Simple Slow Cooker Chili Recipe (No Beans)

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This simple hearty Slow Cooker Chili without Beans is a favorite for the family who just doesn’t love beans in their chili. Cozy and delicious with minimal prep time and slow cooked to bring out all of the spice and flavor, this one will be a family favorite! Freezes really well so an added bonus!

Crock pot with beef chili with no beans with ladle scooping into the pot.

Why You Will Love This Slow Cooker Chili Without Beans:
Ingredient Notes:
Ways To Vary This rEcipe:
Step-By-Step Instructions:
Recipe Tips
Storage:
Common Questions:
Other Slow Cooker REcipes:
Slow Cooker Chili (No Beans!) Recipe
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Not everyone wants beans in their chili, I get it! I have been known to pick them out for some of my favorite little humans before, and sometimes, it’s just easier to make the chili without the beans!

I am a big fan of beans in my soup and chili recipes, but every now and then I compromise and make some no bean chili as the family calls it!

If you are looking for a cozy soup recipe minus any beans, these are some other recipes you might want to try: Crock Pot Hamburger Soup, Vegetable Meatball Soup, Chicken Lemon Orzo Soup or my personal favorite these days, this Sausage Gnocchi Soup.

Love beef? Make sure to check these out! One Pot Chili Mac and Cheese (ok, this one has beans, but you can for sure skip them if you like!), Ground Beef Teriyaki, Ground Beef Stuffed Shells and my very favorite, Ground Beef Pot Pie!

Why You Will Love This Slow Cooker Chili Without Beans:

Very simple prep.
Even better as leftovers!
Freezer friendly.
Easy to adapt.
Always the best dish for your favorite chili toppings!

Ingredient Notes:

Bowl of ground beef, red and green bell peppers, tomatoes and other labeled ingredients on surface.

We prefer a lean ground beef like ground sirloin, but any ground beef is great in this chili recipe
You can use any combination of bell peppers that you prefer. I typically use red and green, but your favorite peppers are great!
For a bit more flavor, and a bit more spice, use the rotel diced tomatoes with the green chiles in place of just plain diced tomatoes.
We usually add some crushed red pepper flakes or hot sauce to up the spice level in this crock pot beef chili recipe.

Ways To Vary This rEcipe:

Use a different type of meat. This slow cooker chili recipe does not stictly need to be made with ground beef. You can easily use ground turkey, ground chicken or even bison if you’re feeling it!
Vary the vegetables–you can add a kick by using poblano peppers instead of bell peppers, dice up some jalapeños and more.
This seems to not make sense given the recipe title, but by all means, you can certainly add some beans to this beanless chili recipe, ha! Maybe you just want to keep it light, so toss in a can of rinsed kidney beans, black beans or maybe pinto beans!

Step-By-Step Instructions:

Crock pot with browned beef and sautéed onions at the bottom.

Step 1: Heat a large skillet at add olive oil until glistening. Add the onions and sauté until softened and becoming translucent. Add the beef and brown until fully cooked. Drain grease and add the beef and onions to the slow cooker pot.

Tomatoes, tomato sauce and seasoning in slow cooker before cooking.

Step 2: While the beef is cooking, chop the peppers and prep the remaining ingredients. After adding the ground beef to the pot, cover with remaining ingredients except the tomato paste and stir.

Stirred crock pot chili ingredients in pot before cooking.

Step 3: Cover the chili and heat on high for about low for 6-8 hours or high heat 3-4 hours, cooking until the peppers are softened .

Cooked crock pot beef chili with no beans.

Step 4: Add the tomato paste about 30 minutes before serving to thicken the chili slightly. Adjust the seasoning to taste and serve with your favorite toppings like cheddar cheese, sour cream, jalapeños, and more.

Recipe Tips

Try not to cook too far past the maximum times to prevent the beef from drying out. Cooking this chili on low gives you a lot of wiggle room in case you can’t get to the pot to check in. Cooking over the maximum times for hours though can cause the meat to dry out and more of the liquid to cook off than you may desire.
You can easily adjust the thickness of this beef chili recipe by either adding broth or tomato paste. If the chili is too thin, add some extra tomato paste to thicken it. You can also try to scoop out a bit of the excess liquid to help. To thin out the base, just add a few splashes of beef broth.

Storage:

To store leftover chili, refrigerate in an airtight container for 3-4 days. You can reheat in the microwave, stove top or put it back in the slow cooker on warm.

If you would like to freeze the chili, allow it to cool completely and then transfer to freezer safe containers. Freeze for up to 3 months, thawing in the refrigerator overnight before reheating for best results.

Overhead view of bowl of chili with sour cream and shredded cheese over top.

Common Questions:

Do you have to brown the ground beef before adding it to the slow cooker?

While you don’t have to brown the meat, it is strongly suggested that you do so. If you add the beef into the pot raw, the texture and flavor you get from cooking it stove top will be lacking. Your chili will also be much greasier which may not be your style

Can you use frozen ground beef when making crock pot chili?

It is not ideal to use frozen beef when making this crock pot chili either. This is actually a food safety issue as the crock pot may not get hot enough for long enough to kill off the growth of bacteria that could cause food borne illness.

What ingredients can be substituted for beans in a chili recipe?

In this recipe, extra meat was added to help balance the recipe. If you would like to use half the meat, you could add in diced sweet potatoes, rice, more veggies like carrots, or even some tofu!