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Four Bean Chili

February 1, 2011

Super Bowl is here and so is the stress of feeding a huge crowd of people coming over to your house to watch the game. Who wants to be in the kitchen catering to everyone's needs when there are so many awesome commercials to watch -- oh yeah, of course there’s the football game, too! :)

This leads me to the reason you have to make this super easy chili this weekend. Besides the fact that the adults will adore it, your kids will have a ball adorning their chili bowls with tons of accompaniments. Kenya usually covers his with so much shredded cheese you can't tell there's chili under the surface, but he devours it all nevertheless. Make this recipe the night before the game or early in the morning, and all you have to do when everyone shows up is hang out and enjoy the fun!

Four Bean Chili  (Serves 8-10)

  • Prep Time:10 minutes,
  • Cook Time: 8 hours,
  • Total Time: 8 hours, 10 minutes,

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons vegetable or canola oil, divided
  • 1 large onion, chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 pound lean ground beef
  • 1 15 oz can white beans, rinsed and drained
  • 1 15 oz can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
  • 1 15 oz can pinto beans, rinsed and drained
  • 1 15 oz can black beans, rinsed and drained
  • 1 28 oz can chopped tomatoes with juice
  • 2 15 oz cans tomato juice
  • 2 tablespoons chili powder
  • 1 tablespoon cumin
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 2 teaspoons salt

Preparation

  1. 1. In a sauté pan over medium heat place 1 tbsp of oil and sauté onions for 3 minutes. Add minced garlic and sauté another minute until the onions start to caramelize, then remove and place in a crock pot.
  2. 2. In the same sauté pan, add another tbsp of oil and sauté the ground beef for 5 minutes, breaking down the beef with a wooden spoon until it’s cooked through and most of its juice has evaporated.
  3. 3. Add the cooked beef and the remaining ingredients to the crock pot and stir to combine.
  4. 4. Cover and cook the chili on low for 8 hours.
  5. 5. Top with desired accompaniments and serve.

Accompaniments: Sour Cream, Yogurt, Grated Cheddar Cheese, Scallions, Hot Sauce (if you want to take it up a notch)

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Comments






  1. Laura

    February 24, 2013 at 6:34 pm

    tried the four bean chili & loved it!

  2. Sarah

    February 17, 2013 at 10:12 am

    Hi. This looks amazing! Any idea if I can cut cooking time and do iron high for 4 hours?? Thanks

    • catherine

      February 18, 2013 at 12:27 pm

      Yes, that should work!

  3. Sarah

    February 17, 2013 at 10:11 am

    Hi! Can this be cooked on high for 4 hours?? Thanks.

  4. April

    January 30, 2013 at 4:43 pm

    What size crock pot is this for? I only have a 4qt one.

  5. andrea

    January 4, 2013 at 8:34 pm

    what if you don’t have a crock pot? Can you make this on the stove?

    • catherine

      January 7, 2013 at 1:24 pm

      You can do this on the stove! Follow the directions exactly through step 2. Place all ingredients in a pot on the stove, cover and simmer on low for 1-2 hours!

  6. Alex

    December 7, 2012 at 2:56 am

    Dear Catherine,
    Thanks for continuing to share recipes with us even though you’re a cookbook writer now!
    I’ve had trouble with printing weelicious recipes in the past couple of months. When I open the print window, all of the words are jumbled or missing letters. Has this happened with anyone else? Hope it can be fixed soon because I love your new layout and would like to keep your print-outs in my binder of recipes.
    Take care,
    Alex

    • catherine

      December 7, 2012 at 3:40 pm

      Oh my! I have not heard of that before! Have you tried updating your browser or clearing your cache? I’ll send this message to my tech team and see what we can do!

  7. Emily

    November 20, 2012 at 7:52 pm

    Do you really mean tomato juice, or tomato sauce? I only have a 15 oz can of tomato sauce….

    • catherine

      November 20, 2012 at 8:00 pm

      Tomato juice! You can find it in the juice aisle near the V8!

      • Emily

        November 22, 2012 at 12:21 am

        Thanks! Can I just say that it is awesome that you take the time to reply to everyone’s questions?! Your website and book have made me excited about cooking again post-baby.

  8. epgallagher

    October 1, 2012 at 10:00 am

    Can this be cooked on High? I never seem to make the 8 hour cut-off for dinner. I’m not using meat if that makes any difference.

