Slow Cooker Chili made as a cozy, dependable bowl with balanced seasoning and practical prep.
Set-and-Forget Chili That Feels Like Home
A slow-simmered, deeply seasoned chili from Ember Pot — hands-off comfort that rewards a little prep with rich, layered flavor.
This Slow Cooker Chili is the kind of bowl that smells like patience: browned beef and sautéed onions give the base a savory backbone, crushed tomatoes and tomato paste add a concentrated tomatoey sweetness, and a measured pinch of chili powder, cumin and smoked paprika builds warmth without stealing the show. Cam Torres tuned the seasoning so every spoonful tastes balanced — not just hot, but smoky, slightly sweet, and satisfyingly beefy.
The work you do up front matters but is simple: brown 80/20 ground beef in a hot skillet, drain excess fat but leave a little for flavor, then soften diced onion, garlic and red bell pepper with the meat. Stirring in tomato paste and the spice mix for a minute lets those aromatics bloom, which is the quiet trick that turns canned tomatoes and beans into something rounded and deep when they slow-simmer.
Once everything goes into the slow cooker with crushed tomatoes, beef broth and both kidney and black beans, six hours on low transforms the pot — the chili thickens, the beans take on a creamy bite, and the spices mellow into a cohesive whole. It’s genuinely hands-off: set it, forget it, and come back to a bowlful of comforting texture and layered flavor.
This batch serves six and is ideal for weeknight dinners, casual get-togethers, or meal prep — it tastes even better the next day and freezes well in portions. Small practical notes from Ember Pot: taste and adjust salt and spice at the end, and if you like a sling of brightness, a squeeze of lime or a sprinkle of cheese brightens the finish without changing the slow-simmer magic.
Ingredients
How to Make Slow Cooker Chili
- Prepare aromatics: peel and halve the onion, mince the garlic, and core and dice the red bell pepper.
- Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and add the vegetable oil; add the ground beef and cook until well browned, breaking it up with a spoon (6–8 minutes). Drain off excess fat, leaving a little for flavor.
- Add the onion, garlic, and red bell pepper to the skillet with the beef and cook 3–4 minutes until the onion begins to soften and garlic is fragrant.
- Stir in the tomato paste, chili powder, ground cumin, smoked paprika, dried oregano, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, black pepper, and cayenne; cook 1 minute to bloom the spices.
- Transfer the beef and spice mixture to the slow cooker; add the crushed tomatoes, beef broth, drained kidney beans, and drained black beans. Stir to combine and season with the salt.
- Cover and cook on Low for 6–8 hours or on High for 3–4 hours, stirring once midway if possible; longer low cooking will deepen the flavors.
- Taste and adjust seasoning at the end of cooking: add more salt, a pinch of sugar, or a splash of Worcestershire to balance acidity, and simmer uncovered on High for 10–15 minutes if you want a thicker chili.
- Serve hot with optional toppings such as shredded cheddar, sour cream, chopped green onions, or tortilla chips. Leftovers keep refrigerated up to 4 days or freeze for up to 3 months.
Recipe Card
Slow Cooker Chili
Slow Cooker Chili made as a cozy, dependable bowl with balanced seasoning and practical prep.
- Prep
- 20 min
- Cook
- 6 hr
- Servings
- 6
Ingredients
Instructions
- Prepare aromatics: peel and halve the onion, mince the garlic, and core and dice the red bell pepper.
- Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and add the vegetable oil; add the ground beef and cook until well browned, breaking it up with a spoon (6–8 minutes). Drain off excess fat, leaving a little for flavor.
- Add the onion, garlic, and red bell pepper to the skillet with the beef and cook 3–4 minutes until the onion begins to soften and garlic is fragrant.
- Stir in the tomato paste, chili powder, ground cumin, smoked paprika, dried oregano, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, black pepper, and cayenne; cook 1 minute to bloom the spices.
- Transfer the beef and spice mixture to the slow cooker; add the crushed tomatoes, beef broth, drained kidney beans, and drained black beans. Stir to combine and season with the salt.
- Cover and cook on Low for 6–8 hours or on High for 3–4 hours, stirring once midway if possible; longer low cooking will deepen the flavors.
- Taste and adjust seasoning at the end of cooking: add more salt, a pinch of sugar, or a splash of Worcestershire to balance acidity, and simmer uncovered on High for 10–15 minutes if you want a thicker chili.
- Serve hot with optional toppings such as shredded cheddar, sour cream, chopped green onions, or tortilla chips. Leftovers keep refrigerated up to 4 days or freeze for up to 3 months.
Nutrition
- Carbohydrates
- 23
- Saturated Fat
- 9
- Sodium
- 900
- Fiber
- 6
- Unsaturated Fat
- 16
- Protein
- 25
- Fat
- 25
- Cholesterol
- 80
- Trans Fat
- 0.5
- Calories
- 445
- Sugar
- 9