Spicy crock pot chili recipe

Chili cooking in a crockpot. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2022.

​Each year when the weather turns cold, the anticipation in my household runs high, everyone eagerly waiting for me to bust out one of our favorite meals—belly-warming chili! Nothing is better than warm, spicy food on a cold, wintry day!

And when I say spicy, I mean spicy!!! We’re talking “make your family cry” spicy…and yet they all go back for seconds and thirds! I know, we’re sick people! 

Today, I’ll share the recipe for my homemade spicy chili. The recipe you will find below is a general one--I make it less or more spicy, depending on my mood. Once in a while, other spicy ingredients make their way into the pot, my sinister way of experimenting on my family to see just how much they can take!

As for how much spice to use, that is totally up to the individual taste. To be honest, I don’t measure. Every time I make chili, it tastes a little different. But the main ingredients are all the same. The spice list starts with chili powder, and from there, you can use any quantity and combination of other spices to get the taste you want. 

This recipe fills two crockpots, so if you want less, just cut all the ingredients in half.

So here goes…

One of two crockpots I will be using. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2022.

Main ingredients for two crockpots:

5 lb ground meat
4 cans kidney beans (I use a combination of both light and dark)
2 cans stewed or diced tomatoes (with or without seasoning)
2 jars mild/medium salsa
splash of soy or Worcestershire sauce (optional)

Cooked ground beef. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2022.

Rinsed kidney beans. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2022.

Diced tomatoes. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2022.

Medium salsa. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2022.

Soy sauce. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2022.

Seasonings & spices for two crockpots:

2 packs chili seasoning
chili powder (approx. 6 TBS)
salt (approx. 2 tsp)
pepper (approx. 2 tsp)
cayenne (approx. 3 tsp)
red pepper flakes (approx. 1 tsp)
paprika (approx. 3 tsp)
garlic powder (approx. 2 tsp)
Italian seasonings, optional (approximately 1 tsp)

Chili seasoning packet. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2022.

Spices for the chili. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2022.

Red pepper flakes. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2022.

Garlic powder. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2022.

Black pepper. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2022.

Salt. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2022.

​Brown the beef in a large pot and then rinse the grease. Drain well. Divide the cooked ground beef in half and pour into two crockpots.

Next, rinse the kidney beans until the water runs clean, and divide between the two crockpots (2 cans per crock pot).

Pour one can of stewed or diced tomatoes into each crockpot.

Add one jar of mild or medium salsa to each crockpot. 

Add a splash of soy or Worcestershire sauce to each pot. (This is optional, but I find it adds a bit of flavor, as long as you don’t use too much.)

Pour one pack of chili seasoning into each pot.

Add in the rest of the seasonings to taste. Mix them in a bowl and then pour them into the crockpots or eyeball them while adding each spice directly into the pot. I usually eyeball it…keeps things simple!

Finally, mix everything and turn the crockpot on low to cook for 5-7 hours (or on high for 4-5 hours).

Cooked chili in the crockpot. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2022.

​This chili recipe tastes delicious with shredded cheese and buttered bread, but I have also served it over wide egg noodles or rotini. 

So that’s my recipe for spicy chili! 

Let me know in the comments below what you think. Do you have your favorite recipe you’d like to share? And—just curious—do you prefer your chili spicy or not? Drop a comment below!

Homemade spicy chili served with shredded cheese. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2022.

Related blogs you may want to read:
Homemade chicken noodle soup recipe
Potato soup recipe
Tuna noodle casserole recipe
Chicken vegetable pot pie
Salmon chowder recipe
How to eat healthy with chicken and roasted vegetables

This article may contain a few items or commercial mentions, but I only used them for demonstration purposes only. I am not endorsing any particular product or receiving any monetary gain for this blog.
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