Jims Big Batch Slow Cooker Chili Recipes

SLOW COOKER CHILI

Steps:

• Heat olive oil in a large and deep non-stick skillet over medium-high heat.
• Add onion and saute 3 minutes, then add garlic and saute 30 seconds longer. Pour onions into a 6 or 7 quart slow cooker (I like this one HERE).
• Return skillet to medium-high eat, add beef and cook stirring occasionally until beef has browned.
• Drain most of fat from beef, leaving about 2 Tbsp in with beef (this is optional, I think it ads flavor but you can drain it all if you'd prefer). Pour browned beef into slow cooker.
• Stir in diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, beef broth, chili powder, cumin, paprika, cocoa powder, sugar, coriander and season mixture with salt and pepper to taste.
• Cover with lid and cook on low heat for 5 - 6 hours.
• Stir in dark and light red kidney beans and allow to heat through, about 2 minutes. Serve warm with desired toppings.

SLOW COOKER CHILI

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven over medium. Add the onion, season with salt, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is softened and translucent, about 8 minutes. Increase the heat to medium-high, add the beef and garlic, season with salt and cook, breaking the beef into crumbles with a spatula, until the beef has lost its pink color, 8 to 10 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste and cook until slightly darkened and caramelized, about 1 minute. Stir in all the spices and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the beer and stir, scraping the bottom of the pan.
• Transfer the beef mixture into a 5- to 8-quart slow cooker. Stir in the tomatoes, vinegar, maple syrup, soy sauce, beef bouillon paste, cocoa, beans and 1/2 cup water. Cover and cook on low for at least 4 hours and up to 6 hours. (The chili can hold well on warm for an additional 2 hours.)
• When ready to serve, stir in the Worcestershire sauce. If the chili is too thick, stir in a bit of water until the texture is to your liking. Season to taste with salt. Serve in bowls and pass the toppings at the table.

AL'S BIG BATCH CHILI

Steps:

• Brown ground beef in a skillet, drain fat off.
• In a 5 quart pot, saute onion, celery, and green pepper until tender.
• Add ground beef back in pot and add tomatoes with puree. Add water.
• Add seasonings chili pepper and garlic power, onion power, salt and pepper.
• Cook 2 hours until heated though.
• Add mushrooms and kidney beans the last 30 minutes of cooking and heat though. Serve.
• Notes: You can add hot peppers to the chili if you want to, he does. You can also add crushed tomatoes without puree, it will be more like a soup. My husband just uses crushed tomatoes with juice. This above is more thicker but still good.

JIM'S BIG BATCH SLOW COOKER CHILI

Steps:

• Optional Adds: 1 Green Bell Pepper chopped OR 2 Jalapeno Peppers seeded and chopped for extra added heat. Personally, I do not use either of these, but you may. You may also use 2 (14.5 oz. cans) of Hunt's Diced Tomatoes, undrained, if you like a chunkier chili. Personally, I do not use these either.
• Optional Substitution: Although the beer is utilized to give the chili a great flavoring, it is NOT to have any alcoholic content after cooking it for over 2 1/2 hours according to the USDA. If you decide to omit the 12 oz. beer for any reason, use an ADDITIONAL 14.5 oz. of Chicken Broth to take its place.
• Cook the meats in at least 2 separate batches in a Large Skillet over Med-High heat right before it crumbles. Add and mix in the finely chopped onions. When the meat crumbles and no longer is pink; drain.
• Place the meat and onion mixture in the large crock pot (slow cooker). Add the rinsed/drained light red kidney beans and the remaining ingredients.
• Cover and cook on LOW for 8 hours, may stir a couple times. Since this is a Slow Cooker, it is always discouraged to use the HIGH setting... but if you must and running short on time, can be done roughly around 5 hours on HIGH.
• Remove and Discard the Bay Leaves before serving.
• Condiments and/or Sides to consider having on hand when serving: Sour Cream, Sharp Shredded Cheddar Cheese, Rice, Chopped Green Onions, Black Sliced Olives, Crackers, Limes (cut in quarters), Jalapeno Slices, Baguette Bread Sliced, Cornbread (or Jalapeno Cornbread), Salad.
• Beverage Pairing: Milk, Beer, Ripe Zinfandel, or Syrah.
• ENJOY! For whatever reason, a well-made Chili is much like Jambalaya. The leftovers, the day after, is generally better. . Maybe it takes a day for the flavors to truly fuse together.
• Directions for freezing and/or reheating portions:.
• Let Chili cool before freezing.
• Evenly divide chili into 2 (1-gallon) zip-top freezer bags (only 1 1-gallon bag needed if you are looking to freeze only half).
• Seal and lay each bag flat.
• Stack bags of chili in freezer.
• Freeze up to 1 month.
• Thaw 1 bag of frozen chili overnight in refrigerator (or defrost in microwave).
• Pour thawed chili into a 9-inch square baking dish.
• Cover tightly with heavy-duty plastic wrap, and fold back a corner to allow steam to escape.
• Microwave at HIGH 6-7 minutes or until bubbly (stirring once after 3 1/2 min mark).