This Slow Cooker Bean Chilli recipe makes for a healthy but extremely satisfying meal, and what’s more; it’s super simple to make. I like to prepare it as a quick and easy mid week meal, and considering the speed with which I can knock it up, it certainly doesn’t disappoint on taste!
I love all the flavour and colour in this dish and it always smells amazing when it’s simmering away in the slow cooker. You can be flexible with the beans you add according to what you have in your cupboard.
My recipe here uses a mix of Red Kidney, Haricot, Pinto, Borlotti, Black-Eyed and Cannellini beans, as well as chick peas. It sounds a lot of different beans, but it’s basically what you get in many of the mixed bean tins from popular supermarkets. Lots of variety with very little effort!
Should I use dried or tinned beans for Slow Cooker Bean Chilli?
This recipe uses tinned beans for speed and simplicity. If you choose dried beans you’ll need to prepare them by soaking them for at least 12 hours before you cook them. I’m not sure about you – but I can’t be bothered with that on a week night!
Something that I can tell you from experience is that unless your dried beans are very fresh you may well end up with beans that are still hard, even after a good 4 hours of cooking on high!
So – tinned beans are what I use, and I find the end result is exactly the same.
How easy is it to make Bean Chilli?
This is one of those meals I make in the slow cooker that I like to label Easy Prep – I can be finished with the cooking in around ten minutes. For this recipe it’s just a case of chopping up a few vegetables, pouring in some tinned beans, sweetcorn and tomatoes and seasoning and setting the slow cooker. Easy.
What do I serve with Slow Cooker Bean Chilli?
I usually serve this with rice and a sprinkle of coriander. If you do want to zhoosh it up a little more, then add some fresh avocado and chilli, crumbled Wensleydale and tortilla chips on the side. It’ll work wonderfully and look great!
As a side note, if you are catering for vegetarians and meat eaters alike, this is a great dish to cook. It’s very easy to add some lightly fried chopped Chorizo on the top, and it tastes fantastic!
Can I store leftover Slow Cooker Bean Chilli?
Yes, this chilli will store well in a sealed container in the refrigerator for two days. It can also be frozen for up to three months in an air-tight container. Just make sure that when defrosting stir the beans gently so that they don’t break down and turn mushy.
Slow Cooker Bean Chilli
Equipment
Ingredients
- 800 g (28 oz) mixed beans (tinned) – 2 tins
- 400 g (14 oz) chopped tomatoes – 1 tin
- 150 g (1 cups) sweetcorn – 1 small tin
- 1 onion – diced
- 1 carrot – grated
- 1 celery stick – sliced
- 1 red pepper – diced
- 3 cloves garlic – crushed
- 2 vegetable stock cube
- 500 ml (2 cups) hot water
- 8 tbsp tomato paste – puree
- 3 tbsp paprika – sweet
- 2 tbsp smoked paprika
- 3 tbsp cumin – ground
- 1 tbsp coriander – dried
- 1½ tbsp basil – dried or fresh
- 1 tsp thyme – dried or fresh
- 2 tsp chilli powder
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp ground black pepper
- 2 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tbsp corn flour
Instructions
- Put all of the prepared vegetables (onion, pepper, carrot and celery) and crushed garlic into the slow cooker and stir in the corn flour to coat the everything well.
- Pour in the tins of mixed beans, sweetcorn and chopped tomatoes. Dissolve the stock cubes in the hot water and then empty this into the slow cooker.
- Add the tomato paste, all herbs and spices (coriander, basil, thyme, chilli, paprikas, cumin) and the salt, pepper, sugar and Worcestershire sauce. Stir through well.
- Set the slow cooker to low for 6-8 hours or high for 4 hours then serve with rice.
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