Recipe: Crock Pot Chili

MG and I were hard at work yesterday with house stuff, so I was super glad that I had chili going in our crock pot so that when we were done working, we had a nice meal ready to go! And, with the cold temps lately, a hot bowl of chili just sounded really good!

I found this recipe....of course...on Pinterest, but here's the original site.

What You Need:

-1 lb lean ground beef (or ground turkey if you want)

-1 green pepper, diced

-1 yellow onion, diced

-2 cans of kidney beans, one drained, one NOT drained*

-1 can diced tomatoes *

-1/ tsp salt

-1 tsp pepper

-2 Tbsp chili powder

-1 tsp crushed red peppers

-1.5 Tbsp vegetable oil

*we used reduced sodium for beans and tomatoes since there is SO MUCH salt in everything, we reduce wherever we can

Optional: cheese, sour cream, Tabasco sauce

What You Do:

1. Add the vegetable oil to a large skillet or pan. Let it heat over medium heat for a minute or two, then add in the green peppers and onion. Coat them in the oil and cook through for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently.

2. Add in the ground beef and salt, and cook through until no longer pink.

3. While the ground beef is cooking, add the two cans of beans (one drained, one not drained), the tomatoes, chili powder, pepper, and crushed red pepper (adding the crushed red pepper is missing from the original recipe, therefore I forgot to do so). Stir it up.

When the ground beef mixture is ready, add it to the crock pot, stir, cover, and set to 6 hours on HIGH.

4. When it's done cooking, scoop it out, add on any toppings (we chose some sharp cheddar and a small scoop of sour cream). We also added some tabasco sauce for some spice since the original recipe didn't say when to add the crushed red pepper flakes, so I forgot to put them in. Try it with the red pepper flakes and if you want some more spice, add in some Tabasco sauce.

No toppings

With toppings. Toppings are always better :)

This is a dish I'll definitely make again--it's definitely one to make on the weekend, especially if you dont have time to brown meat in the morning before leaving for work. I might add another can of tomatoes to it the next time I do it.

It's perfect for a hearty meal when it's cold outside!

Enjoy!