The Best Homemade Slow Cooker Chili (Thickened with Masa)

The best chili recipe brings you ultimate comfort. It’s great the next day. And it has so much flavor, you don’t really need to top it, but toppings are so fun, so live it up!

Make this easy Slow Cooker Chili for cold days when you want to be comfy as well as for hot days when you don’t feel like cooking!

This classic chili recipe is made from simple ingredients and has just the right amount of spice. It’s perfect for a super bowl party or anytime you crave ultimate comfort food.

Why Make This

This Easy Slow Cooker Chili really is easy. Cook up some meat and onions, open some cans, dump some spices, and walk away. The Crock-pot (or the pressure cooker on the slow cooker setting) does all the work for you. This is the ideal meal to throw together before you leave for the day. Come home, warm some rolls or bake some cornbread, and hunker down for the night with a nice hot bowl of red.

It freezes beautifully. Leftover chili is so good the next day after the flavors have blended. You’ll want to make a double batch of this homemade chili because it freezes and reheats so well.

It’s delicious chili! Your whole family is going to love this easy crockpot chili recipe and for good reason. It’s got just the right amount of spices, but anyone who likes it really spicy can easily dial up the heat. Top it with corn chips, cheddar cheese, and some green onion or serve it atop chili dogs. I promise this will become your go-to chili recipe.

Ingredients

Here’s what you need to make this easy crock pot chili recipe:

ground meat – I like to use lean ground beef, turkey, chicken, or pork in this chili. If you like, you can easily substitute a plant-based grind if you’d like to make a meatless chili.

onion – Yellow or white onion will add fiber and flavor to your chili. Saute this with the meat for best texture.

beans – Even though purists say chili shouldn’t have beans, I like to pinto beans and/or black beans to my chili to stretch the ingredients and increase the fiber. If you like you can also use kidney beans or chili beans instead of or in addition to the beans in the recipe. Remember, you’ll save money if you cook dried beans yourself. Leftover beans are good to use in my versatile Instant Pot Bean Soup that uses any kind of bean!

tomato sauce and diced tomatoes – I love the flavor that canned tomato products add to chili. 

spices – I use salt, pepper, chile powder (aka ground chile), ground cumin, dried oregano, and ground cayenne pepper to season my Slow Cooker Chili. If you like you can use chili powder, but keep in mind this has added salt, so you’ll need to adjust the amount of additonal salt that you add to this beef chili. For an easy short cut, try my chili seasoning mix.

masa harina – One ingredient that might be new to you is masa harina. It’s the corn flour that I use for making tamales and tortillas.  this thickens the chili and adds flavor, but it can be omitted if you prefer. It’s available in the baking and Mexican food aisles of most grocery stores.

Variations

There are lots of other things you might like to add to this easy slow cooker chili, such as chopped bell pepper, chopped green chiles, or hominy.

Chili Toppings

Chili is so fun with a bunch of toppings. Consider any of the following: shredded cheese, sour cream, chopped onion, salsa, chopped cilantro, chopped avocado. Be sure to check out our recommendations for what to serve with chili as well!

Instructions

Here’s how to make this easy slow cooker chili:

In a large skillet, brown the ground beef and onions over medium-high heat until the meat is cooked through and the onions go clear, about 10 to 15 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Using a slotted spoon, transfer the meat mixture to the crock of a 6-quart slow cooker. Add the beans, tomatoes, tomato sauce, water, and spices. Stir to combine.

Cook on LOW for 6 to 8 hours or on HIGH for 4 hours.

Remove the lid and stir in enough masa harina to thicken the liquid to your desired consistency.

Serve the chili hot with toppings.

To make as a meal prep: I often prepare this dish in plastic meal prep dishes for easy lunches during the week. Prep the recipe as directed, allow the steam to blow off. Divide the chili among eight meal prep boxes. Cover and chill until ready to serve. Consume within 4 days.

To make as a freezer meal: This chili is a great recipe for freezing! Feel free to make a double batch and freeze for another time.

To freeze: chill the soup completely before storing in airtight containers in the freezer for up to 2 months.