Who says everyday crock pot chili needs to be blah? A wonderful tasty red ground beef chili recipe made crock pot easy. A great hardy meal but good enough for that Superbowl party.
Editor’s Note: Originally published January 19, 2015. It is one great chili, but the post is three years old. I have updated some photos and the presentation. Essentially, I “painted the room.” The recipe is unchanged. Please enjoy this wonderful chili.
I have a lot of chili recipes, 17 at last count, and I love them all. But my wife (Wifo) ask for plain red chili. Just an “everyday” red ground beef chili. Not chicken, black bean, or anything else “special’. Just a “plain chili” as she calls it. An “all-American” chili so to speak.
It needed to be ground beef, with kidney beans and tomato based. A nice medium heat was mandatory. Not hot, read that as no jalapeno although it would be a nice addition to this recipe.
I had an older chili recipe Crock Pot Red Beef Chili that was published only the second month of this blog and had a fair amount of heat. A little change here… a little tuck there and I had a recipe that I really could eat every day. I have “retired” the previous recipe.
My Rating
A very solid 5 and yes, I could survive on this alone. I suggested an all chili diet but got slapped down. But she did love it.
Pro Tips: Notes on Crock Pot Chili
Precook the ground beef.
Ground beef needs to be precooked for crockpot recipes. This is not a safety thing but a texture thing. While ground beef will cook well past the 165 safe temperature in a crock pot, it will cook in clumps and not broken apart which makes good chili texture.
Modifications:
This is a great recipe for what it is. It is an everyday ground beef red chili. And this is now our standard beef chili.
You can make it hotter with a minced jalapeno pepper or a bit more cayenne pepper.
If you want, you can modify the beans or the meat and still come out great. And yes, ground turkey would work.
This is a thick chili. Add more water or a can of beef broth if you like your chili more like soup.
A sodium note. Chili can get out of hand on sodium content. I rinsed the beans that help the sodium. I always use low sodium beans any more. And if you add broth to thin the chili, use low sodium broth. With all that, even with adding some salt for taste, the sodium number 760 per serving.
Number of Servings
This is an easy recipe to cut in half. Use the serving adjustment just below the ingredients in the recipe card area. That will do the math for you. It will not adjust to numbers in the instruction section, however.
A full recipe uses a larger crock pot (5 qt plus). A half recipe will fit in 2.5 qt minimum. Cooking time will remain the same.
Serving size is about 1 1/2 cups. It will freeze well and is good in the refigerator for 3-4 days.
Other Great Crock Pot Chilis to Try
Ultra Simple Crock Pot White Chicken Chili
Crock Pot Three Bean Turkey Chili
Low Fat High Taste Crock Pot White Chicken Chili
The ingredients are what you would expect.
Start by browning two pounds of ground beef. After 3-4 minutes add one large onion chopped. Add minced or crushed garlic near the end of browning. About 8 minutes total. Drain and add to large crock pot.
Chop one green pepper. Rinse and drain two cans light kidney beans.
Add two 14 oz cans diced tomatoes, one 6 oz can tomato paste, 1 cup water, 6 tablespoons chili powder, two teaspoon cumin, one teaspoon oregano, one teaspoon salt (to taste), 1/2 teaspoon pepper, 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional and adjust to taste).
Cook on low for 8 hours.
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If you enjoyed this recipe, the pleasure of a rating on the recipe card below is requested.
Crock Pot Chili
Ingredients
- 2 pounds ground beef
- 1 onion - large chopped
- 2 cloves garlic - minced or crushed
- 28 oz light kidney beans
- 1 green pepper
- 28 oz diced tomatoes
- 6 oz tomato paste
- 1 cup water
- 6 tablespoons chili powder
- 2 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper - optional and adjust to taste
Instructions
- Start by browning two pounds of ground beef. After 3-4 minutes add one large onion chopped. Add minced or crushed garlic near the end of browning. About 8 minutes total. Drain and add to large crock pot (5 qt plus).
- Rinse and drain two cans light kidney beans.
- Chop one green pepper.
- Add two 14 oz cans diced tomatoes, one 6 oz can tomato paste, 1 cup water, 6 tablespoons chili powder, two teaspoon cumin, one teaspoon oregano, one teaspoon salt (to taste), 1/2 teaspoon pepper, 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional and adjust to taste).
- Cook on low for 8 hours.
Recipe Notes
Pro Tips:
- Precook the ground beef and throw the chopped onion in with it.
- Rinsing the beans will decrease the sodium load.
- Add salt to taste only.
- This is a thick chili. Add more water or a can of beef broth if you like your chili more like a soup.
- Serving size is about 1 1/2 cups.
- An easy recipe to cut in half. Use the serving adjustment just below the ingredients. Cooking time will remain the same.
