How to Make Crock Pot Chili With Dried Beans

Co-authored by wikiHow Staff

Last Updated: March 10, 2023 Tested

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

Method 1

Method 1 of 3:

Preparing the Ingredients

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
Dice the onion.
5
Dice the green and red peppers.
6
Mince the garlic.

Method 2

Method 2 of 3:

Cooking the Chili

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.

Method 3

Method 3 of 3:

Trying Variations

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.

Shopping List and Recipe

Sample Crockpot Chili Shopping List

Sample Crockpot Chili Recipe

Community Q&A

Question

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

Community Answer

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?

Community Answer

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?

Community Answer

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.