Name: 5 Ingredient Crock-Pot Chili Recipe [Bean Free]
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 120 min
Total time: 130 min
Ingredients: 3-4 lbs ground beef; 2 onions ((finely diced)); 3-4 cans diced tomatoes; 15 oz tomato sauce; ¼ cup homemade chili seasoning

Chili is a wonderful and filling easy meal that can be made ahead and tastes great reheated. It is also a meal that can easily be made grain free, bean free, etc. and served to guests who aren’t used to “health food” without anyone even noticing.

5 Ingredient Crock Pot Chili Recipe

This chili recipe is one of my favorites for its simplicity. It has only five ingredients (if you keep homemade chili seasoning on hand) and comes together quickly.

This chili recipe is most easily made in a slow cooker, but it can also be made on the stove more quickly.

We serve crock pot chili with coconut flour biscuits. I add some grated cheese, diced green onions, and garlic to the biscuits to make them savory.

Re-heated, this chili is also good in omelets or on top of eggs. A big pot at the beginning of the week also makes enough for plenty of healthy lunches during the week.

5 Ingredient Crock-Pot Chili Recipe [Bean Free]

An easy slow cooker chili recipe that comes together quickly and easily.

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 2

Total Time 2 10

Calories 277kcal

Author Katie Wells

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Servings

Ingredients

3-4 lbs ground beef (or venison, sausage, bison, ground turkey, or a mix)
2 onions (finely diced)
3-4 cans diced tomatoes
15 oz tomato sauce
¼ cup homemade chili seasoning (or chili powder, black pepper, salt, garlic powder, and cilantro to taste)

Instructions

Dump raw meat and all other ingredients in Crock-Pot.
Cook on low 5-6 hours or high 2-3 hours until meat is done and flavors are blended, or make in 30 minutes on stove.
Enjoy 🙂

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts

5 Ingredient Crock-Pot Chili Recipe [Bean Free]

Amount Per Serving (1 bowl)

Calories 277 Calories from Fat 82

% Daily Value*

Fat 9.1g14%

Saturated Fat 4g25%

Cholesterol 103mg34%

Sodium 200mg9%

Carbohydrates 11.7g4%

Fiber 2.6g11%

Sugar 5.9g7%

Protein 35.9g72%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Notes

Forget to defrost the meat? No problem, you can stick it in the Crock-Pot frozen. Just increase the cook time a little.

Like this recipe? Check out my new cookbook, or get all my recipes (over 500!) in a personalized weekly meal planner here!

How do you make chili? Add any unusual flavorings? My husband’s favorite is Cincinnati style. What’s yours?

Sources

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About Katie Wells

Katie Wells, CTNC, MCHC, Founder of Wellness Mama and Co-founder of Wellnesse, has a background in research, journalism, and nutrition. As a mom of six, she turned to research and took health into her own hands to find answers to her health problems. WellnessMama.com is the culmination of her thousands of hours of research and all posts are medically reviewed and verified by the Wellness Mama research team. Katie is also the author of the bestselling books The Wellness Mama Cookbook and The Wellness Mama 5-Step Lifestyle Detox.

Comments

45 responses to “5 Ingredient Crock-Pot Chili Recipe”

Ronnie

September 6, 2015

Thanks for this! I plan on making this tomorrow because I love simple meals. I read that this can be made in a pot in 30 minutes, is that correct? I just want to make sure. Thanks…

Reply
Lisa

June 18, 2015

Hi wellness Mama.

When you add raw meat to your crockpot, does it make the Chili greasy? I would love to just throw my meat raw for Chili in the crockpot, but it makes me a little nervous not draining the meat. Does the Chili come out thick and does it taste greasy??

Reply
1. Katie – Wellness Mama
  
  June 18, 2015
  
  It is thick, but not greasy. I use grass fed meat though, which naturally has less fat in it…
  
  Reply
Becky

December 9, 2014

I truly enjoy using your site for many of my kitchen needs, but this recipe is NOT one I will be making any time soon.

