper diced, optional
- 14 ounces tomato sauce
- 2 (15 ounce each) cans canned red kidney beans drained and rinsed
Seasoning Mixture
- 4 tablespoons chili powder
- 1 tablespoon cumin
- 2 teaspoons dried parsley
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
Instructions
- Combine half the seasoning mixture with ground beef and mix until well combined.
- Brown ground beef*, onions, and garlic until no pink remains. Drain any fat. Add beer and simmer until most of the liquid has evaporated.
- Combine beef mixture and tomatoes, green bell pepper, tomato sauce, and kidney beans in the slow cooker. Add the remaining seasoning. If desired, slightly mash the whole tomatoes.
- Cook on high for 4 hours or low 7-8 hours. Once cooked, remove the lid and let cool slightly before serving.
Video
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Beef, Dinner, Main Course, Slow Cooker
Cuisine American, Tex Mex© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
Made this the other night. I used 2 lbs of hamburger meat and added more kidney beans as recommended, also toned down spice by using 3 tablespoons of chili powder left all other spices the same. It was one of the best chili dishes I have every had! Great flavor. Highly recommend.
Recipe sounds amazing but am concerned about the “heat “ of the spices as hubby can not consume spicy foods for medical reasons. Thank you
Hi Carolyn, I’ve only tried this recipe as written. You can swap the spices but it would affect the flavor. If you try it I would love to hear how it turns out!
Hi there. Love all your recipes. I just made the chili and poured the beer into the crockpot without cooking it first. Will that be a problem? I’m letting it cook throughout the night. Thanks
I haven’t prepared it that way, but all the alcohol should still cook off. I would love to hear how it turns out for you.
2nd time making this, did not have whole tomatoes so just used organic diced & the tomato sauce, extra beer, onion & green pepper. omitted beans. Cooked vegetables in pan as recipe states longer this time so very tender b4 adding to Slow cooker on HIGH 3 hrs only. perfect so good.
Ps: DO NOT care for beans so then add chile onto cooked macaroni later for dinner. Tastes amazing.
Pss I didn’t have everything for your chili seasoning so next time I’m gonna try your chili seasoning for the third time!!
I just got a slow cooker so first time user and I tried the crockpot chili and it was amazing. Took half hour prep and cooking the hamburger put in crockpot. Left for 6 hours slow cook when I got home had dinner waiting for me.
If you haven’t tried it you’re missing out.
This is the first time I’ve made chili that I absolutely love! Used 2 pounds of ground beef 80/20 but left out the beans (this family doesn’t care for them) & threw an extra can of organic diced tomatoes vs canned whole tomatoes. I was leary of too much spice &/or heat but made the spice recipe given as is. Added Touch of cayenne pepper but no jalapeños. Perfect!! Dont like alot of spices but it had perfect amount of heat.
I didn’t have time to put it in the slow cooker so the night before I browned the meat and the onions, cooled & put the covered pan in the refrigerator. The next day I heated it up on stove & threw everything in the slow cooker on high for three hours. it was perfect!! Especially the beer. Maybe that makes all the difference.
Thank you, Holly again this is now my go to recipe for chili!
This was fast and simple and flavorful. Cooking the meat with half the spices was a good tip.
Best chili ever! Almost forgot the green pepper I had prechopped in the crisper but remembered to throw it in 15 minutes after I threw everything else in the slow cooker turned out scrumptious had it with some homemade cornbread. Thanks for the recipe!
Excellent, no changes at all and it was wonderful. I was afraid it was gonna to meat heavy and bean lite but it wasn’t. Great recipe.
Can’t wait to try it tonight.
Made this last week and it was incredible. Froze some for my youngest son and his wife. Gave some to my oldest son but he complained he didn’t get enough to share with his wife. Heate it all himself. Feeling bad for my son, I made another pot yesterday. Unfortunately I forgot to put in refrigerator overnight so have to throw it all away. Start over again today. I do what some mothers do. Feel badly about disappointing him, so start over. He never asks for anything; otherwise I wouldn’t do it. Hope it tastes as good as yesterday’s was.
That is so sweet of you, Sharon! I am glad they enjoyed it so much, even it wasn’t enough to share lol
So good and my go-to chili! However, prep time is more like 30-45 mins, not 15. It takes about 15mins to cook the meat,alone
Love this chili and it’s very modifiable. We’ve added sweet potatoes and top with scallions too.
Definitely recommend adding a can of tomato paste it helps keep it thicker towards the end!!
made it for Halloween, it was have people asking for recipe
If I am tripling the recipe, would two 7-quart crock pots be big enough?
Yes, 3x this recipe should fit in two 7qt slow cookers.
This was the first time that this old man made chili and it was wonderful. I’m going to try to get it emailed to me so I can print it out and not have to hold my phone while I make it. Rated it 5 stars.
I love the ingredients that go into this Easy Crock Pot Chili, but my only problem with the instructions is where it states to add 1/2 of the seasoning mixture directly into the uncooked beef before browning the beef with the onions and garlic and the beef is no longer pink. Next step is where my problem lies. The instructions say to drain any fat, but when draining the fat, most of the spices come out of the beef as the fat is released during cooking and so also go the spices with the draining. So why not add all of the spices “after” the draining of the beef and vegetable mixture at the same time as the beer is added so as not to loose any of the spicy flavor, which is the best part of being “chili”? PS…I am now a proud owner of your wonderful cookbook. Thank you so much for all your wonderful recipes!! They truely are Everyday Comfort!!
Hi Marie, you can add the spices after if you prefer. I can’t wait to see what you make from the cookbook! Tag us on instagram @spendpennies with all your creations!
I agree maybe add it after like you do with taco meat
I made this for a potluck church gathering and got rave reviews. Will definitely make it again.
Great
I loooove this recipe! And so does my partner who from time to time (often) says, “ummmm, are you making that chili anytime soon?!” Lol! Thanks for this delicious recipe!!