Easy Chili

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The best chili when it's cold and you're craving comfort.

Active Time:
15 mins
Total Time:
4 hrs 15 mins
Yield:
6 to 8 servings

Cold winter months make us long for warm, soul-satisfying home-cooked meals. When weekday schedules get overscheduled with to-dos and weekends get crazy with commitments, there's something special about coming home to a meal that requires little effort and tastes like home.

Nothing takes the chill off a late fall afternoon or early winter evening like a hearty bowl of chili. It's simple enough to make-ahead and great for freezing and pulling out when you need a last-minute crowd-pleaser. Serve it with a big bowl of salad and plenty of warm, fresh-from-the-oven biscuits or rolls.

Easy Chili

Caitlin Bensel; Food Styling: Torie Cox

This one-pot meal makes a great holiday potluck addition, warms hungry fans at football tailgates, and is delicious enough to be worthy of a Sunday Supper main dish.

We've served many bowls of chili over the years, and most, if not every single one, have been winners. But when it comes to choosing the best of the best, we'll always select our easy Crockpot chili made with ground beef. The ingredient list is low maintenance, calling for supermarket staples like ground beef, kidney beans, onion, bell pepper, and diced tomatoes. And the seasonings suggested are cumin, chili powder, and salt and pepper, which most folks have in their standard spice staples.

Prep it, set it, and then forget it. That is, until it's time to serve for your family around the table or a houseful of guests.

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 lbs. lean ground beef

  • 1 medium chopped onion

  • 1 small chopped green bell pepper

  • 2 minced garlic cloves

  • 16 oz. canned red kidney beans, rinsed and drained

  • 2 cups beef broth

  • 14 1/2 oz. canned diced tomatoes

  • 1 1/2 Tbsp. chili powder

  • 1 tsp. ground cumin

  • 1 tsp. salt

  • 1 tsp. pepper

Directions

  1. In a large skillet, cook ground beef, onion, bell pepper, and garlic over medium-high heat. Stir until beef crumbles and is no longer pink. Once cooked, drain mixture.

  2. Place cooked mixture in a 5-quart slow cooker. Stir in beans, broth, diced tomatoes, chili powder, pepper, salt, and ground cumin. Cook at HIGH 3 to 4 hours or at LOW 5 to 6 hours. To thicken consistency, stir in finely crushed saltine crackers until the desired thickness is achieved.

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