This easy Crock Pot Chili recipe only takes about 15 minutes to prep before you slow cook it all day long for the best crock pot chili. Mild enough for the whole family, but still packed with tons of flavor!
My favorite meals for busy days are crock pot soups and chilis! Some of my other favorites are Chicken Wild Rice Soup, Crockpot Potato Soup, and Crock Pot Cheeseburger Soup.
As soon as it gets cold, the first thing I start to crave is chili. My daughter actually really loves chili, and will often beg me to make it for her.
Well, there isn’t a shortage of chili recipes here, but this is such an easy crock pot chili recipe which makes it the one that I make most of the time.
I also love that this is a crock pot recipe. It is so easy to make this in the morning and have a wonderful chili dinner that night.
Serve it up with this Corn Muffin Recipe or with Sour Cream Cornbread, and dinner is a cinch!
Ingredients
- Olive Oil – I use extra virgin. This is just for cooking the onion and garlic, so you could even use your favorite oil (like vegetable, canola, etc.)
- Onion and Garlic – These add lots of flavor!
- Ground Beef – I like to use a leaner ground beef – at least 90%. If you use a fattier ground beef, just make sure and drain the fat before adding it to the crock pot.
- Pinto Beans and Kidney Beans – This is my favorite combination of beans to use for this chili, but feel free to use what you like or what you have on hand!
- Tomato Sauce – This is the liquid portion of the chili.
- Diced Tomatoes – No need to drain before, the juices can go right in!
- Spices: Chili Powder, Oregano, Cumin, Garlic Powder – You can play with the spices, as well, and change things up to your liking. This mix gives the chili lots of flavor without a ton of heat.
- Worcestershire Sauce – The Worcestershire sauce gives the flavors depth and kind of brings everything together.
- Hot Sauce – This is a hot sauce like Tobasco, or whatever you have on hand. Add more to make it spicier!
- Pepperoncini Liquid – The secret ingredient! After first using this years and years ago, I’ve never gone back. This is just the liquid that is in the jar of pepperoncinis.
- Water – Add more or less to make it thicker or thinner.
How To Make Crock Pot Chili
This Crock Pot Chili is very simple! It does take a little bit of prep work, but it is all worth it in the end.
- Start by cooking your onion and garlic, then browning the ground beef. This needs to be done before the beef goes into the slow cooker.
- Once the beef is cooked, all of the remaining ingredients get added to the crock pot, along with the cooked beef.
- Cook the chili on low.
- When you are ready to serve, scoop the chili out into bowls and top with your favorite chili toppings.
Crock Pot Chili Video
Want to see how to make this Crock Pot Chili? Watch the video above.
Tips and Tricks
- If you don’t want to pull out the crock pot, this can be done on the stove top, as well. Just cook it on low and let it simmer all day. If it gets too thick, you can add more water, or add in beef broth for more flavor.
- I think the secret to this recipe is the use of the juice from a jar of pepperoncinis. It’s not a lot, but I feel like that takes this recipe from good to great. So don’t skip out on it!
- This chili is quite thick, so if you don’t like your chili really thick, I would suggest adding more tomato sauce or you could add in beef broth.
- It’s also not very spicy, so feel free to add in more chili powder to give it more kick.
- I love adding lots of toppings. Some of our favorites are cheese, sour cream, avocado, jalapeño slices, onion, lime wedges, and even tortilla chips!
- And like most chili recipes, it is much better the next day!
- This freezes very well, too!
More favorite chili recipes:
White Chicken Chili
Ground Turkey Chili
Butternut Squash Chili with Beef
Cincinnati Chili Recipe
Pumpkin Chili
Tools
- Of course you need a slow cooker! I have one similar to this one, and I love it! One of my favorite features is that it has low, medium and high heat settings.
- You also need a skillet to cook the ground beef before it goes into the slow cooker. I always love a good cast iron skillet!
