Nothing beats a good chili on a cold day, especially when it’s served with our favorite cornbread. We wanted to create a hearty, hot chili in true Southwest style: plenty of meat, plenty of beans, and of course corn. When crafting this recipe, we wanted to make something that was easy, because who wants to put in a lot of work when it’s chilly outside and you just want to curl up by the fire?
To make easy chili, the slow cooker felt natural. From there, it was finding the right layer of ingredients to really make this chili shine. We used canned beans for the simplicity, but if you would prefer to use dried beans, just quickly brine them. Ready to make some serious comfort food? Scroll below for our favorite slow-cooker chili recipe…
Slow Cooker Southwestern Beer Chili
(makes 10 servings)
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2 medium yellow onions, diced
- 1 medium red bell pepper, diced
- 6 gloves garlic, chopped
- 2 small cans corn kernels no salt added, drained
- 1/4 cup chili powder
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
- 2 lbs lean ground beef
- 1 lb hot Italian sausage
- 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt, plus more to taste
- 1 (28 oz.) can diced tomatoes
- 1 can tomato paste
- 1 bottle lager (Sam Adams work very well)
- 1 cup beef broth
- 1 tablespoon light molasses
- 2 (15 oz.) cans kidney beans, drained and rinsed
- 4 small jalapeno chili peppers, seeded, stemmed, and diced
- 2 arbol peppers, seeded, stemmed, and diced
- 3 teaspoons minced chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
Directions
- In a large skillet over medium-high heat, cook and break apart the ground beef and sausage. Cook until beef is evenly browned, and sausage is cooked (about 8 or so minutes). Drain and discard any excess grease.
- Combine the remaining ingredients in the slow cooker. Cover, and cook on low for 10 hours, or high for 4 hours.
- To serve, garnish with cheese and serve with sour cream.
- Enjoy!
Recipe adapted from Taste of Home