- A full recipe uses a larger crock pot (5 qt plus). A half recipe will fit in 2.5 qt minimum.
Have a question or something not clear? Ask in the comments.
Do you want more recipes from 101 Cooking for Two? Sign up for the newsletter and get all posts delivered straight to your inbox!
Nutrition is for one serving. Number of servings is stated above and is my estimate of normal serving size for this recipe.
All nutritional information are estimates and may vary from your actual results. This is home cooking, and there are many variables. To taste ingredients such as salt will be my estimate of the average used.
If you like this recipe or find it useful, the pleasure of a nice 4 or 5 rating would be greatly appreciated.
Originally published January 19, 2015
I'm DrDan and welcome to my blog. You will find delicious easy everyday recipes mostly for smaller households. Please look around and enjoy your visit. 
Diane
May 11, 2019 at 8:43 pmThank you ….. my husband loved the chili 😊
I only used pinto beans & made two crockpots of chili as a side for Mother’s Day… I look forward to trying your other recipes ! So easy to make too!
Doug
April 14, 2019 at 9:36 amMade this on a snow and it was great! Not easy to make a “small” crock pot of chili but this recipe halved quite nicely. Substituted Bush’s seasoned black beans and added a diced fire roasted Hatch green chili for added heat. It is a keeper.
Tor Hembre
March 17, 2019 at 9:48 pmI am a Norwegian guy, been living in Texas since 2011, and I finally decided to cook a chili. Been looking around for recipes , and when I found this one, why not! Got everything I needed, so started to put stuff together today, and after 8 hours I finally go t to taste it. I love it, my wife love it, but the only thing I don’t liked was the wait! 8 hours of delicious smell, without being able to dig into it…… Really happy , it was easy, good and will def make it again ! Thanks !!
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan
March 18, 2019 at 8:52 pmHi Tor,
Welcome to the blog.
Glad you enjoyed the chili. I’m surprised it, I thought in Texas, you had to eat chili weekly. It’s the law, I thought. Just kidding….
This is our favorite chili most of the time. You can cook it on high for 4 hours or simmer in a large pot on the stove top for about 2 hours.
Thanks for the note and rating.
Dan
Tom
March 7, 2019 at 8:51 amHow would you recommend reheating this chili after its been frozen?
DrDan
March 7, 2019 at 9:13 amHi Tom,
Welcome to the blog.
I prefer to thaw things with beans before reheating. So I usually move chili from the freezer to the refrigerator for a day. Then reheating in a microwave if 1 or 2 servings. If more, then stovetop.
It’s always easier to reheat something that is not rock hard frozen also.
Thanks for the question and rating.
Dan
Lynda
February 18, 2019 at 3:09 pmI don’t have any tomato paste in the house; what Can I use for a substitute?
DrDan
February 18, 2019 at 4:24 pmHi Lynda,
Welcome to the blog. You can use tomato sauce or even crushed or diced tomatoes. Use a 14-16 oz can and leave the cup of water out.
Also, to my taste, I find tomato paste adds a touch of sweetness. You should taste test near the end of cooking and add a touch of sugar if you want. About 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon would do.
Dan
Jean
February 3, 2019 at 8:07 amPerfect! Worked well in my 4 qt. Crockpot.
Lance Love
February 2, 2019 at 7:41 pmThanks for putting up the recipe. I have ground chicken instead of beef, any adjustments because the protein is changed?
DrDan
February 2, 2019 at 7:46 pmHi Lance,
Welcome to the blog.
The chicken should work fine without adjustments. It will taste a bit different but a lot of the taste here is from the spices.
Dan
Elliott Humrich
January 3, 2019 at 8:49 pmI’m annoyed because I’m came hear looking for “cooking for two” which is what your website calls itself! This is clearly for 8 to 10 people! How can I get this down to two??
DrDan
January 3, 2019 at 9:11 pmHi Elliott,
Welcome to the blog.
You can find the discussion about recipe sizes at https://www.101cookingfortwo.com/recipes-not-two-servings/ Basically, it comes down most of the time to the “lowest component”. In this case, one pepper and one can of tomato paste. Most will want to use the full ingredient instead of a fraction that may get tossed.
This recipe will refrigerate well for 4 days and freeze will for months.
This recipe, like all recipes on this site, have an adjustment feature you can use to adjust the components to the amount you want. It does not adjust the text of the directions, however.
Hope that helps.
Dan
J Moya
January 12, 2019 at 5:17 pmJust adjust the “servings” in the “Adjust Serving Size” section….
Lisa
December 16, 2018 at 3:29 pmIf I half this do I still need to cook it for 8hours?
