Bridget Madden
The Crock Pot Chili Recipe Every Twenty-Something Needs
Bridget Madden
Fall 2015
College students, and especially those of us in the BUDC program are always on the go which means that we don’t have much time to cook for ourselves, hence late-night Ramen packets and ordering Dominos at our low points (we’ve all been there). Ordering out and eating processed foods is never as satisfying as a home cooked meal, not to mention it’s absolutely terrible for you which is why I am the biggest advocate for using a crockpot. This foolproof pot of magic does all of the work for you, and it’s a perfect way to put together meals for the week while you’re tackling homework on Sundays.
Foolproof Spicy Chili:
If you know how to operate a can opener, you can totally handle this recipe. This chili was originally made on Ina Garten’s show, The Barefoot Contessa. Anyone that knows me well knows that I love her Food Network show and my family is obsessed with her recipes. I’ve taken the original recipe and made a few tweaks.
My sister, Kasey and I garnished our chili with some red onion, cilantro, and avocado. We even threw in a little quinoa!
Photo Credit: From the photo library of Kasey Madden
What you’ll need:
- 4-5 pounds of any type of lean meat, cut into 1-inch cubes
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 chopped onion (I use yellow or white onion)
- 6 large garlic cloves, minced (or 3 tablespoons of jarred, minced garlic)
- 2 ½ tablespoons chili powder
- 1 tablespoon red pepper flakes
- 1 ½ tablespoon cayenne pepper (I like my chili scorching hot, so adjust if you aren’t into spicy)
- 2 tablespoons ground cumin
- 3 green peppers, seeded and diced
- 1 bay leaf (if you have one– totally unnecessary and kind of expensive)
- Four 12 oz. cans of diced tomatoes
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1/2 cup strong hot coffee (optional)
- 2 (15-ounce) cans beans (any variety– I use pinto and kidney)
- 2 tablespoons basil (dried is fine)
Pour olive oil into a skillet and then add the protein of your choice. Cook your protein almost completely through and then dry and set it aside. Sauté the onion and garlic in the same oil over medium heat until the onion becomes slightly translucent then set them aside as well. Drain the canned tomatoes, but keep ¼ cup of their juice and add it to your crock-pot. Then add the tomatoes, chopped green peppers, drained canned beans, bay leaf, basil, chili powder, pepper flakes, cayenne, cumin, onion, garlic, and your protein of choice. Give all of that a stir and turn the crock pot to a medium or low setting and after 2 ½ hours season with salt and pepper to taste and add the ½ cup of coffee. Continue to cook on low until the protein is tender.
It’s always fun to garnish your chili with a little avocado, Greek yogurt, red onion, or cheese. If you get bored of having chili for lunch and dinner all week, cook up one cup of quinoa and add it into your chili for a little extra heartiness. DO NOT add this when you initially make the chili in the crock-pot. The quinoa will fall apart and become gummy. You can also try roasting some butternut squash or sweet potato and pouring the chili over the top– it looks disgusting, but it’s delicious. Enjoy!
Bridget is a Senior majoring in Journalism.
