better homes and gardens crock pot chili

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Great chili cooked in the traditional way takes hours of attention, but with a crock pot you can just put all the ingredients in at once and let it do the work for you. Prepare your chili in the morning and come home in the evening to a fragrant, delicious dish made with dried beans and plenty of spices.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon cooking oil
2 pounds ground beef
1 large onion
1 green pepper
1 red pepper
1 yellow or orange pepper
2 14-ounce cans tomatoes- can replace with fresh diced tomatoes(10-12)
4 cloves garlic
3 tablespoons chili powder
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon cumin
6 oz jar sliced jalapenos- replace with fresh ones- about 6 sliced and seeds removed
1 cup dried pinto beans
1 cup dried light red kidney beans
1/2 cup dried great northern beans

1

Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat.
2

Brown the beef in the skillet. Use a spatula to break it up into pieces as it cooks. Continue browning the beef and breaking it up until it's cooked.

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3

Remove the beef to a plate.
4
5

Dice the green and red peppers.
6

Mince the garlic.

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1

Place all the ingredients in the crock pot.
2

Add enough water to cover the ingredients.
3

Place the lid on the pot.
4

Cook the chili on high for 6 - 8 hours.
5

Serve the chili. When it's finished, it will have a deep brownish red hue. Serve with fresh chopped onions and crackers or tortilla chips.

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1

Make white bean crock pot chili. This delicious variation on crock pot chili uses ground turkey instead of ground beef. Replace the kidney beans and pinto beans with great northern beans, and use plenty of green chiles.
2

Make Texas crock pot chili. You can skip the beans altogether and use 2 pound of chopped sirloin steak instead of ground beef. Slow cook the meat and vegetables until the meat is fall-apart tender.
3

Make vegetarian crock pot chili. Replace the ground beef with an extra cup of black beans, and add carrots, celery, sweet potatoes, and any other vegetables you love to eat. Cover the chili ingredients with vegetable broth instead of water. After 6 - 8 hours of cooking, your vegetarian chili will be deliciously rich.
4

Finished.

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Add New Question

Question

When making chili in the crock pot, does the ground beef have to be cooked first?

Yes. If you do not brown the ground beef, it is very mushy in the recipe.
Question

Do the dry beans need to be softened first?

Yes. You can preboil them or you can just soak them in water overnight.
Question

If it already takes 8 hours to cook, is it really necessary to pre-soak the beans?

I have made this 5 or 6 times, soaked and not soaked. It tastes the same either way. You don't need to soak them, just rinse them well.
Question

Do I include the liquid from the two cans of tomatoes?

Yes.
Question

How many servings does this make?

I made the recipe as stated, but used 1 lb kidney beans (which is 2 1/2 cups of beans) and it made 15 cups of chili.
Question

Can beef broth be used instead of water?

Yes, I always use broth or at least beef granules in the water. But l plan for this by using lower-sodium canned tomatoes.
Question

Does the cooking time shorten when the beans are soaked?

Yes but not as much as you would like. It is best to preboil for an hour or so.
Question

I've read that the tomatoes stop the beans from cooking. Is that true?

No, but adding too much salt before the beans are cooked can keep them from softening. It is best to add all spices first, except the salt. Add the salt later.

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Tomatoes are not absolutely necessary for chili. For taste purposes, or allergies, replace the juice of the tomatoes with beef broth or another liquid.
Most beans will work for this recipe, but if you want to use dried kidney beans, do not put them directly into the slow cooker. Kidney beans contain high levels of phytohaemagglutinin, a lectin that can make you sick. To make dried kidney beans safe for slow cooking, par-boil them in lots of water for 12 minutes before rinsing them and adding them to the slow cooker.
Try garnishing the chili with fresh chopped toppings like onions, cilantro, tomatoes and cheese, pepper flakes and so on.
If you like a less 'beefy' chili (soupier), try adding a half can of tomato sauce halfway through the cooking.
Some hot peppers are hotter than others. Choose your hot peppers with caution. If you use a very hot pepper variety, try adding a small portion of the pepper, minus the seeds and core for starters; more can always be added later.

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About This Article

Article SummaryX

To make crock pot chili with dried beans, place 2 pounds of browned ground beef, 1 large chopped onion, 1 chopped green pepper, 1 chopped red pepper, 2 14-ounce cans of tomatoes, 4 cloves of minced garlic, 3 tablespoons of chili powder, 1 teaspoon of black pepper, 1 teaspoon of cumin, 6 oz. of sliced jalapenos, 1 cup dried pinto beans, and 1 cup black beans in the crock pot. Then, add enough water to cover all of the ingredients in the pot, and cook on high with the lid on for 6 hours. Serve the chili with rice, beans, or chips! For tips on preparing the ingredients and trying variations, read on!

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