For starters, I definitely do not consider chorizo a health food! It is very high in saturated fat and is typically full of all kinds of ‘extras’ from pork processing that would be otherwise unpalatable.

Secondly, please advocate the use of locally produced, organic meats in your introduction and explain why this is so important. I’m sure you do this in other areas of your site, but for someone doing a simple search who hasn’t been informed of the dangers of non-organic, store-bought, processed meat would not know the importance of this issue. And for a blogger who is focused on wellness and proper nutrition, emphasizing buying certified organic meats (and/or sustainably raised) from local farmers is VITAL, in my opinion. If you’re not sure why this is so, please email me!

Third, an explanation of why you don’t eat many beans/legumes would be interesting, too. As a primarily veggie-based omnivore who loves beans and eats them often, I’d love to learn more about this. I honestly can’t imagine a chili without beans! But, that’s just me 😉

Thanks for considering my comments and hopefully taking action to amend this recipe!

Reply
1. Connie
  
  January 3, 2015
  
  So to your opinion, you rated this 1 star? You didn’t even try making this recipe, you’re just complaining.
  How rude.
  
  I thought this recipe came out really amazing. Kudos to Katie!
  
  Reply
  1. Sherry
    
    January 3, 2015
    
    I agree. Don’t rate it if you didn’t even make it! It says says use any combo of meat you like….you don’t have to use chorizo. I used 3 different meats. Next time I will do a different combo to test out, but my family liked it.
    
    Reply
Jen

September 26, 2014

Does the frozen meat not have to be cooked first? I’m going to try this tomorrow with 2lbs of frozen beef and 1lb of spicy sausage…but haven’t read and replies yet on if the meat needs to precooked or not. Do you think with my meat choices without precooking it will make my chili super fatty? Any idea on measurements on the spices? Even just a ballpark would help!

This recipe looks awesome! I will let you know how it turns out! Thanks for the help!

Reply
1. Katie – Wellness Mama
  
  September 29, 2014
  
  I’ve made it with frozen before and it was fine. I use a couple tablespoons of cumin, chili powder, etc and the rest to taste 🙂
  
  Reply
  1. Sherry
    
    November 16, 2014
    
    Frozen meat being RAW frozen meat or PRECOOKED frozen meat? I’ve seen several people ask & the question still not answered. It makes a difference for us who haven’t attempted this before……
    
    Reply
  2. MARIA
    
    December 9, 2014
    
    Katie,. You’re still not answering the question….raw or cooked frozen meat?
    It’d be helpful to know.
    Many thanks
    
    Reply
    1. Katie – Wellness Mama
      
      December 9, 2014
      
      I typically defrost first.
      
      Reply
      1. Victoria
        
        June 2, 2015
        
        Use RAW meat in this recipe.
Jen

July 28, 2014

Why no beans? Just curious…

Reply
1. Wellness Mama
  
  July 29, 2014
  
  We don’t eat a lot of beans and legumes. Too much phytic acid.
  
  Reply
2. Kate
  
  January 25, 2019
  
  In our case we just are not fans of BEANS
  
  Reply
Carmen Mobberly

October 20, 2013

I know you said you’ve done frozen meat, but do you mean precooked or raw?

Reply
Victoria Raw

June 26, 2013

This is a reassuring recipe because I dumped all the ingredients in my crockpot this morning and forgot to fry the meat and drain the grease first! By the look of your recipe that isn’t necessary so I hope mine will come out OK!

Reply
1. Victoria Haneveer
  
  January 13, 2014
  
  It wasn’t bad but you have to use very lean meat if you aren’t frying the fat out first, else the finished chili will be a bit fatty.
  
  Reply
Jennifer Mapp

April 29, 2013

This recipe sounds great! Do you use ground beef or whole pieces of meat?

