This slow cooker crock pot chili recipe meets all your main requirements: simple ingredients, made in a slow cooker to set and forget, rich + meaty, and loaded with them smoky seasonings that make crockpot chili so dang good.

An optional zesty lime cilantro sour cream topping adds a cool, zippy finish. Even if you don’t need the sour cream topping, this is still the best classic chili recipe you can keep on repeat!

A Simple classic crockpot Chili Recipe Loaded with Smoky Bold Flavors

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Dashes of smoky chipotle, smoky paprika, chili powder, and cumin make up that delicious foundation for tasty chili flavors that cook out low and slow in the crock pot. Let’s not forget the beans either! For me, it just ain’t chili without classic bold red kidney beans or chili beans!

You could even get a little extra tex-mex and do some black beans too, if desired. It would add nicely to the little nods of southwestern flavor happening in here. Here’s how to mix up the spices for the chili…

Spices To Make Easy crockpot chili recipe

• 1 tbsp Chili Powder
• 1 tbsp Chipotle Seasoning or Chipotle Powder – I used Mesa Rosa Urban Accents Chipotle Seasoning
• 1 tsp Smoky Paprika
• 1/2 tsp Cumin
• 1 tsp Onion Powder
• 1 tsp Garlic Powder
• 2 tsp Dried Oregano
• Coarse Sea Salt + Ground Pepper – seasoned to taste

For the Optional Crema Topping:

• 3/4 cup Sour Cream
• 2 tbsp Minced Fresh Cilantro
• Fresh Lime Juice – from 1/4 of a fresh cut lime
• Salt + Pepper to taste

Ingredients to Make Slow Cooker Hot Chili

The rest of the tasty body for the chili comes from meat, of course, and a mix of tomatoey additions and beans!

• 1 1/2 lb Ground Beef
• 1 15 oz can Kidney Beans – Drained
• 1 15 oz can Chili Beans – Juices and all
• 1 15 oz can Crushed Tomatoes
• 1 14.5 oz Can Diced Tomato – Juices and all
• 1 1/4 cup Beef Stock
• 1/4 cup Silver Tequila – Optional for flavor
• 1 large Bell Pepper – Diced. Your favorite color.
• 1 medium Onion – Diced
• 1 tbsp Olive Oil
• Plus the spices listed above

I kept it simple and used a combination of 2 beans: kidney beans and chili beans, which add an extra little punch of flavor. The rest of it comes together with some liquid help from the crushed tomato, diced tomato, beef stock, and a splash of earthy tequila!

I splashed in a bit of tequila for added flavor. This is totally optional but kinda fun! You could also use smoky mezcal to add a touch of smoky flavor too! If not using, replace with stock in the same amount.

If you like A Spicy hot Chili…

If you want to make it spicy, take the opportunity to add in pinches of cayenne pepper before closing the lid on the slow cooker. Alternatively, you could add generous dashes of good hot sauce such as Tabasco or Cholula Original.

If I do the hot sauce, I like to wait until the end and then stir it in so the spice is nice and bright. Frankly, the hotter the better. All that heat will give us a delicious bold contrast for that cool finishing touch: the limey cilantro crema!

How To Make This Easy crockpot chili recipe

• Toss all the spices we’ll be using up in a bowl really quick and give it a stir.
• This creates our quick basic chili mix seasoning for the slow cooker chili.
• Grab a bowl and toss in the chili powder, chipotle seasoning or chipotle powder, paprika, cumin, onion powder, garlic powder, and oregano. Mix together with a spoon and set aside.

brown the ground beef for the Beef chili Soup

• In a hot skillet, drizzle some olive oil and brown the beef breaking it apart into smaller bits with a wooden spoon for about 5 minutes or until browned through.

• Drain excess fat, if needed. Next add in diced onion and bell pepper and toss together, cooking through until onion sweats and becomes translucent, about another 5 to 8 minutes.

transfer to slow cooker and add stock + (optional) tequila!

• Transfer the ground beef mixture to your 6 quart slow cooker and finish off by adding in the rest of our ingredients.
• Splash in the beef stock, tequila (optional, if using), diced tomato, and crushed tomato.

add Tomatoes and beans To the Beef Chili soup

• Once you’ve added the canned tomatoes and stock, add the kidney beans and chili beans. Then, add in our bowl with the seasonings that we mixed together earlier plus pinches of sea salt and coarse pepper to taste.

• Now stir everything together and cover with the lid. Cook the beef chili soup on low for 8 hours or on high for 4 to 6 hours. I will say (from tasty experience) that the low setting over long periods of time develops the richest best flavor for the chili.

(Optional) make Some cilantro lime crema

• While everything cooks up in the slow cooker, make a cool sour cream topping with this simple cilantro lime crema!
• In a small bowl, combine sour cream with minced cilantro and fresh lime juice.
• Season with pinches of salt and pepper and whisk together.
• Taste to adjust seasonings if desired. Cover with plastic wrap and store in the fridge until serving time. This makes a cool and creamy delicious topping for our slow cooker tequila chili.

When finished, serve heaping scoops of hot chili with a dollop of the lime cilantro sour cream on top. Finish it off with hints of fresh cilantro and sliced jalapeños if desired.

A Simple Beef bean Chili Recipe That Bursts With Flavor…

This rocked out easy slow cooker beef bean chili really is great in the winter for a satisfying warm-up dinner on snowy days. It also makes a great slow cooker summer chili! The slow cooker recipe keeps the oven off on hotter days and the stovetop clean!

The cool limey cilantro crema keeps the beef chili soup fresh and cool while spicy tex-mex, southwestern, and Mexican flavors inspire the delicious taste.

I’d say you could go all out and make a whole thing of it! Serve this easy crockpot chili recipe with this awesome grilled tomatillo salsa verde and maybe get saucy with these simple prosecco lime margaritas . These mango strawberry tequila smash cocktails could easily hit the spot too! Either way, it’s bound to be a tasty time!

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