Slow Cooker Chili

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I’m now calling this “victory chili”, because when I made it a few days ago for the Royals’ big wild card game, they freaking won and earned their way to the play-offs for the first time in 29 years!!!

Oh my goodness. People reading this post years from now will probably have no idea what I’m talking about. But this game was epic. Or as my dad called it, “the best game he had ever seen”. I think the entire city stayed up until midnight for the nailbiter of an ending, and you could literally hear cheering in the streets every step of the way. It was crazy! So crazy! And so awesome.

I spent the night cheering them on with about 30 neighbors for a Royals-edition of our weekly #neighbornights. And my contribution for the evening was a slow cooker full of delicious, classic chili. I recently confessed that I’m not a big fan of ground beef. But I know that all of my other neighbors seem to love it, so I took one for the team with this one. (Although if you’re in my court, you can easily substitute ground turkey or even chicken.)  They all totally gave it a big thumbs up. So since the Royals’ next playoff game is tomorrow night, I may just have to make another batch. You know, for good luck to continue on our awesome new winning streak. Go Royals!

Also awesome? The fact that I made this chili with a fancy new slow cooker that I recently received to test out — the Crock-Pot® 6-Quart Slow Cooker with Stovetop-Safe Cooking Pot. It’s the first-ever slow cooker that allows you to actually lift out the ceramic cooking pot and place it on the stove (to brown the hamburger, in this case) and then transfer it back to the slow cooker. It seems like such a no-brainer, but I’m obsessed with it now. And today I’m excited that we’re going to be giving away one of these fancy new Crock-Pot® Slow Cooker to one of you! So keep reading below for this slow cooker chili recipe, and also take a second to enter this giveaway for a chance to win.

Because in KC, you’d better believe we’re all about winning this week. ;)

Just like any other beef chili, the first step in this recipe requires browning the beef and onions. So I thought that was a perfect chance to test out the cool new stovetop capabilities of this new Crock-Pot® Slow Cooker. Much to my surprise, the first thing I noticed when lifting out the ceramic pot is that this one is so much lighter than other slow cookers! I don’t know about you, but every other slow cooker I’ve had has a pot inside that is h-e-a-v-y. (Which I especially notice when trying to transport or wash it.)  But nope, this version is surprisingly lightweight and transferred easily to the stove.

From there, I just treated it like a regular stockpot on the stove to brown the beef and onions, and it worked like a charm! The only heads-up I’ll give you is that there are no handles on the pot. So if you want to move it around on the stove or whenever you’re ready to transport it, use potholders!

Once the meat was browned, I just added in the rest of the ingredients and set the handy little timer to cook on high for about 4 hours…

…and the slow cooker worked its magic and this steaming, delicious pot of chili was ready for the big game.

Since I was cooking for a big crowd, I decided to kind of aim for the middle when it came to the seasonings and heat in this chili recipe. But I did add in a few chipotle peppers for a smoky kick. And if you love heat, I definitely recommend adding in an extra jalapeno or two.

But other than that, this basically defines what I think of as classic chili. It’s thick, beefy, tomato-y, slightly spicy, a little smoky, and SO GOOD.

Perfect for eating in a big bowl by itself. Or I noticed that my neighbors also transformed it into all sorts of things, like frito pie, chili baked potatoes, chili cheese dip, and chili dogs. Basically however you like chili, it’ll work.

So check out the recipe, and be sure to enter the giveaway below for a chance to win a fancy new Crock-Pot® Slow Cooker of your own!

Oh. And goooooooooo Royals!!!! :)

Slow Cooker Chili

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• Prep Time: 10 minutes
• Cook Time: 250 minutes
• Total Time: 260 minutes
• Yield: 8 -10 servings 1x

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Description

This classic slow cooker chili recipe is easy to make, and so comforting!

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Ingredients

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• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 2 pounds lean ground beef
• 1 medium red or yellow onion, peeled and diced
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 chipotle chili in adobo sauce, chopped (*add more for extra smokyness and heat)
• 2 (15 ounce) cans dark red kidney beans, rinsed and drained (**see below for substitution ideas)
• 2 (15 ounce) cans tomato sauce
• 2 (15 ounce) cans diced tomatoes
• 1 (15 ounce) can light red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chiles
• 1 cup beer or beef broth
• 2 Tablespoons chili powder
• 1 Tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• (Optional toppings: shredded cheddar cheese, crushed tortilla chips or strips, thinly-sliced green onions, sour cream, salsa, etc.)

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Instructions

1. Heat oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat. (Or if you are using this Crock-Pot slow cooker, heat oil in the ceramic stovetop-safe bowl on the stove over medium-high heat.) Add the ground beef, onion and garlic and cook for about 7-10 minutes or until the beef is completely browned, crumbling the beef with a spoon as it cooks. Drain and discard the excess fat/grease. Then transfer the beef into the bottom of a slow cooker. (Or transfer the stovetop-safe bowl back into the slow cooker.)
2. Add the remaining ingredients, and stir to combine. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours, or on high for 3-4 hours. Taste, and season with additional salt and pepper or seasonings if need be.
3. Serve warm, with desired toppings.

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Notes

*I used about 3 chipotle peppers, but did not add any extra adobo sauce.

**If you don’t like kidney beans, you can also substitute in black beans, pinto beans, or great northern beans.

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