The Best Crock Pot Chili
First let me say, I had a lovely birthday on Sunday. My parents and my Grandma came into town to share it with me. That is a very rare treat indeed to have everyone together that it didn’t matter so much what we were celebrating. My son treated my birthday with an enthusiasm that only a 5 year old can manage. He was more excited than I was, I think. At my age, it was nice to be called the birthday girl.
Cookin’ up something special
That’s a weird combo…
Although, my Grandma informed me she also likes peanut butter and crackers with her chili. I learn something new about her all the time. My father’s family is from Wisconsin and I learned from them and my husband (who is from Indiana) that this seems to be a Midwest thing.But I digress, let’s get to the food.
Directions:
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 stalk celery, chopped
- 1 onion, finely diced
- 1 ½ tbsp chili powder
- 1 tsp cumin
- ½ tbsp garlic, minced
- 1 (15 oz) can petite diced tomatoes
- 1 (15 oz) can tomato sauce
- 1 (15 oz) can dark red kidney beans
- 1 (15 oz) can beef broth
- 1 (15 oz) can refried beans
- 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- salt and pepper, to taste
- shredded cheddar cheese, chopped onions and sour cream
In a medium skillet, brown and crumble ground beef with celery, onion and garlic over medium high heat (until meat is completely brown and vegetables are tender.) Season with salt and pepper.
Drain excess grease and pour beef mixture into a 4-quart or larger crock pot.
Open cans of tomatoes, tomato sauce, kidney beans (do not rinse or drain) and refried beans, beef broth and dump those into the crock pot.
- Add chili powder, cumin, Worcestershire sauce and mix thoroughly. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cover with lid and cook on low for 4-6 hours (the longer, the better).
- Taste before serving and add more salt and pepper as necessary.
Recipe Video
Serve with your favorite toppings. This is great for a crowd. It is easily doubled and you can put toppings out in bowls and let guests add whatever they like. Also, if you want to turn the heat up on your chili, you can add 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely minced to the pot. Or, you can just add a few shakes of hot sauce. Also, try adding other types of beans along with the kidney beans. Pinto beans and black beans would be great in here (just make sure to rinse and drain those beans before adding to the pot). And if you like your chili thicker, add a bit of cornmeal.
Recipe originally published: January 2011
Recipe updated & republished: January 2019
Will do Boulder! Thanks so much for stopping by.
This is one of the best cold weather meals in my book! Happy belated birthday and happy to find you on FoodBuzz. Check my blog tomorrow for and equally yummy cold weather crock pot recipe!
This is the best chili recipe I have found. Now my family's favorite!
Aww happy birthday! Wish I'd have known! And look how pretty you are! That chili looks good though I'm going to have to save it for another day. Got chili con carne on the menu this week so its a bit too similar for this week. But next week, game on!
Jill – it's all about good lighting…lol.
Happy late birthday!
We are having White Chicken Chili today….waiting for this snowstorm that is supposed to be rolling through.
Sigs – I was just talking to Jill about the snow. Her blog post is hilarious. However, I do believe y'all in North Carolina are going to get the worst of this storm. Be safe!!
I've never tried corn bread, might have to give it a go! Thanks for the inspiration!
Your Chili and Cornbread look so good especially today it is so cold. Thank you so much for coming to Full Plate Thursday and please come back!
I just put the chili in the crockpot for dinner! Can't wait to try it. I am making cheesy cornbread waffles to go with it.
Steph – I really hope you like it as much as we do. And cornbread waffles? That sounds INSANELY good. Now I want to come to your house for dinner!
Yum! This cornbread and chili looks delicious! Hope your bday was great too!
Happy Birthday to the Birthday Girl!! Sounds like you had a perfect birthday day.
I always forget to use my slow cooker… I really need to get that out more often.
Love that cornbread!! We are cornbread lovers here, and I know this would be popular!!