Reply
1. Wellness Mama
  
  April 29, 2013
  
  ground
  
  Reply
megan

October 15, 2012

I remember making this a year ago before my little guy was born and being drawn to it because it was so easy — dumping frozen meat in the crockpot? Win! I am making this again today, hoping the frozen meat cooks in time. I am using beef sausage, pork sausage and grass-fed beef. I eyeballed the spices, but last year I don’t remember if I measured them and regardless, it turned out fine! I froze the extras and saved it for after the baby was born and it helped serve some of my family who visited. Thanks for this easy and gas-free chili idea! (We all know about beans as the magical fruit!) 🙂

Reply
Arthur J. Hannah

August 15, 2012

I did a search for “easy Paleo crockpot chili”, and this came up, so I went with it. My wife, who is very picky about food, said, “This is so good, I’m getting full, but I don’t want to stop eating it!” Made your coconut biscuits with it. They also went over VERY well with both mom and 3 year old daughter. Have bookmarked your site for future reference!

Reply
Michelle

December 27, 2011

Great recipe! I’m going to try it this week.

Reply
Cecilia Powers

November 20, 2011

katie, i just had to tell you that i made this recipe. i’ve never been a fan of chili and especially never liked the beans in it. this was wonderful! we had it early in the week when i was not feeling well. i was grateful for the crock pot and that i could dump frozen meat in and have it be done. i think the last of the leftovers will be gone today. my husband said it was good and i should put it in the chili cookoff next year. for dinner last night, i cooked an acorn squash, then topped it with the chili and some sour cream and cheese. delish! thank you for the great (and easy) recipe.

Reply
1. Rachel Zwicker
  
  September 20, 2014
  
  When you put the frozen meat in, is it pre- cooked or raw?
  
  Reply
Stacy

November 18, 2011

I love crock pot recipes. They are such a time saver! However, I’ve been a bit concerned with the lead and cadmium content in many crock pot inserts. I’ve been using my crock pot much less in favor of a cast iron dutch oven.

Reply
Christy Hampton

October 28, 2011

My dad also adds parsley (or cilantro), oregano, basil, bay leaves, beer (I’m guessing this isn’t grain free), and butter (near the end).

Reply
Deborah Wilson

October 24, 2011

We love chili in our house but gave it up about a year ago when we discovered my husband is highly allergic to CUMIN!! Any suggestions to make it still taste like chili without cumin?

Reply
1. Wellness Mama
  
  October 24, 2011
  
  maybe mild chili powder and some powdered dehydrated sweet peppers?
  
  Reply
2. Angela
  
  October 25, 2011
  
  Just leave out the cumin all together. My recipe does not call for any at all. Enjoy. I would love to try the tomato replacement with pumpkin.
  
  Reply
3. Nancy
  
  January 28, 2016
  
  I use Mrs dash chili season . Use chili powder.
  
  Reply
Sarah Jolin

October 24, 2011

I substitute pumpkin puree for the tomato sauce for a hearty, seasonal twist. Everything else stays the same, except I add extra cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves to the spice mix.

Reply
Donna

October 23, 2011

Do you have any suggestions for a substitute for the tomatoes and tomato sauce? I can’t eat tomato products. Bummer. Thanks.

Reply
1. Jessica
  
  September 12, 2016
  
  You can add just water and a thickening agent. Like cornstarch. I would add some beef flavoring to the water or add beef broth. Then add the seasonings. Hope that helps.
  
  Reply
Cici

October 23, 2011

I am enjoying your recipes so much. Over a month ago my husband and I went wheat free, gluten free, low carb and we are doing great. I used your link to the coconut flour biscuits and printed that out too. I am the kind who gets ideas from recipes and then run with it, so the biscuits will be fun. I don’t measure and I was finding it difficult at the beginning learning the textures of almond flour, coconut flour, buckwheat flour. My first two tries at pancakes were hilarious. But there is not going back to any of the old food items and I am feeling so much better. Your ideas have been a huge help to me in the adjustment phase. Thanks.

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Heather

October 22, 2011

Could you please suggest some ballpark quantities for the spices? Thank you!

Reply
Karyn

October 22, 2011

Another easy recipes and just in time for chilly (ha ha) weather here. Thanks!

Reply