Crock Pot Chili

     Chili is a dish that you can do so much with because you can add virtually anything to it and it will still taste good. You can make chili is a stock pot but I use my crock pot to make chili so I can let it cook while I am not home. Most crock pot recipes for chili make a lot of servings so I made sure to invite Matt over to help eat it all. I didn’t have a lot of time to prepare the chili so I went with the recipe on the back of the seasoning packet I bought. Here is the recipe, with a few changes, if you would like to try it out:

1 packet McCormick Crock Pot Chili Seasoning

2 lbs ground beef

2 14oz can diced tomatoes

1 14oz can dark red kidney beans - drained

1 14oz can light red kidney beans - drained

1 12oz can tomato sauce

1 large onion – chopped

     I have a large crock pot that tends to cook hot so I put it on low even though it was only going to be 4 hours until I got home. Start off by browning the beef in a large pan so you can drain some of the fat. While the beef browns, open all the cans, drain the beans, and then pour the contents into the crock pot. Roughly chop the onion, don’t worry about large pieces because they will soften during the cooking process. Once the beef is browned for the most part, drain as much fat out of the pan as you can. Add the ground beef to the crock pot and pour the seasoning packet on top. Stir until all the ingredients are mixed thoroughly. I didn’t think there was enough sauce when I mixed everything but the tomatoes will break down and there ended up being plenty.

     When we got home, the chili was done so I turned the crock pot off. I used a packet of corn bread mix and made corn muffins. I was only able to make six muffins with the one packet so if you have more than three people, you will need at least one more packet. Just about the time that the muffins were done, Matt arrived, he was just in time. I ladled two large scoops into each bowl, served them with sour cream and shredded cheddar cheese. We all enjoyed this simple recipe and like I said you can add whatever you want. Next time I will add green pepper and maybe some mushrooms.

Rating: Yummy – A great base chili recipe.