Slow Cooker Beef and Bean Chili

TL; DR Chili Summary

👩🏼‍🍳 Cook Level: Beginner/Easy

⏱️ Cook Time: Between 1-2 hours

😋 Taste: Sweet, savory, umami, creamy.

🍽️ Best Served With: I love this chili over some oven roasted delicata and acorn squash or over a bed of rice. You can also make this chili to pair with herby crusted garlic bread or with a light salad of shaved Brussels sprouts.

Tips and Reminders

If the chili is too thin, you may want to add a little bit of a thickener such as flour, arrowroot or cornstarch. Stir it in and let the chili thicken. My first test was a little runny, so when I added a little arrowroot, it helped!

Browning the meat gives the meat and the chili more depth of flavor but if you'd prefer to just break up the meat and truly treat this as a "dump and cook" chili, you can do that here too.

Stir occasionally as to prevent the bottom of the chili from burning.

The Key Ingredients

Ingredients to make a slow cooker beef and bean chili.

Ground Beef - I like using a grass-fed ground beef as it has a better fat content and is better not just for our bodies, but for the planet. You can find a variety of quality grass-fed brands in most grocery stores or online at US Wellness Meats or Butcher Box.

Black Beans - black beans bring a lot of flavor to the dish, and whenever I think of chili, I immediately think of black beans.

Cannellini Beans (or white kidney beans) cannellini beans bring a lot of richness to the dish, so these are must.

Canned Diced tomatoes - not only do the tomatoes give more flavor, but they give added liquid for while the chili cooks.

Tomato Sauce - the base liquid of this dish. We don't use any stock, broth, or water, so tomato sauce helps it cook and become nice and thick.

Seasonings: We want the chili to be super flavorful, so we use a homemade blend of chili seasoning including cumin, garlic powder, paprika, chili powder, and salt and black pepper.

Recipe Swaps and Substitutions

Beans: You can use different kinds of beans you'd like here like pinto beans, garbanzo (chickpeas), red kidney beans, or great northern beans.

Protein: Feel free to use a lean ground beef rather than a 80/20 (lean/fat) or swap for ground lamb, chicken, turkey, or even bison.

Vegan: Use plant-based meat or omit the protein altogether and add in the veggies to make it hearty. Some of my favorites for this chili are mini red potatoes, zucchini, or garbanzo (chickpea) beans.

Spices: If you love chili, but don't really love the spice, leave out the chili powder and increase the paprika, it will still be just as yummy. You could also use some red pepper flakes instead of chili powder.

How to make slow cooker beef chili

ground beef in a frying pan with a wooden spoon

Step 1: In a large frying pan, add the ground beef and begin to brown on a medium heat. Cook until the meat is 90% of the way cooked, as it will continue to cook as it is in the slow cooker. Season the meat with paprika, salt, pepper, cumin, chili powder, and garlic powder. Then set aside.

diced tomatoes, white beans, black beans, and ground beef in a slow cooker

Step 2: In the slow cooker, pour in the ground beef and layer in the other ingredients like diced tomatoes, cannellini beans, and black beans.

diced tomatoes, white beans, black beans, and ground beef in a slow cooker with tomato sauce on top

Step 3: Pour in the can of tomato sauce, then add in another layer of salt, pepper, chili powder.

diced tomatoes, white beans, black beans, and ground beef in a slow cooker mixed with tomato sauce.

Step 4: Close the lid to the slow cooker and cook on a low setting for up to 5 hours. Stir occasionally.

ground beef chili in a mug with cheese on top

Beef and Bean Chili FAQs

How do I store any chili leftovers?

All leftovers can be placed in an airtight container and placed directly in the fridge for up to 5 days.

Would this beef chili do well in the freezer and then thaw?

This recipe is very freezer friendly, so if you want to make this dish for another day, simply cook the chili, let cool, then pour into a tupperware and into the freezer it goes. When ready, you can defrost the chili in the fridge overnight, and warm in a large pot the next day. I don't typically recommend a microwave for warming this up, because not only will it splatter, but it won't warm evenly.

Can I use this chili in other recipes?

If you want to make a chili mac and cheese with this, you can! Make elbow or shell pasta (the best type of pastas for this chili), and add to the chili. You can even fold in some cheddar cheese so it melts into the pasta and ground meat. Drizzle a little hot oil or hot sauce on top for added heat and flavor.

My chili turned out a little thin, how can I fix this?

If the chili is too thin, you may want to add a little bit of a thickener such as flour, arrowroot or cornstarch. Stir it in and let the chili thicken. My first test was a little runny and not a great texture, so when I added a little arrowroot, it helped!

Can I make this chili in the instant pot?

You can definitely make this in either an instant pot/pressure cooker! For instant pot chili, you can also cook the chili on the chili setting or set it on high for 20-25 minutes on pressure cook. Brown the ground beef in the instant pot sauté, then switch to pressure cook after you add the other ingredients to the pot. Close and let cook, then do a slow release.

Chrystie says

March 04, 2024 at 1:59 pm

When it was really cold near me in Canada a few weeks ago, I was craving a hearty chili, and yours came up on google and i am so glad it did because this recipe is the best chili recipe. The beans are perfect, the ground meat is so delicious, and was a breeze to follow. I made some extra for the freezer.