Slow Cooker Autumn Chili is a wonderful spin on traditional chili and perfect for Fall! Ground beef, sweet potatoes, and a mix of red beans and black beans make this a hearty chili for those chilly days. It has a wonderful flavor, without being too spicy. But of course, you can always kick it up a notch, if you want more heat by adding a little extra of the seasonings.
I love this recipe for a couple of reasons. One, I thought it was delicious and I think it’s now my all-time favorite chili recipe! And although Hubby did not go so far as to say he loved it, he did think it was really good and would eat it again. The second reason was that this went together quickly for me, because I had a lot of the ingredients already cooked or cut up in the freezer. It was sure a time-saver!
No worries if you don’t have all these things in your freezer yet, because the ingredient list contains store bought ingredients. The prep time also includes hamburger cooking time and vegetable chopping time.
A couple of weeks ago, I cleaned out my freezers and took inventory, with the intention of using up a lot of the contents. While this chili was cooking away, I realized that everything except the seasonings and sweet potatoes are things I typically have prepped and recipe-ready in the freezer. Hubby just harvested the sweet potatoes last week from one of the garden containers. From the freezer, I substituted cooked hamburger, diced onion and bell peppers, as well as homemade broth, cooked black beans, cooked red beans and tomatoes to replace the fresh and canned ingredients.
Slow Cooker Autumn Chili
Prep 15 -20 min Cook 5 – 6 hours Serves 8 – 10
Ingredients
- 1# ground beef, browned & drained
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 1 medium bell pepper, diced
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 tablespoons chili powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- 2 cups beef broth (add 1 – 1 ½ cup additional broth to make soup)
- 1 14-oz can of black beans, rinsed & drained
- 1 14-oz can of red beans, rinsed & drained
- 2 14-oz cans diced tomatoes
- 2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled & cubed (¾” cubes)
Directions for Slow Cooker
- Brown ground beef in skillet, remove most of grease when done
- Stir in onion, bell pepper & garlic, cook 3 – 4 minutes
- Transfer cooked ground beef mixture into large slow cooker
- Stir in seasonings (chili powder, cumin, paprika, salt & pepper)
- Add broth, beans & tomatoes
- Cook on High 3 – 4 hours
- Add sweet potatoes
- Continue cooking on High 1 ½ – 2 hours until sweet potatoes are tender
I served it with a little shredded cheese and chopped cilantro on top, and corn muffins on the side. A very simple, but filling meal!
Sounds yummy!! Will have to try soon! 😉
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Thanks! It was so yummy!
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So many wonderful flavors! I love cooking in my slow cooker too! This sounds delicious!
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Thank you! It was delicious. I think it was the cumin that really added the wonderful flavorful. But it’s definitely a keeper in my book. 🙂
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I like the addition of sweet potatoes. I wonder if leaving out the meat and using veggie broth would suit my vegetarian family member? I think I’ll try that. I’m always looking for recipes for my crockpot.
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I’m sure it would be equally delicious! Add more beans to replace the meat, and the veggie broth would be fine. I’m thinking the recipe needs another sweet potato. It didn’t seem like a enough to me, but this was a totally new idea and I didn’t want to push my luck with Hubby. LOL I would love to hear how it turns out. 🙂
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Hmmm now I’m gonna have to make chilli with black beans!!!
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I haven’t used black beans often, but I am becoming a huge fan. 🙂
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I need this today, Robin. 🍁🍂🌾
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If you make it, let me know what you think. 🙂
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I like to mix different beans in my chili also. Thanks for sharing your recipe.
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My pleasure! 🙂
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So warm and comforting. Will give it a try sometime. – Rita
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Thank you! 🙂
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Robin – It is finally chili weather (pun intended 🙂 ) This looks fantastic!
-Cindy
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It was! We finished it off last night, but I’m already trying to figure out how soon I can get by making it again with Hubby. 😀
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Fiesta Friday is chili this week, so this is right on time🤩
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Yay! I hope you like it. You might taste it while it’s cooking, to make sure it has enough heat for your all.
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Sounds delicious!
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