Yours is the third blog I've read about chili today… and that's what I just posted about myself!:)
The chili looks so good! I will have to make it this weekend. My bithday was the 19t this past wednesday. I turned 27 hehehehe +20
Happy Belated Birthday! And that chili looks so good, but especially the cornbread… I'm from down south originally so the sweet cornbread just brings back memories from my childhood! Glad you had a wonderful day!
Veronica – I hope you like it! Happy Belated Birthday!! I always say I'm 25 with 10 years experience…lol.
Why is cornbread so good? 🙂 Happy Birthday!
Happy Belated Birthday! Chili and cornbread warm you kitchen as well as your soul. We need chili here, because of below zero wind chills!
I'd have never thought to use Worcestershire sauce in a chili, but I'll bet it lends a terrific depth of flavor! Your Grandma may have something there with the peanut butter & crackers side dish… You've got a beautiful, fun family – the photo shows it. Cheers!
This corn bread is yummy! I was making it from a packet and the hubby said it tasted like card board lol! This is far from card board 🙂
Rebecca, that was so funny!! So glad you liked this recipe & thank you so much for taking the time to come back & let me know how it turned out for ya!
My husband has always been the chili maker in the house…until I found this. We've had it several times already and every time I've made it there isn't a drop left. Everyone loves it, including the kids! We even upgraded my crock pot (I had a 4 qt and the ingredients just barely fit) just so we could make a bigger batch! Thank you so much for this delicious and easy recipe!
Trish – that is so great to hear! Yay!! So happy to hear you love this one!! Thank you for taking the time to come back & let me know how it turned out for you!
This is going on my menu for next week!!! It sounds amazing, and SO EASY!!!
I made a big pot of chili and thought cornbread would be a nice complement. In 28 years of marriage, I'd never made it. When I asked hubby if he liked cornbread, he made a face and said, "it's ok". Unswayed, I gave this recipe a try. I used Bob's Red Mill whole grain cornmeal – medium grind which gave it some crunch. Baked the batter in an 8 x 8 glass dish. It took nearly 30 minutes and my oven temp is accurate. OMG is this recipe delicious! When hubby ate a piece, he kept saying how good it was and he ate another. Apparently, the cornbreads he's had in the past were dry and tasteless. I have to control myself from eating the whole pan. Thanks again for another fabulous recipe!
Hey Christina & USA Mom! Thank you for taking the time to come back & let me know how it turned out for you! I truly appreciate your comments. It means so much to me to know folks are enjoying the recipes from this website. So thrilled you loved it!
I have made the cornbread 3 times now. This is such good, moist, and just plain corn goodness. I have had such great luck with the recipes you post! I am going to be making a carrot cake in the next week…I only wish I was using a recipe from you, because then I know it would be great, lol! Anyway, the cornbread is awesome. We always devour it.
I made this Chili and Cornbread tonight!! I could have eaten the entire pan of cornbread!! SOOOO good!!! I have tried SO many of your recipes…they never disappoint! Thank you!!!
This recipe is great!
Thank you! I love all your recipes..
This is a great crock pot chili! My family loved it! Thanks
I need this cornbread in my life. My stomachs will be very pleased.
I make my cornbread with Lilly White Cornmeal (recipe on back of bag) in a 10" iron skillet. Put your skillet in the oven & get it hot with a little oil to keep the cornbread from sticking. Let the cornbread cool just a bit. Turn the iron skillet up side down. The cornbread also know as a corn pone should just fall out. As far as peanut butter & crackers with chili. My husband who's southern born has been eating peanut butter & jelly sandwiches with his chili since he was a little boy . Oh tried your hamburger steak recipe it was Yummy.
I think this is very similar to my chili but with the cumin and celery difference, so I am going to try it. Big ballgame coming up Monday so this will be a treat for my game-on husband for a very cold day.
I'm making it right now! Mine is a little runnier than I would have thought and it's been on about 5 hours. I've never made chili so I wanted to ask if it should be and if not, how can I fix it? Thank you!! Love your recipes!!
