My Slow Cooker Chilli con Carne recipe is super tasty, quick to prepare and perfect for a mid-week dinner, or for batch cooking and saving for later!
Chilli con Carne is a familiar dish to most people, especially those with a slow cooker as it’s usually the first thing they try to make. It can be quickly thrown together whilst still packing a punch on the flavour.
Where does the Chilli recipe originate from?
Chilli con Carne literally translates to “chilli with meat”. First prepared as a basic stew by the Mexican community in southern USA, it’s now one of the most famous South American culinary dishes.
As well as being open to a number of adaptations of the ingredients, Chilli con Carne is widely used as an ingredient itself. Think fillings for enchiladas, wraps and jacket potatoes. I even think it’s great as a pizza topping.
Making a big pot to save for later is definitely a good idea!
What’s ingredients are in Slow Cooker Chilli con Carne?
My recipe can mostly be considered a classic chilli recipe containing beef, spices, tomatoes, kidney beans. To increase the nutrients and add to the flavour I always add some extra vegetables!
As for the spice, I usually make my chilli con carne to a medium heat to please everyone – our toddler included! You may choose to be more heavy handed on the chilli or cayenne according to preference!
The spices in a chilli are:
- Paprika – adds a gorgeous pungent, mildly sweet and peppery flavour to the chilli. For the very best, try and find Hungarian Paprika.
- Smoked Paprika– adds a lovely depth of flavour.
- Chilli Powder – contains paprika, cumin, oregano, garlic, cayenne pepper.
- Cumin – an aromatic bitter spice, popular in Mediterranean and Egyptian cooking.
If you’re looking for some other ideas to add into a chilli con carne, throw in some left over cured meat and chopped up chorizo sausage. We tried this whilst away on holiday with friends (willing guinea pigs!), and it added a gorgeous smoky edge to the sauce.
What do you serve with Chilli?
Are you having slow cooker Chilli con Carne as a meal? Go for some rice and maybe a little soured cream and crispy tortilla chips on the side.
Are you using chilli as an ingredient? One thing I like to do is fill soft tortilla wraps with the chilli, roll them up, sprinkle with cheese and a little salsa and grill for a few minutes. Great for a weekend lunch!
More Tasty Mexican Recipes
Mexican recipes and a crockpot are a match made in heaven! Why not try some of these:
Can I freeze leftover Crockpot Chilli Con Carne?
Slow cooker Chilli con Carne can be stored in the fridge for two days or batched up and placed in the freezer for three months. Defrost overnight in the fridge, reheat ensuring it’s piping hot all the way through – and enjoy!
Slow Cooker Chilli con Carne
Equipment
Ingredients
- 500 g minced beef
- 400 g chopped tomatoes – canned
- 400 g kidney beans – canned, drained
- 1 onion – white, large
- 1 red pepper – capsicum
- 2 garlic cloves – minced
- 4 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 beef stock cube
- 150 ml water – for the stock
- 1 tsp oregano
- 2 tsp coriander – dried or freshly chopped
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 tsp cumin
- 2 tsp hot chilli powder
- 1½ tsp sweet paprika
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- ½ tsp dark brown sugar
- 1 tsp salt – salt flakes
- ½ tsp black pepper – ground
- 3 tbsp flour – corn or wheat
- 1 tbsp oil
- 1 red chilli pepper – (optional for added heat)
Instructions
- Dice the onion and red pepper and place in a pan on the stove (or the slow cooker pot directly if using a sear and stew type) with 1 tbsp of oil, add the mince beef and stir through well to separate the meat. Add in the oregano, coriander and spices and cook until the meat is browned. Transfer to the slow cooker.
- Crush the cloves of garlic and finely dice the chilli pepper – optional if you like some extra heat. Add with the tomato paste to the slow cooker. Sprinkle over the flour, salt, pepper and sugar and stir well to coat the ingredients.
- Dissolve the stock cubes in the hot water and pour over the meat and vegetables. Add the chopped tomatoes, kidney beans, Worcestershire sauce and bay leaves. Stir well ensuring everything is covered in the liquid.
- Replace the lid and cook on high for 4 hours or low for 8 hours.
- Once cooked, serve with rice and a sprinkle of chopped coriander.
I’ve been looking for a great chili recipe and have now found one. This is superb, the meat is tender and the blend of herbs and spices is perfect. It’s not too hot but has enough kick for me.
Hi Graham, thanks for the great feedback! I always like my chilli really spicy, Bec not so much – thankfully it’s easy to add heat with a pile of red chillies on top! 🙂
Absolutely love this recipe and it’s a firm favorite and regular in our house now. Had a friend visiting recently while this was in the slow cooker and she tasted it and literally went straight out to buy a slow cooker to make it at home again. We add a bit of dark chocolate towards the end of cooking and it really adds another dimension to the flavour. I just love it and all your recipes, thanks so much!
Great to hear that you enjoyed it, the dark chocolate will be a lovely addition! Thank you for the review!
New to slow cooking, made this and it was lovely. Can anyone tell me if the calorie content listed on the recipes is per person or per entire recipe?
Thanks !
Glad you enjoed it! The calories are per portion, sorry to be the bearer of bad news 🙂
This was the best chilli con carne EVER… all family agreed. Easy to make & defo on forever recipe list. Freezes well too. Try it!
Thanks for review, glad you all enjoyed it!
Made this yesterday, a great success. I had diced beef, which I’ve never used for chilli con carne before. It worked out lovely, very tasty. Served with sour cream and corn ‘Broghies ” to keep calories down.
Glad that you enjoyed it and using the diced beef sounds a nice alternative! Thanks for the review.
Great recipe,!
Made this with diced beef and added half a Scotch Bonnet chilli pepper finely diced(my boys like it extra spicy) and left in the slow cooker for 8 hours. It was delicious. Extremely tasty and the family loved it!
Yum, that sounds lovely, and glad you enjoyed it!
Hi
Want the give this chilli a try but unable to find sweet paprika and brown sugar. I have hot paprika and just normal paprika but could you advise on alternative for brown sugar please? Could I use normal white sugar?
Hi Sharon,
White sugar will work fine as it’s just a small amount in the recipe. The regular paprika you have will also work well, the smoked paprika listed in the ingredients gives the sauce an extra dimension but it will still taste good if you can’t get hold of the smoked kind. Hope you enjoy!
Rebecca
OMG. Absolutely stunning, can’t wait to make it again next week. I made the recipe for 8 even though there was only 6 of us (like a nice portion)bit I only used 2 tins or kidney beans rather than 3 as it looked plenty.
Glad you enjoyed it!