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Crock Pot Chili
Ingredients
- 1/2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 large onion diced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 (16 oz) can pinto beans drained and rinsed
- 1 (16 oz) can kidney beans drained and rinsed
- 1 (16 oz) can tomato sauce
- 1 (16 oz) can diced tomatoes
- 2 tablespoons chili powder
- 1/2 tablespoon oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tablespoon hot sauce such as Tobasco
- 1 tablespoon liquid from a jar of pepperoncini peppers
- 1/4 cup water
- Shredded cheese and sour cream for topping
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a large skillet. Add the onion and cook, just until translucent. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.1/2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, 1/2 large onion, 2 cloves garlic
- Add the ground beef and cook, breaking it up as it cooks, util it is browned and cooked through.1 pound ground beef
- Place the pinto beans, kidney beans, tomato sauce, and diced tomatoes in a large slow cooker. Stir in the chili powder, oregano, cumin and garlic powder.1 (16 oz) can pinto beans, 1 (16 oz) can kidney beans, 1 (16 oz) can tomato sauce, 1 (16 oz) can diced tomatoes, 2 tablespoons chili powder, 1/2 tablespoon oregano, 1/2 teaspoon cumin, 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- Stir in the cooked ground beef mixture. Add the Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce and pepper liquid. If the chili is too thick, add in the water.1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce, 1 tablespoon hot sauce, 1 tablespoon liquid from a jar of pepperoncini peppers, 1/4 cup water
- Cook on low for at least 4 hours, but it can cook on low all day long! Serve topped with your desired toppings.Shredded cheese and sour cream
S. Miller says
Delish! Hit with both my husband and I. I did add some diced bell peppers just cause I needed to use them up.
Curtis H says
Very good, but a bit too saucy,
I doubled the recipe, next time I will.cut the tomato sauce in half, and skip the water.
My crock pot has a rubber seal, perhaps other crock pots need the extra water fluids.
Stephanie Bergquist says
I made this chili for me and my roommate. She told me that it was the best chili she had ever had in her life! We are definitely making more next time for leftovers. The flavor is perfect! I cooked it on high for only 3 hours and ate it with cheese and avocado and sour cream, and it turned out absolutely amazing.
Kirstie says
This recipe is wonderful. I absolutely love the hint of pepperoncini it has in the chili.
Leala says
We LOVED this recipe. I added an extra table spoon of chilli powder and used sriracha for the hot sauce. Also added corn, carrots, celery and mushrooms!! Yum yum!
Sue C says
I love this recipe. Great crock pot meal, esp for busy weekends. I assemble the whole thing the night before want to serve it and then cook all day on low. The spice level is a good compromise- has a little kick, but not too much for those who like it milder. I’ve made for family and also served at a pot luck with friends and it’s always a hit.
Sue C says
I love this recipr
Jake Schauffler says
Thank you for the easy recipe help, you saved me from putting the ground beet in the crock-pot raw hahaha
grill says
I made this last week, this is simple to follow, but so good, the tips are useful, thanks a lot.
Penny F says
I love this recipe and made it many times. This time I tweeked it just a bit and added a whole cup of water plus one Tbsp of beef boullion and about 3 or 5 Tbsp of sugar. My husband said this was the best chili he has ever had.
Becca says
I realize it’s July … in the South … but we had a craving for chili. The ingredients in this looked so good I had to try it. We loved it!!! I did use only 1/2 of the dry spices. but it didn’t take away from the flavour. The best part I can make this in my slow cooker. It will stay on our dinner rotation. Thanks much.
Rook says
Oh wow, definitely this dish has a ton of flavors, I like how you share tips about using topping, thanks a lot.
Cheryl R says
This is our new favorite! Going in the “moms favorite recipes” book! Thanks for sharing!
habitat says
Crock Pot Chili recipe is great! It’s easy to do it, something I never thought about before. Thank you for sharing the recipe, it’s great for me
Deborah says
I’m so glad you liked it!
Kimberley Pereda says
Hi Deborah! Awesome recipe and worth to share. This is very unique recipe for me. The combination of chili and diced of avocados is perfect. Please share more recipe. Thanks.
James says
I made this to take to work last week and it was delicious! I am making it again today, however I am adding black beans instead of pinto beans. Let’s see how it comes out!