An EASY, classic Slow Cooker Beef Chili that takes no effort and makes a perfect meal the family will love. Perfect for dinner or game day!

Slow Cooker Recipes make for easy dinners on busy, cold days. A hearty meal like Slow Cooker Beef Stew or Ultimate Slow Cooker Pot Roast will warm up the entire family.

Bowl of Slow Cooker Chili with beef and kidney beans

SLOW COOKER BEEF CHILI

Slow Cooker Beef Chili is a family favorite for game day party offerings. With a big crowd, the last thing you want to be doing is nursing a pot on the stove and making sure the bottom of the pot of chili doesn't burn.

Making chili in a slow cooker is one of the easiest and healthiest ways you can make it and with a low and slow cook time the meat and beans melt together into a perfectly wonderful, hearty dish.

Beef chili recipes are popular on the site and you can eat chili as a quick and healthy meal, even with takeout like Wendy's Chili (Copycat). Lower in fat than most red meat dishes and with a high fiber content thanks to the beans, this Slow Cooker Chili is a hearty meal that you can enjoy even when you're trying to eat healthily.

beef chili recipe made in the slow cooker

Create a free account to Save Recipes

SOME SLOW COOKER CHILI TIPS:

  • This recipe uses kidney beans, but you can certainly use other beans as well like navy beans, white beans, or black beans. The firmness of the skin of the kidney bean holds up well even in the slow cooker.
  • HEAT! If you like things spicy definitely add in the jalapeño and kick up the chili powder.
  • Careful with chili powder, different varieties can have different heat levels.  This recipe uses standard supermarket chili powder.
  • Brown the meat before adding it to the slow cooker, it helps for both texture and flavor.
  • You'll only use ¼ cup tomato paste in this recipe, if you have leftovers you can freeze them in small ziploc bags or in ice trays so you don't waste a whole can.
  • If you want a deeper beef flavor, add in a spoonful of beef base to the recipe too. Beef broth is not recommended as it would thin the chili too much.
  • You can use Beef Base in addition to or in place of beef stock/broth. This way you can double up on the intensity without waiting for beef stock to reduce to intensify flavor.

crockpot chili with scallions on top

LOOKING FOR MORE SLOW COOKER RECIPES?

  • Slow Cooker Salisbury Steak and Mashed Potatoes
  • Slow Cooker Brown Sugar Garlic Chicken
  • Slow Cooker Roast Beef (Sliceable!)
  • Ultimate Slow Cooker Pot Roast
  • Ultimate Slow Cooker French Dip Sandwiches

PS, you'll also want to try this awesome Southern Cornbread to enjoy with this crockpot chili. It isn't that normal super sweet cornbread you see in your regular grocery stores!

Tools Used in making this Slow Cooker Chili:

Slow Cooker: Love this slow cooker and how programmable it is, it is a workhorse. There is also…
New Slow Cooker: This recipe was made in this slow cooker. You can brown the meat in the insert without losing a bunch of the flavor by transferring the meat and leaving the browned bits behind. If you're thinking of a new slow cooker, consider it if your budget is open.
Cast Iron Skillet: If you don't have a slow cooker with a stovetop friendly insert, this a great versatile pan in the kitchen, heavy, keeps heat well and gives the BEST sear ever.

HOW TO STORE SLOW COOKER BEEF CHILI

  • Serve: You shouldn't leave cooked meat at room temperature for more than 2 hours.
  • Store: Let the Slow Cooker Beef Chili cool down, then seal it in an airtight container to store in the fridge for up to 4 days.
  • Freeze: To keep leftover chili longer, you can freeze it for 2-3 months.

crockpot chili topped with sour cream and onion

  • 2 pounds lean ground beef , 80/20
  • 1 yellow onion , chopped
  • 3 garlic cloves , minced
  • 2 16-ounce cans red kidney beans , rinsed and drained
  • 29 ounces canned diced tomatoes , not drained
  • 1/4 cup tomato paste
  • 3 tablespoons chili powder
  • 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
  • 1 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 minced jalapeno , optional (if you want it spicy)
  • 1/2 cup saltine cracker crumbs , finely ground

  • Cook the beef and onion together in a large pot or cast iron skillet over medium high heat until the beef is browned well.

  • Add it to the slow cooker with the rest of the ingredients.

  • Cook on high heat for 3 hours or on low heat for 6 hours.

Calories: 281 kcal | Carbohydrates: 11 g | Protein: 26 g | Fat: 7 g | Saturated Fat: 2 g | Cholesterol: 70 mg | Sodium: 660 mg | Potassium: 760 mg | Fiber: 2 g | Sugar: 4 g | Vitamin A: 1155 IU | Vitamin C: 14.8 mg | Calcium: 68 mg | Iron: 4.8 mg

Keyword: Slow Cooker Beef Chili

Slow Cooker Beef Chili Collage

An EASY, classic Slow Cooker Beef Chili that takes no effort at all and is a perfect winter meal your family will love for dinner or for a game day treat!

Sabrina is a professionally trained Private Chef of over 10 years with ServSafe Manager certification in food safety. She creates all the recipes here on Dinner, then Dessert, fueled in no small part by her love for bacon.

Sabrina Snyder is a professionally trained personal and private chef of over 10 years who is the creator and developer of all the recipes on Dinner, then Dessert.

She is also the author of the upcoming cookbook: Dinner, then Dessert – Satisfying Meals Using Only 3, 5 or 7 Ingredients which is being published by Harper Collins.

She started Dinner, then Dessert as a business in her office as a lunch service for her coworkers who admired her lunches before going to culinary school and becoming a full time personal chef and private chef.

As a personal chef Sabrina would cook for families one day a week and cook their entire week of dinners. All grocery shopping, cooking and cleaning was done along with instructions on reheating. As a private chef she cooked for private parties and cooked in family homes in the evenings for families on a nightly basis after working as a personal chef during the day.

Sabrina has been certified as a ServSafe Manager since 2007 and was a longstanding member of the USPCA Personal Chef Association including being on the board of the Washington DC Chapter of Chefs in the US Personal Chef Association when they won Chapter of the year.

As a member of the community of food website creators Sabrina Snyder has spoken at many conferences regarding her experiences as a food writer including the Indulge Food Conference, Everything Food Conference, Haven Food Conference and IACP Annual Food Professionals Conference.

Sabrina lives with her family in sunny California.

See more posts by Sabrina

Dinner, then Dessert, Inc. owns the copyright on all images and text and does not allow for its original recipes and pictures to be reproduced anywhere other than at this site unless authorization is given. If you enjoyed the recipe and would like to publish it on your own site, please re-write it in your own words, and link back to my site and recipe page. Read my disclosure and copyright policy. This post may contain affiliate links.