Slow Cooker Beef & Black Bean Chili Bar
2x the delicious servings!
- Milk
- Sesame
Just like the lightbulb or zip-close bag, the slow cooker is one invention we can’t live without. There’s no lack of flavor when harmonious ingredients sit together cooking happily for hours without fuss. Case in point? This crowd-pleasing beef and black bean chili, packed with scallions, garlic, tomatoes, and all the quintessential spices. Serve this big batch meal to your hungry crowd with toppings galore, like scallion greens, tortilla chips, smoky red pepper crema, and cheddar cheese. This recipe is double the typical servings, providing 4 servings and 8 servings for a 2 person and 4 person box respectively.
Ingredients
½ cup
Cheddar Cheese
(Contains: Milk)
1 unit
Tomato Paste
1.5 ounce
Blue Corn Tortilla Chips
(Contains: Sesame)
14 ounce
Diced Tomatoes
4 tablespoon
Smoky Red Pepper Crema
(Contains: Milk)
1 unit
Long Green Pepper
1 clove
Garlic
5 unit
Beef Stock Concentrate
2 unit
Black Beans
1 unit
Tomato
2 unit
Scallions
20 ounce
Ground Beef
1 tablespoon
Mexican Spice Blend
1 tablespoon
Southwest Spice Blend
Nutrition Values
Utensils
Cooking Steps
• Wash and dry produce. • Halve, core, and dice green pepper into ½-inch pieces. Peel and mince or grate garlic. Trim and thinly slice scallions, separating whites from greens. Place scallion greens in a small bowl and cover with plastic wrap; refrigerate until ready to serve.
• Set a 5- to 6-quart slow cooker to the sauté/brown setting and add a large drizzle of oil. Once oil is hot, add beef*, green pepper, garlic, scallion whites, Southwest Spice Blend, Mexican Spice Blend, and a big pinch of salt and pepper. • Cook, breaking meat up into pieces, until browned and mostly cooked through, 3-5 minutes. • Stir in tomato paste and cook, stirring, until slightly darkened, 1-2 minutes. TIP: No sauté setting on your slow cooker? No problem! Follow the same instructions using a large pan over medium-high heat, then transfer contents to slow cooker at the end of this step.
• If there’s excess grease in your slow cooker, carefully pour or spoon it out. Stir in stock concentrates, beans and their liquid, and diced tomatoes. Cover and increase heat to high; cook until tomatoes break down and flavors meld, 4-6 hours. • Taste and season with salt and pepper.
• When chili is ready to serve, dice tomato into ½-inch pieces. Lightly crush tortilla chips in bag. • Serve chili, scallion greens, tomato, tortilla chips, red pepper crema, and cheddar family style and let everyone build their own chili bowl!
Ground beef is fully cooked when internal temperature reaches 160°.
Customer reviews
Review summary
Updated on Feb 2026- Flavor: Many loved the taste, though some found it mild; adding extra spices or herbs boosted flavor for those who wanted more kick 🌶️.
- Ease of prep: Customers appreciated the simple slow cooker method, with some noting it was great for busy weeknights or game day gatherings.
- Suggestions: Consider adding variety with different bean types, diced onions, or jalapeños; some reduced beans for a meatier texture.
- Leftovers: Several mentioned enjoying leftovers for days, with some noting the flavor improved over time.
- Portions: While many found it generous, a few wished for larger servings or more toppings, especially chips and cheese.
Reviews from our home cooks
This was by far the best chili I've ever made. I've made many chili's over the years from a range of recipes and this one turned out amazing. Key is follow the directions and cook it the full time in the slow cooker and skin the extra grease and it'll be amazing. We served it with buttermilk biscuits.
Great chili - I love the crockpot recipes! I don't eat a lot of meat anymore, but I really enjoyed the beef with the black beans. And the toppings put it over the top!
This is a family favorite! The slow cooker version actually is better because we are a 4 meal family with 4 servings and my Sons always want seconds. This was a perfect portion and was awesome to come home to after a chilly day at the ballpark.
Ordered solely for myself and it was delicious! Cooked it on slow cook in my instant pot and froze half of it for later since it was a lot of food as described. Flavor was so yummy! I wish it came with some more chips. Toppings were great.
Wow! We loved this chili, perfect for a cool fall weekend! It was not nearly spicy enough for us so I ended up adding a jalapeno to kick things up a notch. I also added another small pepper to increase the amount of veggies. We were pleasantly surprised to try the toppings, adding diced tomatoes and tortilla chips was new for us.
Made for just the two of us so had wonderful leftovers. Mine came out very thick; not very soup like. Not sure that I would add more liquid to it 'cause that would detract from the super bean and beef flavors. This one should be a ten star!
GREAT CHILI. However, I would drain the meat before adding the seasoning next time. I added a pinch of cinnamon, cumin, and cocoa powder to the dish and it turned out to be some of the best chili I ever made.
One of the best, easiest chili recipes I have made! Had an onion on hand and threw that in too, was delicious.
There really wasn't enough liquid in this recipe for 4-6 hours on high. It burned to the sides of my slow cooker. On the other hand, it was quite tasty.
Everyone in our household ages 50 to 5 enjoyed this chili. Of course easy prep the night before and placing it in the slow cooker made walking in after work with dinner on the table a plus
