Looking for a beanless chili recipe for the slow cooker

[Diane AKA Traska]

Hey!  It's slow cooker time, and I'm looking for a chili recipe that's not too hot (but not mild either...just medium heat) that doesn't use beans. We're big fans of chili (on rice, on pasta, with crackers, by itself, in mac and cheese...), and I've been dying to try a good chili.  I figure I may not get it perfect the first time, but I love to spice until I get it right.

[Luci45]

Did you try just searching for "Slow cooker beanless chili recipes"?

I just ran a Yahoo! search and got a ton of hits. 

[Mikayla]

I have one I've been using for years that I made up in my head.  I've been meaning to write it down anyway

The basic ingredients are 2 cans of diced tomatoes (with liquid) per lb of ground beef.  I toss this in the pot along with about half a diced onion, half a cup of chopped bell pepper and sometimes half a stalk of chopped celery.  For spices, I dump in some Tobasco, serious garlic powder, onion powder, chili powder (probably a couple T on this one), red pepper flakes, salt and pepper, and then about a 2 teaspoons of unsweetened cocoa. 

Then I walk away and life my life for an hour or so.   Come back, taste, add more spice, and go live again.

One other option:  I've also made this with adding in 1 cup of peanut halves if you want a substitute for the beans.  Depending on how liquid-y you want it, you may need to add a little more, and I'd use some tomato sauce or beef broth.

Also, I've only done this on the stove and then set it on warm for a several hours.  The crockpot may be more liquid-ish, so you'd just add more meat or tomatoes.

This is kind of vague, I realize, but I've gotten a lot of compliments on it.  If you're comfortable playing around with spices, and can adjust to the liquid-ishness issue, it's really foolproof.

[Ms_Cellany]

I use a half-and-half mixture of cubed chuck (aka stew meat) and Nolan Ryan sausage cut in chunks, then add stuff until it sounds right. Mikayla's looks great.

[Harriet Jones]

I use a half-and-half mixture of cubed chuck (aka stew meat) and Nolan Ryan sausage cut in chunks, then add stuff until it sounds right. Mikayla's looks great.

What type of sausage is Nolan Ryan?

[Diane AKA Traska]

I have one I've been using for years that I made up in my head.  I've been meaning to write it down anyway

The basic ingredients are 2 cans of diced tomatoes (with liquid) per lb of ground beef.  I toss this in the pot along with about half a diced onion, half a cup of chopped bell pepper and sometimes half a stalk of chopped celery.  For spices, I dump in some Tobasco, serious garlic powder, onion powder, chili powder (probably a couple T on this one), red pepper flakes, salt and pepper, and then about a 2 teaspoons of unsweetened cocoa. 

Then I walk away and life my life for an hour or so.   Come back, taste, add more spice, and go live again.

One other option:  I've also made this with adding in 1 cup of peanut halves if you want a substitute for the beans.  Depending on how liquid-y you want it, you may need to add a little more, and I'd use some tomato sauce or beef broth.

Also, I've only done this on the stove and then set it on warm for a several hours.  The crockpot may be more liquid-ish, so you'd just add more meat or tomatoes.

This is kind of vague, I realize, but I've gotten a lot of compliments on it.  If you're comfortable playing around with spices, and can adjust to the liquid-ishness issue, it's really foolproof.

The cocoa is a little confusing for me, but I'm going to give it a shot anyway.    Who am I to argue with a proven recipe?

[Ms_Cellany]

I use a half-and-half mixture of cubed chuck (aka stew meat) and Nolan Ryan sausage cut in chunks, then add stuff until it sounds right. Mikayla's looks great.

What type of sausage is Nolan Ryan?

It's a brand. Kind of Italiany, kind of bratwursty.

[Hmmmmm]

I make mine by taste using a mixture of specialty chili powders and home ground chuck roast and brisket, so probably more than you want to do.  But I used to use a recipe from Foodnetwork.com called 6 pack chili with really good results.  You'll just want to brown your meat before adding to the slow cooker and then adding the remainder of the ingredients.

Edited to correct the website.

[mandycorn]

This is the one my family has always used. It's written for stovetop, but we've done it in the slow cooker several times. It works really well but tends to get spicier as it cooks, so start with the false or one alarm version if you're worried about heat.


Wick Fowler’s Two-Alarm Chili

You can use half the amount of cayenne pepper for One-Alarm chili or omit it for False Alarm Chili.

2 pounds ground beef or cubed chuck
1 1/4 teaspoons cayenne pepper
8 tablespoons chili powder
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 (8-ounce can) tomato sauce
2 (8-ounce cans) water
1 1/2 tablespoons dried onion
1 teaspoon paprika
2 teaspoons salt
4 teaspoons masa harina mixed with 1/4 cup warm water to form a smooth paste

Brown meat. Add cayenne, chili powder, cumin, tomato sauce, water, onion, paprika and salt. Cook at least 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Skim fat off the top. Add masa harina paste. Stir and cook 1/2 hour more.

My slow cooker suggestions:
I'd brown the meat on the stovetop, drain it, and transfer it into the cooker, then add the rest of the ingredients except the masa paste.  Cook it at least 4-6 hours on low and then add the masa mixture a half hour from when you want to serve, although letting it cook longer from that point just thickens it up more and won't hurt it any.

Serves 4 to 6.

[Mikayla]

Traska, the unsweetened cocoa is just a take-off on Mexican "mole" sauce.  They often put a little bit in any red sauce they use with beef.  I promise, you won't mistake it for a dessert   And it's not necessary, anyway.

[Diane AKA Traska]

Traska, the unsweetened cocoa is just a take-off on Mexican "mole" sauce.  They often put a little bit in any red sauce they use with beef.  I promise, you won't mistake it for a dessert   And it's not necessary, anyway.

Oh, I knew it wasn't going to be anything like chocolate... anyone who's snuck a bit of their mother's cocoa when they were little knows *that*.