Spicy Slow Cooker Beef Chili Recipe

A bowl of hot chili, made even warmer by the spicy peppers in the mix, is enough to heat things up no matter how cold it is outside. Pair this spicy chili with a dollop of cool sour cream and some crisp tortilla chips for garnishing, and you'll be serving up a hearty weeknight meal no one will be able to stop eating.

"Chili is one of my favorite dishes," recipe developer Katie Rosenhouse says, "but stirring a steaming pot at the end of a workday is just not on my list of things I enjoy doing, even as someone who loves to cook more than almost anything else. Making chili in a slow cooker takes all the work out of the equation, meaning I can have a hot, impressive dinner on the table any night of the week without stressing about getting it ready in time." 

As for the preparation, after quickly sautéing onions, green pepper, garlic, and beef in a skillet, all the ingredients for the chili are combined in the slow cooker, covered, and set to cook on high for 3 to 4 hours or low for 5 to 6. You can decide which depending on what works better for your schedule. It doesn't get easier than that.

Heat oil in a large pan over medium-high heat.

Add onion and green pepper; cook 5 to 6 minutes, stirring occasionally, until softened.

Add garlic and cook an additional 30 seconds.

Transfer to a 5-quart slow cooker.

Add ground beef to the pan and cook until no longer pink, 4 to 5 minutes. Drain excess fat.

Transfer beef to the slow cooker.

Add remaining ingredients to slow cooker and stir to combine.

Cover and cook on the high setting for 3 to 4 hours, or low setting 5 to 6 hours.

Using a slow cooker is a great way to have dinner ready to go with just a few minutes of prep in the morning, but if you decided on making this chili late in the day, you're in luck, as it can also be made on the stovetop. Keep the process almost the same: Swap the large pan for a Dutch oven, and cook the onion, green bell pepper, garlic, and beef together over medium-high heat until the beef is browned, stirring often. Add the remaining ingredients, and stir to combine. Cover and cook on low for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until thickened. You can adjust the thickness by uncovering the chili during cooking to eliminate excess moisture, or by adding more broth if needed. 

Serve hot, with a bevy of garnishes alongside. 

Want to make this chili ahead and keep it warm? The finished chili can be kept in a slow cooker on the warm setting for up to 2 hours before needing to be refrigerated. 

Keep in mind that this spicy beef chili can benefit from being made in advance. Rosenhouse says, "The best part of making chili ahead is that it only gets better as it sits, especially if left refrigerated overnight. The flavors meld and deepen, and you won't believe the difference a little rest can make."

If you're following her lead, make and refrigerate the chili overnight, then reheat in the slow cooker or on the stovetop until hot throughout before serving. This has the added benefit of helping you get ahead of the week with very little additional effort.

When it comes to leftovers, store the beef chili in an airtight container for up to 3 days, or freeze for up to 3 months. Make sure to thaw it in the refrigerator overnight before serving if frozen. Then reheat in the slow cooker, or on the stovetop until hot throughout, and serve with toppings as directed. 

If your chili is too thin and looks more like a soup than a stew, one way to cook off some of the excess liquid is to just keep simmering — the longer it heats, the thicker it'll get. If you're short on time, however, you have several other options available. Cornstarch, which is often used to turn thicken up gravies and sauces, can have a similar effect on your chili, although you'll need to dissolve it in an equal amount of water before you stir it in (a tablespoon of each should do). You can also try this same trick using fine-ground cornmeal or even crushed tortilla chips, although in this case there's no need to add water. With any of these additions, about 10 minutes more cooking time should see your chili thicken up nicely. You could also add any of these thickeners before you freeze leftovers to forestall the frozen chili from becoming watery as it thaws.

The beans in this chili can also be used as a thickener. There are two ways you can go about this. The first is to scoop out about half and then mash them before mixing them back into the chili. The other would be to open a new can of beans, drain it, and puree the entire thing. Stir the puree into the pot, then cook the chili for a few minutes more, until it's as thick as you'd like.

If you're looking for another beef-based chili, try an extra-meaty chorizo and beef chili con carne. Not only does it have two kinds of meat, but it ups the ante with a triple dose of beans: black, kidney, and pinto. While it's not quite as fiery, this is easily remedied by using any (or all) of the tips listed above for spicing up your chili.

Looking for something a bit lighter? Spicy slow cooker turkey chili is sure to fit the bill. It brings the heat with canned green chiles and chipotles and features both black and kidney beans. Unusual for a chili, though, it's also made with heart-healthy sweet potatoes. These not only punch up the nutrients but help to temper some of the heat with their sweet starchiness.

Of course, you could also go meat-free with 3-bean vegetarian chili. The three beans, in this case, are black, kidney, and refried, which are pre-mashed pinto beans that help make for a thicker chili. This produce-packed dish also includes corn, onions, poblano peppers, and fire-roasted tomatoes, while it gets plenty of flavor from lime juice, powdered ancho and chipotle peppers, and smoked paprika. As long as you avoid topping the chili with cheese or sour cream, it isn't just vegetarian but fully vegan.