Slow Cooker Chili Recipe, A Halloween Tradition
Mom’s Easy Slow Cooker Chili Recipe has been a tradition in our family for as long as I can remember. It’s a simple dump and go chili for your slow cooker.
Every year on Halloween, my mom would whip up a pot of this chili. It would cook all day and the delicious smell of the chili would fill the entire house.
Even today when I smell chili cooking, it takes me back to my childhood and having a warm, full belly before heading out to go trick-or-treating.
Before we get into the recipe, you’re going to need a Slow Cooker! We love the programmable slow cookers, but most of us sisters just use the three setting slow cookers. As long as you have both the “high” and “low” cooking options, your slow cooker will work great in most recipes.
HELPFUL TIPS WHEN MAKING SLOW COOKER CHILI
If this is your first time making chili, or any soup for that matter in the slow cooker, we have a few suggestions to make sure it turns out perfect every single time.
- Brown and Flavor Ground Meats
Cooking the meat before throwing it in the slow cooker may not be the case for all soups, but we’d recommend browning ground beef, turkey, or sausage before tossing it in the slow cooker.
This not only helps with the flavor of your soup, but it also prevents large chunks of meat from cooking together. You’ll have perfectly ground beef in your chili if you take this step.
We love to brown our meat with onions in this recipe, giving the meat great flavor. Other soups may have you throw in some garlic, spices, or even a packet of taco seasoning.
2. Drain and Rinse Your Beans
Avoiding this step could be detrimental to your chili! We’ve listed which cans need to be drained in this recipe, but you can almost always assume that beans in any recipe will be drained and oftentimes rinsed (especially black beans!).
Without draining your beans, your chili will be turn out runny and a little too “soupy” to be considered chili. We know it’s an extra step, but it’s definitely worth it.
3. Add Enough Liquids
While draining some ingredients is important, it’s also important to make sure you have enough liquid in your slow cooker to keep your chili cooking all day.
The best part about this slow cooker chili is the delicious flavors that combine together. The liquid from the diced tomatoes, the Worcestershire sauce, and the water should be enough to keep those flavors infusing all day long.
How to make Slow Cooker Chili Into a Freezer Meal
We get asked how to turn this Slow Cooker Chili into a freezer meal A LOT. Here’s how you do it!
- Brown your ground beef and onions according to directions in original recipe.
- In a large Ziploc or freezer safe bag, combine remaining ingredients.
- Place laying flat in your freezer to save the most space. We like to label our bags before hand so we know what’s in the bag. If you’re anything like us, in a months time you’ll forget what freezer meals you’ve stuck in the freezer.
- Place freezer bag in the refrigerator the night before cooking to allow it to partially thaw.
- Cook according to the directions in original recipe. It’s that easy!
Looking for more Chili Recipes?! Try our delicious Slow Cooker Cream Cheese Chili Recipe and our Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken Chili!
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What to Serve With Slow Cooker Chili
We love to serve our chili with homemade bread and green salad. Here are a few we suggest:
Mom's Slow Cooker Chili Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 onion diced
- 28 ounces canned diced tomatoes
- 8 ounces tomato sauce
- 1/3 cup ketchup
- 1/2 cup water
- 15 ounces dark red kidney beans rinsed and drained
- 1.25 ounce chili seasoning mix
- 3 celery stalks chopped
- 2 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1 Tablespoon sugar
- 1 1/2 cups shredded cheese optional topping
- 9.25 ounces Frito's Corn Chips optional topping
Instructions
- Brown ground beef with chopped onion until no longer pink. Drain grease well.
- Combine the following ingredients in the slow cooker - Diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, ketchup, water, kidney beans, chili seasoning mix, chopped celery, Worcestershire sauce, and sugar. Stir together.
- Add the browned hamburger/onion mixture in the slow cooker. Stir everything together.
- Cook low for 6-8 hours or on high for 3-4 hours.
- Top with shredded cheese and Frito's corn chips.
Notes
How to make Slow Cooker Chili Into a Freezer Meal
We get asked how to turn this Slow Cooker Chili into a freezer meal A LOT. Here’s how you do it!- Brown your ground beef and onions according to directions in original recipe.
- In a large Ziploc or freezer safe bag, combine remaining ingredients.
- Place laying flat in your freezer to save the most space. We like to label our bags before hand so we know what’s in the bag. If you’re anything like us, in a months time you’ll forget what freezer meals you’ve stuck in the freezer.
- Place freezer bag in the refrigerator the night before cooking to allow it to partially thaw.
- Cook according to the directions in original recipe. It’s that easy!
Nutrition
Recipe Details
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