Soup
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Take your chili game up 10 notches with this completely loaded, hearty, delicious slow cooker/instant pot chili!
**Photos edited on 1.10.2020
The Super Bowl is on Sunday!! Go football,… and commercials, and sink or swim halftime shows, and lots of cheesy, fatty, sugary, scrumptious food with great friends!
…I think I actually watched the Super Bowl once.
I was probably 10 or 11, my neighbor (also my age) had to have his appendix taken out a few days before the Super Bowl, but actually cared about watching the game so we all hung out with him and cheered. I wanna say it was Patriots vs. Rams, but there’s also a good chance I have no idea what I’m talking about.
Chili is such a classic food for get-togethers with friends and I hope that tradition never dies. I’ve made this chili recipe at least 10 + times and it’s a complete winner!!
My favorite part of this recipe is that it’s chock full of veggies, so…
#1. It’s actually pretty healthy! (Before the cheese and sour cream gets piled on of course).
#2. It has great texture, flavor, and color!
I know what you’re thinking. Celery? Really??
Really. Just trust me.
I like to chop all my veggies so that they’re just big enough to hold their shape when simmering away in the slow cooker, but not so huge that all I taste is a mouthful of veggie when I eat a spoonful.
This recipe has become my fast favorite for lots of reasons. I’ll name a few.
It’s extremely forgiving. You can probably forget a few ingredients and no one will know the difference.
It’s as low maintenance as you need it to be! I like to cook down my veggies and meat in a stock pot before pouring it all into the crock pot, but if you only have a few minutes to get everything going, just dump it all in the slow cooker and it will still be just perfect!
It lasts forever. Really. It fills my crock pot to the brim and if it’s just Kev and I eating, we can see an entire week go by and realize we don’t remember the last time we didn’t eat chili! But it’s so hearty and meaty and veggie(y) and spicy and wonderful that you won’t mind eating for lunch and dinner for the next 6 days straight.
It’s adaptable! You don’t do meat? No problem, there’s plenty of beans and veggies to supplement! You don’t do veggies? Ok… if your mom’s ok with it, you can just make it with meat and beans.
5 summers ago I lived in a studio apartment with my best friend and we had no air conditioning and no openable windows. It was the hottest summer Minnesota had seen in awhile and we had 2 fans to keep us alive. Why am I telling you this? Because as I’m staring at the jalapeños above, I’m remembering that I made this chili for dinner one night. In 90+ degree weather, with no fans and no windows.
I’ll leave you with that…
This Loaded Slow Cooker Chili is so rewarding for the work it takes. I like to use a simple mixture of spicy italian sausage and ground beef, but you’re welcome to use any meat you like! I have done it with ground turkey in the past, and it was excellent as well – just a bit more on the mild side. It’s really just a layering of flavors. Meat, veggies, legumes, crushed tomatoes, spices, toppings! Don’t skimp on the toppings, whatever you do. That’s where the party kicks it up a notch.
Super Bowl Time!!
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Loaded Slow Cooker Chili
- Yield: 12–15 1x
Description
Take your chili game up 10 notches with this completely loaded, hearty, delicious slow cooker/instant pot chili!
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 pound Italian sausage (mild or spicy)
- 1 can (15 oz) chili beans, drained
- 1 can (15 oz) chili beans in sauce
- 1 can (15 oz) black beans (affiliate), drained
- 1 can (15 oz) kidney beans, drained
- 2 cans (28 oz) diced tomatoes with juice
- 1 large yellow onion, chopped
- 1 green bell pepper, seeded and diced
- 1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced
- 1 jalapeño, seeded and minced
- 3 cloves of garlic, minced
- 3 stalks celery, chopped
- 12 oz beer
- 2 cups water
- ¼ cup chili powder
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1 teaspoon cumin (affiliate)
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 teaspoon chipotle red pepper
- 1 teaspoon paprika
Toppings
- Shredded cheddar cheese
- Corn chips
- Sliced jalapeños
- Cilantro
Instructions
- In large stockpot, cook sausage and ground beef until no longer pink. Add onion, peppers, celery, garlic, jalapeños. Cook on medium heat until veggies start to soften.
- Add all beans and crushed tomatoes. Stir to combine.
- Add beer, water, and spices. Stir to combine.
- Pour into crockpot, cook on low for 6-8 hours.
- To serve, ladle chili into bowl and top with desired toppings.
- **If you are running short on time, dump all ingredients into slow cooker at once, and cook on low for 8 hours, stirring occasionally to separate meat.
Notes
To make this in your Instant Pot/Electric pressure cooker, sauté meat in pressure cooker, then dump the rest of the ingredients in and cook at high pressure for 15 minutes. Let pressure naturally release when time is up.
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you.
Other Chili Recipes You’ll Love!
Pressure Cooker Sausage And Lentil Chili
Pressure Cooker Sweet Potato And Quinoa Chili
Pressure Cooker Mexican Chorizo Black Bean Chili
2 thoughts on “Loaded Slow Cooker Chili”
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One question, Jessie. In your list of ingredients, you have diced tomatoes, but in your comments you say crushed tomatoes. Which do you use? I’m looking forward to making it!
Oops, sorry about that! I use diced tomatoes!