I love chili and this sounds awesome!! I pinned it a while back but forgot to make a comment. Thanks!!
if you use 2 lbs of meat do you just double everything else? Sorry if it's a dumb question, I'm not much of a cook LOL
You don't have to at all. It'll just make it a little thicker and meatier 🙂
If you double the entire recipe do you have to alter the cook time?
Just made your cornbread and it's delicious! Thank you for a great recipe!!
I know a lot of my fellow southerners have heart palpitations when I mention that I love a sweet cornbread (many call it corn cake) but I don't care – I love it! Ha!
I love this chili recipe. I've used it so many times for family and friends. You should totally enter this chili contest! I think you have a good chance at winning (because I don't want to steal your credit)!
http://bushbeans.thedailymeal.com/
ha! Thank you Molly!!
I made the chili and the cornbread tonight for my family and it was DELICIOUS!!! For the chili we doubled everything except for the broth and omitted the onions and celery and cooked it on the stove for about 2 hours. This was the first chili recipe that I have come across that was just what I was looking for 😀 The cornbread was perfect as it wasn't too sweet nor too dry and I cooked it in the 8×8 casserole dish. Thanks for sharing this with us!
LOVE hearing that Alana!! Thank you SO much!
Can you tell me approx how many people this recipe will feed? TIA.
About 4-6 (depending on how large the serving size is)
So i made a mistake i accidentally put my crockpot on high for 4 hours insteaf of low will it be ok it looks really soupy i switched it to low
Add some cornmeal to it and it will thicken it up. Hope that helps!
Is it okay if it cooks longer than 8 hours?
It should be fine to cook a little longer or if your crock pot has a warm setting it can sit on warm for a bit until you can get to it. Enjoy.
Found your recipe, lost mine.. DELICIOUS!! I had some leftover bacon in the fridge..crimbled it in, sprinkled with chives…Yummy!
Perfect match for the Chili!
Thank you so much for putting this up, I have to say it’s better than the one I misplaced..☺
Everything happens for a reason..right??? ????
That is great Sandy! So glad you found this recipe to enjoy!
I am going to use deer burger for this recipe. How would you change things? Also thinking about leaving it on low overnight.
This is the best chili I’ve ever had and first time I’ve ever made chili. I will always use this recipe from now on. Thank you so much for sharing this!
Hi Amanda! Woo hoo! Absolutely love hearing that it turned out great for you!! Thanks for coming back to let me know!
This chili recipe was a huge hit last night. I have to say it was the most flavorful chili I’ve ever had. It’s always scary to try new recipes but this chili was amazing. I added bell peppers and doubled the garlic. Thank you so much for sharing this!
Hi Danielle! Sure do appreciate you coming back to let me know. Thanks so much!! So happy it was a hit!
Just made today and we loved it!! I did add a little cornmeal to thicken the chili, but my hubby said it was the best meal I’ve ever made ????. The cornbread…. to die for!! The best either one of us has ever had!!
Hi Amanda!! Oh wow – that is awesome! Cornmeal is always the way to go. Love it! Thank you for coming back to comment!
I made the chili only for an Olympic themed Family Fun Day at my church.When it was finished cooking my 6qt crock pot was 3/4 full. By the time the event was over I had one and one-half to 2 bowlfuls left over for me eat.and everyone else had a healthy portion of their chilis left over. I would dare say that I got the Gold Medal for my chili.
This has been my go-to chili & cornbread recipe for almost 5 years. As soon as the weather starts to drop, my boyfriend begs me to make this biweekly.
Thanks for being an old reliable 🙂
I don’t normally leave comments but I can’t get over how delicious my cornbread turned out. I was nervous because all I had was a cupcake tin so I had to watch them like a hawk. They came out perfect after 15 minutes. I didn’t adjust the recipe aside from the bake time. Thank you for this recipe!