Chances are you’ve been stocking up on canned goods lately. One of my goals is to try more Crockpot recipes so that I can focus my limited daily time on work and caring for the kids. One of the meals our family loves is my easy veggie chili. I’m sharing this ridiculously easy dinner idea that I’m constantly switching up by adding different ingredients. I don’t think I’ve ever had a bad batch, and it usually yields enough for our family to have a dinner plus lunch for a couple of days. We love our easy slow cooker chili using whatever we have in the pantry!
Note: If you’re against using canned veggies, this is not for you. Also, I use many variations to make this chili so it’s difficult to give an exact recipe. I use whatever I have.
Easiest Slow Cooker Chili:
- 1.5 to 2 cups of vegetable stock. (I use 1.5 cups of water if I don’t have any, or make your own stock.) I tend to like the chili to be more “meaty” and less watery.
- 2 cans of Bush’s Chili Beans. (You can pick from mild to hot varieties or any brand will do.)
- 1 can seasoned Bush’s black beans. (The Southwestern Fiesta can is the best-tasting, in my opinion. You can also just use any can of black beans you prefer.)
- 1 can of pinto beans, drained. (I have also added kidney beans in the past.) I have used garbanzo beans when I didn’t have pinto beans.
- Diced red, green and yellow peppers (1 of each). (I have also used about eight smaller sweet peppers if that’s all I have.)
- 1 red or yellow onion. If I don’t have onion I just use onion powder.
- 1 can of whole kernel corn, drained. Sometimes I like to use a can of mixed pepper and corn.
- 1 16-ounce (or larger) can of diced tomatoes. (Seasoned canned tomatoes with chiles are the best, but you can just use fresh cherry tomatoes or canned diced tomatoes if you prefer.)
- 1 8-ounce can of tomato sauce. I skip the tomato sauce if I don’t have any.
- Optional: 1 can of carrot slices, drained.
- Optional: If you like meatless crumbles, you can cook them on the skillet (per directions on the package) and add seasoning (such as a quarter packet of taco seasoning or just salt and pepper). I then sometimes add them to the chili. Also, if you’re not a vegetarian you can use ground beef.
- Season with your taste in garlic (I like a lot.), salt, pepper, cumin, cayenne pepper, etc. Or use a chili seasoning mix.
- Toppings: sour cream, avocado if I have it, Mexican cheeses.
I leave it on high in the slow cooker until the peppers are soft, about 2-3 hours.
Enjoy!
