Slow Cooker Ground Beef Chili

This slow cooker ground beef chili is a traditional homemade chili recipe. See how easy (and tasty) it is to make! If your family likes chili, we have lots of options. Find them, along with helpful tips, at How to Make Your Own Chili.

It’s a busy evening in your home, and the family is craving a hearty, satisfying meal. You want something that’s not only delicious but also incredibly convenient. Enter the solution you’ve been searching for – slow cooker chili with ground beef.

This mouthwatering dish combines the rich, robust flavors of chili with the ease of your trusty slow cooker, making it a win-win for busy families like yours who love to cook at home.

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Is this ground beef chili easy?

Yes, but there are a couple things you can do to make it even easier! If you do some meal prep ahead of time, this chili takes just a few minutes to get loaded into the slow cooker.

First off, make a large batch of homemade chili seasoning to keep on hand. That saves you time from finding and measuring all the spices listed in this recipe.

Second, use pre-cooked ground beef. You can do that on the stovetop or even cook ground beef in a crock pot on a different day. I either use a weekend afternoon to pre-cook 5 pounds (or more) and package it afterward in 1-pound freezer bags.

Or, perhaps you had to cook ground beef for another recipe, just double the beef and pull enough out for this chili. It can last in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. Any longer than that, and it should be frozen.

Ingredients

This does look like a long list of ingredients, but again–many of them are spices. If you use our homemade chili seasoning or store-bought, just substitute 5-6 Tablespoons of that instead of the ones listed here.

• olive oil
• lean ground beef
• onion
• canned black beans
• canned chili beans
• canned petite diced tomatoes
• paprika
• cumin
• chili powder
• cayenne pepper
• black pepper
• jalapeno
• canned tomato sauce
• beef broth (I use Better Than Bouillon)
• fresh cilantro for topping (optional)

See our recipe card below for exact quantities.

Instructions

Add olive oil to a large frying pan. Place onions and ground beef into the frying pan. Saute on high until ground beef is browned. Again–you can skip this step if you have pre-cooked ground beef in the fridge or freezer (be sure to thaw it first).

Add ground beef to the slow cooker. Drain two cans of black beans and add to the ground beef mixture in the slow cooker. Add two cans of undrained chili beans.

Pour a can of diced tomatoes into the slow cooker. Add in paprika, cumin, chili powder, cayenne pepper, and pepper into the cooker. Toss in the de-seeded and de-ribbed diced jalapeno. Stir well. 

Pour in tomato sauce and beef broth. Stir well.

Cook on Low heat for 6 hours. After time is done, keep on Warm until ready to serve.

Feeding a crowd? Chili for the win!

There are a couple reasons that chili is a win-win when you’re feeding a crowd, whether it’s a potluck, game day party, or a large family gathering.

This ground beef chili is naturally gluten-free and is dairy-free (as long as you don’t top it with cheese). That takes care of many people’s allergies and preferences.

Obviously, this is NOT a vegetarian recipe, but it is a basic chili. So you could replace the ground beef with something like meatless crumbles and follow the rest of the recipe. Be sure to replace the beef broth with vegetable broth as well.

Chili is also versatile. If you’re feeding a large group, consider having rice as the base for serving chili. It’s even delicious on a baked potato! Adding those starches will stretch the meal even further, saving you money on meat.

While you’re slow cooking the chili, you can bake up some sweet skillet cornbread.

More ground beef slow cooker recipes

Using the slow cooker makes getting dinner on the table so much easier! It’s also how I got my tweens cooking. They love making dump meals and just turning the crock pot to Low. Here are more ideas for slow cooker meals using ground beef:

• Lasagna Soup Slow Cooker Recipe
• Slow Cooker Vegetable Ground Beef Soup
• Slow Cooker Hamburger Soup
• Ground Beef Crockpot Recipes