DrDan
December 16, 2018 at 5:37 pmHi Lisa,
Welcome to the blog.
Yep do the 8 hours on low or 4 hours on high. You are getting the flavors to combine.
Dan
Beverly Barndt
November 16, 2018 at 2:00 pmRockstar, I just broke the insert of my crockpot! What are the stove top directions for how long to cook???? Making this tomorrow. Thanks so much for your time Beverly
DrDan
November 16, 2018 at 4:20 pmHi Beverly,
Cook the beef and onion in a large dutch oven. Drain then add everything else. Simmer covered for about 1-2 hours.
Dan
Beverly Barndt
November 17, 2018 at 12:38 amO M G thanks soooo much!!! I was soooo excited that you answered me my honey is like what what! I was Like O M G He answered me!!!
Mary
November 4, 2018 at 10:30 amCan’t wait to try this recipe. Do you drain the can of diced tomatoes or add the entire contents, juice and all?
DrDan
November 4, 2018 at 11:18 amHi Mary
Welcome to the blog
Just dump it in
Dan
Ashley
November 4, 2018 at 9:55 amWhat would cooking time be on high? Looking to make this but don’t have the 8hours need for low cooking
DrDan
November 4, 2018 at 11:20 amHi Ashley
Welcome to the blog
4 hrs on high should be fine.
Dan
Matt
October 26, 2018 at 10:21 pmDo I drain the beef after browning?
DrDan
October 26, 2018 at 10:27 pmHi Matt,
Welcome to the blog.
Yes, drain before adding to the crock pot. I just added it to the recipe.
Thanks for the question.
Dan
Emily
October 24, 2018 at 4:44 pmIf I want to double this how long should I cook it?
DrDan
October 24, 2018 at 6:26 pmHi Emily,
Welcome to the blog.
Don’t double the time. Only a few crock pot recipes will need increased time with increasing ingredients. My crock pot pulled pork is one example where the increased mass requires increased cooking time.
You, of course, will need a large enough crock pot. It should be a max of 75% full but really 66% is a better target.
Dan
Linda Rice
September 30, 2018 at 6:55 amIs this recipe for a 2 quart crockpot? First time using one can u please help? Thank you
DrDan
September 30, 2018 at 7:53 amHi Linda,
Welcome to the blog.
This is in a standard 6-8 qt crockpot. There is about 14 cups of ingredients. That is 3.5 quarts. A crock pot should not be filled above 75%. (some say 66%) So cut in half, it would fit in my 3.5 qt but not in your 2 qt. Hope that helps.
You will be hard pressed to find a lot of 2 qt crock pot recipes. Most recipes will use a can of this, a whole pepper, an onion or an egg. Cuttings things in half is possible but generally wasteful. So most don’t do that.
Dan
Phyllis Ramsay
September 8, 2018 at 11:26 amI want to make this recipe for 10 how much of the recipe needs to be increase. What measurements?
DrDan
September 8, 2018 at 1:30 pmHi Phyllis,
Welcome to the blog.
I like big servings. The eight servings here are a about 1 1/2 cup or a little more. So if you stretch it to 10, You still have an ok serving size but no seconds.
I would probably increase by 50% and that would still fit in a 6 qt crock pot. But if you double it, you need a 7 1/2 or 8 qt crock pot.
On the recipe card, there is a serving adjustment just below the ingredient list that you can adjust.
Dan
Dan
Katlyn
August 12, 2018 at 6:56 pmThis is a very simple recipe, loved it! I also added sausage and jalapenos… Thank you!!
Mae
April 4, 2018 at 10:36 amThank you for the recipe, was looking for something different from my usual chili recipe.
Calling for snow this weekend, in Virginia, in April.
DrDan
April 5, 2018 at 10:18 pmHi Mae,
We have a week of intermittent snow coming. But in Michigan, it is not April without some snow.
This is one of our favorite chili recipes, just plain chili we call it.
Thanks for the note.
Dan
Ellis Enbe
March 22, 2018 at 7:49 pmWhy do most of your recipes create 8 servings if you are cooking for two?
I try to avoid leftovers unless I am deliberately trying to create freezer
backup, and my freezer is full!
DrDan
March 22, 2018 at 8:00 pmWith many recipes, it comes down to the lowest division of an ingredient. Here it is the pepper and can of tomato paste. It is use the whole thing or toss/store it. I do have in each recipe card the ability adjust the recipe to the number of servings you need. See https://www.101cookingfortwo.com/recipes-not-two-servings/ for more discussion.
Dan
Marty F.
February 26, 2018 at 11:07 amI made this recipe for Super Bowl sunday and it was a success! Also made your Oreo Fudge and it was quite a hit too! Three people asked for the recipe.
