Football season is here! For most, the excitement of the upcoming games is what matters most. For me, I am not going to lie… it is the food. Well, it is the tailgating with our friends, too, but mostly, the food.
Who doesn’t love a potluck or a tapas feast? Yum and more yum! I am not much of a cook, that much I will admit, but there are a few dishes that I can do up pretty good. One of them is Crock-pot Chili. As soon as football season begins, as we get that first bit of a chill in the air, this is usually my first go to dish. My family loves it!
When all is said & done, this recipe completely fills up my crock-pot. Mine is a 6-quart capacity. I would say you could feed a good 10 people a hearty bowl of this chili.
This is also a super fun recipe for the kiddos to help out with. My little guy likes to help pour all the ingredients into the crock-pot, so I prep it all on the counter for him ahead of time. He pulls up his stool to the side of the counter and pretends to be my sous-chef. Please just be careful to remove any sharp edges and lids from the cans, beforehand.
I hope you & your family enjoy this as much as we do! Oh, and if you have never tried adding shredded cheddar cheese and a dollop of sour cream to your bowl of chili… well, you don’t know what you’ve been missing. Give it a try & let me know what you think. Happy cooking… & tailgating!
Ingredients
2 lbs. ground beef
46 fluid oz. tomato juice
1 (29 ounce) can – tomato sauce
1 (15 ounce) can – kidney beans {drained & rinsed}
1 (15 ounce) can – pinto beans {drained & rinsed}
1 ½ cups chopped onion
¼ chopped green bell pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
½ teaspoon white sugar
½ teaspoon dried oregano
1 ½ teaspoons ground cumin
¼ cup chili powder
salt & pepper, to taste
Directions
- Place the ground beef in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium-high heat until evenly brown. Drain off any excess fat and then toss meat into crock-pot.
- In no particular order, add all other ingredients above into the crock-pot. Stir all together.
- Set crock-pot on low and let simmer for 6 to 8 hours, or until bubbly & hot.
- Serve & Enjoy!
Helpful Hints
- I have played with this recipe over the years & depending on my mood (or your tastes), I will add various different kinds of beans. Many times, I add more than just the two cans the recipe calls for. I usually go for 3 or 4. I have tried navy beans, black beans, & garbanzo beans. All have been very tasty!
- If you don’t want to use tomato sauce, you can definitely use diced or crushed tomato. I like extra tomato in my chili, too, so I also add a little more diced tomato.
- Publix has the exact amount of tomato juice needed in their brand of juice found in the juice isle.
- I cheat with the chopped onion & bell pepper because I hate chopping veggies. Publix has the already chopped small containers of veggies in their produce section that are the perfect portions. I buy both and just dump them in! Done!
