Tex-Mex Crockpot Chili

This recipe was inspired by a restaurant we saw on Diners, Drive Ins & Dives. I forget the restaurant, otherwise I’d look it up & post here.

I dunno about you, but typically when I make chili, I brown the meat first, and then add everything to it.  But on the show, the chef just added everything into a big pot—raw ground beef & all, and then cooked it low & slow all together.  Guy said that it really helped all the flavors to permeate into the ground meat.

And well, we had a chili cookoff coming up at work, so when better to test it out? And I will tell you—this recipe came in second. (To be fair, the one that took first place had steak & caramelized onions; even I loved it.)  And technically, it would have tied for first if a certain someone *cough*MyBoss*cough* hadn’t forgot to vote before we closed the polls.  But I’m not bitter, I just enjoy the fun of cooking & sharing my food with people.

Why a chili cookoff? Because every spring, our local Sertoma group organizes one of the largest Chili Cookoffs in the Midwest, and our internal cookoff is how we decide what chili our team will make at THAT cookoff.  Our Queen City Sertoma chapter primarily raises money for the Boys & Girls Club of America, so hey… cooking plus fundraising for kids?  I’m in.

Honestly, there were so many delicious chilis, I didn’t even vote for my own!

 

INREDIENTS:

1 bell pepper, diced

1 lb lean ground beef

1/2 onion, diced

1 can black beans, drained

1 can pinto beans, drained (optional)

2 cans fire roasted tomatoes, diced

1 can sweet corn

1 tbsp minced garlic

3 tbsp chili powder

2 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp black pepper

2-3 tsp cumin

1 tsp Cajun seasoning

1 tsp ground chipotle chili

1.5 tsp salt

 

DIRECTIONS:

Um…pretty simple.  Dump everything in a 6 qt (or larger) Crockpot, stir, cover, & cook on High for about 3 hours.  Check periodically & stir more.  Then walk away and do other “important” things…like catch up on your DVR’d shows since you just got back from a week vacation. (No worries, I’ll post about that later.)

Once the meat is cooked (2-2.5 hrs in), start checking for taste & add more seasonings as needed. If it’s a little spicier than you prefer, you can add a little sugar to help balance it out….or just serve it with optional sour cream & cilantro. 

This is probably my new favorite chili recipe.  YUM!

 

NUTRIFACTS: (Makes 6 hearty servings…or about 30 tastings)

  Calories 317.9

  Total Fat 17.0 g

  Saturated Fat 6.5 g

  Polyunsaturated Fat 1.3 g

  Monounsaturated Fat 7.1 g

  Cholesterol 56.7 mg

  Sodium 635.2 mg

  Potassium 663.3 mg

  Total Carbohydrate 23.7 g

  Dietary Fiber 6.7 g

  Sugars 2.7 g

  Protein 19.4 g