Paulina
February 24, 2018 at 12:23 pmHello Dan,
Can this recipe be frozen? I would like to make it, portion it out and freeze it for easy dinners. Do you think it would still taste good? Thanks!
DrDan
February 24, 2018 at 12:59 pmHi Paulina,
It freezes great. It’s good in the refrigerator for 3-4 days and freezer for 2-3 months.
Dan
Paulina
February 24, 2018 at 1:49 pmThanks for the quick response. Do you recommend to make the recipe first and then freeze, or freeze everything raw, defrost and throw in the slow cooker then?
DrDan
February 24, 2018 at 1:52 pmDefinitely cook first. It is even better reheated like most chili.
Sean
February 6, 2018 at 2:59 pmBest simple crockpot chili recipe out there! I’ve made this countless times and it’s always a winner. Just make a pan of sweet cornbread to go with and you’ll be in heaven. Having leftovers is the best part. Thanks Dr. Dan for all your work on this site…. I couldn’t tell you how many times I’ve fed my family off of these recipes.
DrDan
February 8, 2018 at 8:59 amHi Sean,
This is my personal favorite most of the time. Add in some cornbread and you are so right… heaven.
Thanks for the note.
Dan
Norm
December 24, 2017 at 11:17 amMade this for the first time, very good. There is no question, this will be me chili recipe years to come!
DrDan
December 24, 2017 at 6:25 pmHi Norm,
It is our “everyday chili” now and has been repeated many times here.
Thanks for the note.
Dan
Irene
December 12, 2017 at 2:27 pmHi there! I would like to try and make this chili recipe this weekend, sounds delicious. I do have one question. What size crockpot are you using? I don’t have a large one, I believe it is 4 quarts. Will it work for this recipe? Thank you!
DrDan
December 12, 2017 at 4:19 pmThis would fill a 4 qt crockpot near the top… I think. I calculate about 13 cups here by just adding things and your 4 qt will hold 16 cups. As a general rule, a crockpot should not be filled over 75% and really 66% is a better upper limit.
But since the crockpot is more used to “simmer” the chili here and not like cook the meat, you would probable be ok. But with it that full, I would stir every few hours.
Dan
josh dickey
September 2, 2017 at 5:06 pmJust ate my my 1st bowl and loved i used diced tomatoes that had habeneros in them the cayenne pepper and added jalapenos. It had the perfect amount of spiciness. What could I add to give it a little sweetness?
DrDan
September 2, 2017 at 5:14 pmHi Josh,
The tomato paste generally does that since it is sweeter than sauce. So if you want a touch more sweetness then half a teaspoon of brown sugar. Or try a different brand of paste, I usually use Hunts.
Thanks for the note.
Dan
Rick Ceasor
January 9, 2017 at 6:56 pmA really good simple chili recipe, that has excellent flavor. I have too many to browse through every time I wish to make chili. This will be my “go to one”. Thank you.
Rick.
DrDan
January 9, 2017 at 7:01 pmThanks Rick,
My wife still asks for her red chili. Nothing fancy just a good everyday chili.
Dan
S Arron
December 5, 2015 at 4:33 pmI found this recipe on 101 cooking for two (2), when reading this feeds 8? But there is only 2 of us? There is not notes on how to only make for Two people. That would have been a good idea for us who do not like to wast food. Thanks
DrDan
December 5, 2015 at 5:01 pmThis comes up here several times per year and I do cover it in https://www.101cookingfortwo.com/faqs/ but basically cooking for two is cooking for a smaller (two) household. That frequently means leftovers. Meat recipes are usually scaleable.
I usually cut recipes down to the lowest common ingredient… one can of this,one egg etc… A recipe that calls for half a can of dice tomatoes is much more wasteful then a recipe with eatable leftovers. In this recipe, one green pepper and one can of tomato paste are the lowest divisions of ingredients that’s not wasteful. Plus if I can get several meals out of equal work… it is a good thing.
Sometimes it seems like a waste of time to cut a recipe down too far. Same work for less food and the leftovers would be great. I’m working on a cinnamon roll cake now. I can make it for 4 (a one egg version) or 8 (the two egg version) I think I will publish the 8 and just note it can be cut in half. I want a lot of this recipe as leftovers and in my judgement most of the readers will also.
I alway list the number of servings. Hope that helps.
DrDan
Leslie
February 1, 2015 at 9:12 pmLoved this easy chilli, used leftover dried beans that I cooked the day before, worked out well. Thanks for all your recipes, wished you would post more often.
DrDan
February 1, 2015 at 10:52 pmThanks for the note. I have lots of chili recipes on this site but this is just a great easy classic chili to me.
More posts? I hope someday to have the time. My day job keeps me busy and this is just a hobby for now. But better than golf…
DrDan