Is slow cooker chili better?

Chili is a beloved comfort food that warms you up on a cold day and satisfies your cravings for something hearty and flavorful. Many chili recipes call for slow cooking the chili on the stovetop or in the oven for hours until the flavors have melded together. But is using a slow cooker to make your chili even better? There are good arguments on both sides of this debate.

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Pros of slow cooker chili

Here are some of the main benefits of using a slow cooker to make chili:

Convenience – With a slow cooker, you can prep all the ingredients in the morning and let it cook while you’re at work or running errands. Dinner will be ready when you walk in the door.
Tenderness – The long cooking time helps break down the fibers in tougher, cheaper cuts of meat, making them fall-apart tender.
Flavor melding – Slow cooking gives the spices, tomatoes, beans, and other ingredients plenty of time to blend together into a cohesive, well-balanced flavor.

Food safety – The prolonged cooking kills any bacteria that may be present in the raw meat. You don’t have to worry about undercooked meat.
Energy efficiency – Slow cookers use less energy than stovetops or ovens, saving you money on your energy bills.

The key advantages of slow cooker chili come down to convenience and letting the flavors develop with time. If you’re busy all day, throwing everything in the slow cooker in the morning means coming home to a hot, delicious meal without any additional work. And chili is one dish that benefits from long, slow cooking to let the spices permeate the tomatoes, beans, and meat. Over hours of simmering, the flavors marry into a complex, hearty taste.

Cons of slow cooker chili

However, there are a few potential downsides to using a slow cooker for chili:

Lack of evaporation – Chili cooked in a slow cooker doesn’t reduce down as much as stovetop chili. This can result in a looser texture.
Vegetable integrity – Vegetables like peppers and onions can become mushy after hours of slow cooking.

Lack of browning – Browning the meat on the stovetop first adds more depth of flavor. This step is skipped with a slow cooker.
Less control – With a slow cooker, it can be harder to monitor the chili’s temperature and cooking progress.

The main potential drawbacks revolve around the lack of evaporation to thicken the chili and fewer opportunities to develop flavor complexity. Slow cookers operate at lower temperatures with moist heat, so you lose out on the effects of higher heat like browning ingredients and reducing down the liquid.

Tips for the best slow cooker chili

If you want to get the benefits of slow cooked chili but avoid the potential pitfalls, here are some tips:

Brown the meat – Quickly browning the ground beef or other meats on the stovetop before adding to the slow cooker boosts flavor.
Saute aromatics – Saute onions, garlic, and spices in oil before adding to the slow cooker for more depth.

Add cornstarch or masa – Thicken the chili by stirring in cornstarch, masa harina, or tomato paste towards the end of cooking.
Add tender vegetables at end – Wait to add more delicate vegetables like mushrooms until the last hour so they don’t get mushy.
Skim fat – Use a spoon to skim off any pools of fat that rise to the top for a healthier chili.

Adjust seasoning – Check seasoning after 8 hours and adjust spice levels, salt, etc to taste.

Following these tips will help maximize flavor development and achieve the ideal rich, thick texture for your slow cooker chili. Go into the process with the knowledge of the potential pitfalls so you can compensate where needed.

Slow cooker chili recipe

This slow cooker chili recipe uses the best practices outlined above to deliver all the rich, hearty flavor you expect in a chili made the traditional stovetop way. Feel free to tweak the spice levels to your taste – add more cumin, chili powder, cayenne, etc if you like things extra spicy!

Ingredients:

2 lbs ground beef
1 medium yellow onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes
1 (15 oz) can kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 (15 oz) can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup beef broth
2 teaspoons cornstarch

Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

Brown ground beef in a skillet over medium-high heat. Drain fat.
Add onion to the skillet and cook until softened, about 5 minutes.

Add garlic and spices and cook for 1 minute.
Transfer meat mixture to slow cooker and stir in crushed tomatoes, beans, and beef broth.
Cook on low heat for 8-10 hours.

In a small bowl, whisk cornstarch with 1/4 cup cold water. Stir into chili to thicken.
Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Top your slow cooker chili with your favorite fixings like shredded cheese, sour cream, jalapenos, or crushed tortilla chips. This chili is also great served over rice or a baked potato.

Choosing the right slow cooker for chili

To make the most of your slow cooker chili, it helps to have the right appliance for the job. Here are a few things to consider when selecting a slow cooker:

Size – For chili, a 6-quart cooker is ideal for most families. Go smaller for 2-3 people or larger for big batches.
Shape – An oval shape allows for better browning compared to round cookers.

Settings – Look for Low, High, and Warm settings. An automatic switch to Warm is useful.
Removable insert – Choose a model with an insert you can remove for easy serving and cleaning.
Additional features – Some cookers have timers, locking lids, or temperature probes for extra convenience.

Your chili will turn out best in a cooker that distributes and retains heat evenly. Higher end cookers often have more advanced technology to prevent temperature fluctuations and hot spots.

Slow cooker safety tips

While slow cookers provide a lot of convenience for hassle-free home cooked meals, you do need to keep a few safety precautions in mind:

Don’t leave perishable ingredients like raw meat sitting in the turned-off cooker for long periods before cooking.

Always thaw frozen ingredients before adding to the slow cooker.
Fill the cooker at least half full and no more than two-thirds full.
Keep the lid on while cooking to maintain even heat distribution.

Stir thoroughly when adding cornstarch or dairy products at the end to prevent scalding.
Discard chili that has been sitting on the Warm setting for over 2 hours.