    • catherine

      October 1, 2012 at 12:19 pm

      That should work!

  9. catherine

    June 15, 2012 at 12:57 pm

    Yes! :) Great time-saver for the morning.

  10. Jessica

    June 15, 2012 at 9:24 am

    I was wondering if it could be premade, the onions, garlic, meat, the night before and put in the fridge. And then put in the crockpot the next morning?

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  12. Mya

    October 17, 2011 at 12:34 pm

    Fantastic recipe!! I made the chili yesterday for dinner, and just had some leftovers for lunch. My husband and I both enjoyed this as much as my 16 month old son.

    Thank you!!

    • Mya

      October 18, 2011 at 1:42 pm

      Also! As if there were not enough wonderful options on your site for what to do with leftovers….

      I found that a bit of chili and some grated cheddar cheese make a lovely quesadilla.

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  14. Lisa

    May 25, 2011 at 9:26 pm

    For those that don’t eat meat, we just leave it out and serve it topped with chopped red or green onion and green pepper. It’s delicious!

  15. BrittanyBarrett

    May 25, 2011 at 5:21 pm

    How do you soften hard beans for this recipe?

  16. Melissa P

    May 2, 2011 at 1:34 pm

    What is a serving size. I’m trying to portion out meals for myself and husband and I’m assuming that 1 serving is 1 cup? Am I close? :) Thanks!

    • catherine

      May 2, 2011 at 6:37 pm

      Yes, serving size is 1 cup :)

  17. bebe

    April 25, 2011 at 2:03 pm

    I love to try new chili recipes, this one looks very good. I have a ton of dry beans & I buy frozen beans too, so I will have to try it.

  18. Lori sorci

    March 3, 2011 at 3:58 pm

    Finally got around to making this, it was awesome!! Even my no bean eating 6 year old tried some because Kenya eats it :) watching your videos and reading the site with my boys has been the best way to get them to try new things! I think they think Kenya and Chloe are famous!

  19. Kelly

    February 22, 2011 at 9:20 pm

    This was delicious! I substituted ground turkey for the ground beef but otherwise followed the recipe exactly. Yum! My husband, 20 month old, and I all really enjoyed it. And we have tons of leftovers. Thanks Catherine for another great recipe that everyone enjoyed.

  20. dawn

    February 22, 2011 at 5:20 pm

    Yummy chili! I used two cans (28oz) of diced tomatoes and omitted the tomato juice. It definitely filled the crockpot up and I love how I have leftovers to freeze or use for another meal this week!

  21. Laura

    February 22, 2011 at 3:18 pm

    This was my very first attempt at using a crock pot/slow cooker. I made this last week and it was a huge hit with me, my husband, and our 3 y.o. son! We don’t eat meat, so I substituted a package of veggie meat for the beef and just added it right to the crock pot w/o sauteeing. I was also out of black beans, so I substituted garbanzos. Served it with some shredded cheddar on top. It was excellent!

  22. Laura Degnan

    February 12, 2011 at 8:53 am

    I must have a really small crock pot. My husband had to run out in the mist of my cooking to borrow my friend’s. Make sure to use one of the largest crock pots out there. Can’t wait to eat this though!

  23. Jennifer

    February 10, 2011 at 4:39 pm

    This was delicious! My 17 month old has pneumonia and this is the first thing he’s eaten in days! I added a half a cup each of purred carrots and broccoli. No one noticed. Can’t wait to try it over mac n cheese tonight.

  24. Kristi

    February 8, 2011 at 5:25 pm

    What size crockpot did you cook this in? I have an 8 qt, and was wondering how much it would fill it up.

  25. Vanessa

    February 7, 2011 at 3:29 am

    I was reading the comments on the cans and how they can have BPA , I never knew that, so my question to catherine is, Do you only buy certain brands of canned beans or other stuff like tomato sauce, etc…???

    • catherine

      February 7, 2011 at 3:23 pm

      I buy organic canned beans and tomatoes usually from trader joes or any health foods store. You can also make your own beans and tomato sauce if you prefer. One thing I love to do is prepare beans ahead of time and freeze in portions so when it comes to recipes that need canned beans, I have some available that is fresh but frozen. But when I am out, I use the canned ones.