Description
This recipe fills a large 6.5-Quart slow cooker. Even if there are only 2 of you in the house, make extra and tuck some away in the freezer for an easy meal another night. The best thing about the crockpot is to let the chili simmer all afternoon while you get other things done and then have a fantastic dinner waiting for you.
This is a large recipe, so you will have to cook up the meat and veggies in batches. This entire process takes me about an hour from the first cut, to putting the lid on the crockpot and walking away.
Ingredients
2 cans crushed tomatoes (28 oz)
1 can diced tomatoes (28 oz)
3 pounds ground beef
2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped, 2¼ cups
2 large carrots, peeled and chopped, 2 cups
4 celery stalks, chopped, 1½ cups
1 green bell pepper, finely chopped, about 1½ cups
4 garlic cloves, minced, about 2 Tbsp
Couple sprigs fresh thyme, picked and chopped lightly
2 Tbsp ancho chili powder
2 Tbsp cumin powder
1 tsp smoked paprika
½ tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp dried oregano
1 can tomato paste, 3 oz
¼ tsp freshly ground pepper
1 bay leaf
1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
Garnish:
3 green onions, sliced
Avocado
Bag of your favorite corn tortilla chips
Hot Sauce
Instructions
- Turn crockpot onto high setting, open cans of tomatoes and pour into the crockpot. This will allow the crockpot to warm up while you cook the rest of the ingredients.
- Heat large saucepan over medium high heat. When hot, add about 1/3rd of the ground beef. Break into smaller pieces while cooking until no longer pink, and slightly browned. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt while it cooks. Once browned, place meat in slow cooker
- Repeat until all of the meat is cooked and in the slow cooker.
- Place pan back over heat, add olive oil if needed, then add onions. Saute until softened, about 2 minutes. Pour onions into crockpot.
- Place pan back over heat, add more olive oil if needed, then add carrots. Saute until softened, about 2 minutes. Pour carrots into crockpot.
- Place pan back on the heat and add celery and bell pepper and saute, stirring frequently. After about a minute, add garlic, thyme, chili powder, cumin, paprika, cayenne and oregano to pan and stir to coat the vegetables in the spices. This allows the spices to bloom, and awakens their flavors. Saute stirring for about a minute, until the spices become aromatic. Place contents of pan into slow cooker.
- Add the tomato paste, black pepper and bay leaf to the slow cooker and give everything a good stir. Reduce heat to low, cover and cook for 3 hours.
- Stir in the beans, cover and cook for 1 more hour.
- Pour into bowls, garnish with green onions, chopped avocado, your favorite hot sauce and serve with tortilla chips.
Notes
- If you are using a higher fat beef like 85/15 or 80/20, you will have lots of fat left from cooking. You can use that fat to cook all the vegetables instead of using more oil. In this case, cook the meat first, drain off some of that fat and then cook the vegetables.
- You can put the beans into the crockpot along with everything else. I wait until the end because the beans are already cooked and dont need to be cooked any further. They are in the chili for an hour which is enough time to warm them up.
Keywords: big batch chili