Crockpot Chili

Crockpot Chili 

Ingredients:
2-3 pounds ground beef, chicken, turkey, or venison (or 1/2 beef and 1/2 other ground meat)
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbsp. olive oil (if using only ground chicken or turkey)
3 cans (15 oz. each) pinto, dark red kidney, or black beans, drained (or a mixture of each)
2 cans (14.5 oz. each) of diced tomatoes, undrained (I like to replace it with 29oz. crushed tomatoes)
1 8 oz. can tomato sauce (or 6oz. tomato paste and a couple cans of water)
1 jalapeno, chopped (can sub with a can of green chiles or 1 tsp. red pepper flakes)
salt and pepper to taste

Chili Seasoning:
3 Tbsp. chili powder 
1 Tbsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. onion powder
2 tsp. dry oregano
2 tsp. paprika


Directions:
Brown ground beef with onions and garlic; drain off excess fat. Combine beef and onions with remaining ingredients in a 6 quart slow cooker. Stir to blend. Cover and cook on LOW for 8 to 10 hours.

Note: The jalapeno is spicy. Wear gloves when chopping it to keep your hands from burning. If you don’t like the spicy kick just scrub out the seeds or omit jalapeno altogether. You can even just use 1/4 tsp. of the red pepper flakes to make it more mild. 

You can make this an all-meat chili by preparing it without adding the beans.

Serve with cornbread, saltine crackers, or tortilla chips. Top with some shredded cheese, sour cream, salsa, and cilantro if desired.

This chili is good on its own or used in other ways. It tastes great over hot dogs (chili cheese dogs), fries (chili cheese fries), used on top of hot baked potatoes, for making chili potato skins or chili cheese nachos, etc.