Homemade Chili made as a cozy, dependable bowl with balanced seasoning and practical prep.
Slow-Simmered Weeknight Chili
A low-effort, deeply flavored chili that starts with a quick sauté and finishes with hours of hands-off simmering for wallet-friendly comfort.
This is the kind of chili you make when you want a dependable, cozy dinner without babysitting the pot: 20 minutes of prep, then set it and forget it while the slow cooker turns simple pantry staples into something soulful. Ground beef and two kinds of beans give it heft, while crushed tomatoes and a touch of brown sugar balance acidity so every spoonful feels rounded and satisfying.
The small bit of work up front is worth it — browning the beef, softening onion and bell pepper, and 'blooming' the tomato paste in the pan builds caramelized, savory notes you can’t get by dumping everything straight into the slow cooker. Deglazing with beef broth and Worcestershire sauce scrapes up those browned bits and folds that deep, meaty umami back into the chili.
Once it’s in the slow cooker with crushed tomatoes, kidney and black beans, the long, gentle cook is pure alchemy: flavors meld, the sauce thickens, and the heat demands way less active time from you. A little brown sugar tames the tomatoes, and the recipe is forgiving — taste at the end and tweak salt, acid, or heat to your liking.
Serve with sharp cheddar, sour cream, chopped green onion, or a hunk of buttered cornbread; it’s also excellent make-ahead fare and freezes beautifully in portions for busy nights. This batch yields about six generous servings and is exactly the kind of hands-off comfort that rewards a tiny bit of prep with big, dinner-table results.
Ingredients
How to Make Homemade Chili
- Prep the vegetables: peel and finely chop the onion, core and dice the bell pepper, and mince the garlic.
- Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat and add the ground beef; break it up and cook until just browned (about 6–8 minutes). Drain excess fat if desired.
- Add the chopped onion and bell pepper to the skillet with the beef and cook until softened, about 5 minutes, then stir in the garlic and tomato paste and cook 1 minute more to bloom the flavors.
- Stir in the beef broth and Worcestershire sauce to deglaze the pan, scraping up browned bits, then transfer the beef-vegetable mixture to the slow cooker.
- Add crushed tomatoes, drained kidney beans, drained black beans, brown sugar, chili powder, cumin, smoked paprika, oregano, cayenne, salt, pepper, and the bay leaf to the slow cooker and stir until evenly combined.
- Cover and cook on Low for 6–8 hours (or High for 3–4 hours) until flavors are melded and beans are tender; stir once or twice during cooking if convenient.
- Taste and adjust seasoning at the end of cooking, removing the bay leaf; for a thicker chili simmer uncovered on High in the slow cooker for 20–30 minutes or stir in a 1 tbsp cornstarch + 1 tbsp cold water slurry and cook 10–15 minutes more.
- Ladle into bowls and serve hot; optional toppings include shredded cheese, sour cream, chopped green onion, or cilantro.
Recipe Card
Homemade Chili
Homemade Chili made as a cozy, dependable bowl with balanced seasoning and practical prep.
- Prep
- 20 min
- Cook
- 7 hr
- Servings
- 6
Ingredients
Instructions
- Prep the vegetables: peel and finely chop the onion, core and dice the bell pepper, and mince the garlic.
- Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat and add the ground beef; break it up and cook until just browned (about 6–8 minutes). Drain excess fat if desired.
- Add the chopped onion and bell pepper to the skillet with the beef and cook until softened, about 5 minutes, then stir in the garlic and tomato paste and cook 1 minute more to bloom the flavors.
- Stir in the beef broth and Worcestershire sauce to deglaze the pan, scraping up browned bits, then transfer the beef-vegetable mixture to the slow cooker.
- Add crushed tomatoes, drained kidney beans, drained black beans, brown sugar, chili powder, cumin, smoked paprika, oregano, cayenne, salt, pepper, and the bay leaf to the slow cooker and stir until evenly combined.
- Cover and cook on Low for 6–8 hours (or High for 3–4 hours) until flavors are melded and beans are tender; stir once or twice during cooking if convenient.
- Taste and adjust seasoning at the end of cooking, removing the bay leaf; for a thicker chili simmer uncovered on High in the slow cooker for 20–30 minutes or stir in a 1 tbsp cornstarch + 1 tbsp cold water slurry and cook 10–15 minutes more.
- Ladle into bowls and serve hot; optional toppings include shredded cheese, sour cream, chopped green onion, or cilantro.
Nutrition
- Carbohydrates
- 29
- Saturated Fat
- 3
- Sodium
- 1000
- Fiber
- 9
- Unsaturated Fat
- 9
- Protein
- 42
- Fat
- 12
- Cholesterol
- 80
- Trans Fat
- 0
- Calories
- 390
- Sugar
- 5