Following basic food safety practices will prevent your chili or other slow cooker meals from becoming breeding grounds for bacteria. Be diligent when handling raw ingredients and don’t keep leftovers too long.

Chili topping ideas

One of the best parts about chili is all the fun toppings you can add to customize your bowl! Get creative with these topping ideas:

Shredded cheddar or pepper jack cheese
Sour cream or Greek yogurt

Diced onion or scallions
Crumbled tortilla chips or corn chips
Chopped cilantro

Diced avocado
Lime wedges
Hot sauce like Tabasco or Cholula

Jalapenos or banana peppers
Roasted corn kernels
Toasted pumpkin seeds

Get creative with toppings based on whatever you have on hand! The fresh flavors and textures complement the hearty chili and customize it to your taste. Avocado, sour cream, and cheese are especially delicious drizzled on top of a piping hot bowl.

Chili cook-off tips and tricks

Want to win your next chili cook-off? Here are some tips for coming out on top:

Nail the spice blend – The ideal chili has a complex blend of spices. Mix up your own signature spice mix with chile powders, cumin, oregano, coriander, cloves, and more.

Mind the meats – Use high quality meats and brown them well for maximum flavor. Go beyond just ground beef.
Toast the chiles – Quickly toast dried chiles in a dry skillet to awaken their essential oils.
Simmer and skim – Let your chili simmer to develop flavor. Skim off any fat as it rises to the top.

Perfect the consistency – Use masa harina or cornstarch to thicken your chili to an ideal, spoon-coating texture.
Adjust seasoning – Right before serving, adjust seasoning with salt, spices, vinegar, etc. to optimize flavor.
Garnish with flair – Garnish bowls with fun toppings like tortilla strips, avocado, or queso fresco.

With the right balance of meats, spice blends, herbs, aromatics and thickeners, you can craft an unbeatable chili loaded with complex flavor. Don’t be afraid to put your own unique spin on it too!

Chili and cornbread – a match made in heaven

Chili just seems to pair perfectly with warm, buttery cornbread. Here’s why they complement each other so well:

The slight sweetness of the cornbread balances the spiciness of the chili.

The cakey texture is a nice contrast to the hearty, thick chili.
Cornbread soaks up the chili juices for a satisfying bite.
Cornbread brings an extra corn flavor to highlight the chili flavors.

They can both easily be made ahead for convenient meals.

And if you bake the cornbread in the chili in a cast iron skillet, you get deliciously crusty edges infused with chili flavor. Here’s a simple skillet cornbread recipe to bake on top of your slow cooker chili:

Cast Iron Skillet Chili Cornbread

Ingredients:

1 cup cornmeal
1 cup all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
1 cup milk

1/4 cup vegetable oil or melted butter
2 tablespoons honey or sugar

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375°F. Grease a 10-inch cast iron skillet with oil or butter.
In a large bowl, whisk together the cornmeal, flour, baking powder and salt.
In a separate bowl, beat together the egg, milk, oil/butter and honey/sugar.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir just until combined. Do not overmix.
Pour the batter into the prepared skillet.
Place the skillet on top of the chili in the slow cooker.

Cover slow cooker and bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.
Remove skillet, let cool 5 minutes, then flip cornbread out onto a cutting board.
Slice into wedges and serve warm on top of chili.

The cornbread soaks up the chili flavor as it bakes, making it extra moist and delicious. Pair it with a scoop of chili and dig in!

Chili leftovers – recipes and ideas

One of the bonuses of making a big batch of chili in the slow cooker is having leftovers for days! Here are some delicious ways to reinvent leftover chili:

Chili cheese dogs – Pile chili onto hot dogs in buns and top with cheddar and onions.

Chili mac – Fold chili into cooked elbow macaroni with some shredded cheese.
Chili nachos – Layer chili, beans, cheese, etc onto tortilla chips for nachos.
Chili baked potatoes – Top baked potatoes with chili, cheese, sour cream, etc.

Chili pizza – Use chili as the sauce on pizza with peppers, onions, and tomatoes.
Chili omelet or burrito filling – Use as a filling inside omelets or breakfast burritos.
Chili soup – Thin it into more of a soup consistency with chicken broth.

Got extra cornbread too? Turn leftovers into chili croutons for soups and salads by cubing it up and baking until crispy. Waste no crumb!

Freezer-friendly chili tips

Here are some tips for freezing and reheating chili:

Let chili cool completely before transferring to freezer bags or containers.

Pack chili in portion sizes you will use like 1 or 2 cups. Flatten bags to freeze flat.
Leave 1/2 inch headspace in containers to allow for expansion.
Label bags or containers with contents and date.

Freeze for up to 3 months.
Thaw in refrigerator overnight before reheating.
Reheat gently on the stovetop or in the microwave, adding water if too thick.

Freezing is perfect for preserving big batches of chili to enjoy later. The chili will likely need salt and seasoning adjustments after thawing and reheating. Break up any ground meat in the chili so it reheats evenly.

Conclusion

At the end of the day, the beauty of slow cooker chili is that it infuses complex flavor with very little hands-on time. While stovetop chili lets you brown meats and reduce liquids, a few simple tricks like browning the meat first and adding cornstarch solve those issues for slow cooker versions. For a satisfying bowl of spice-rich chili with melt-in-your-mouth meat, throw everything in a slow cooker and come home to dinner ready when you are.

Top your masterpiece chili creation with your favorite fixings and serve it alongside warm cornbread or over nachos or hot dogs for endless flavorful meals. Freeze leftovers in handy portion sizes to enjoy again later. Whatever your slow cooker chili ritual, embrace the convenience and flexibility this staple meal offers.