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This Four Bean Chili is not only delicious, but so incredibly easy to make. What’s even better, is you can use it on a multitude of different recipes.
Normally each year during the super bowl, we have a big group of friends over and though I always say I won’t stress myself making a feast to feed everyone, old habits are hard to break. 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 Four Bean Chili is has been one of my go-to game day recipes for years! It’s a total crowd pleaser.
This leads me to my incredibly easy and incredibly delicious Four Bean Chili recipe. Besides the fact that the adults will adore it, your kids will have a ball adorning their chili bowls with tons of accompaniments. But the best part about this recipe no doubt has to be the versatility of it.
My husband is all about the Four Bean Chili Baked Potato. To make this, poke a few holes in the side of a russet potato and put it in the oven at 425 degrees for 50 minutes. Once they’re done, slice the potatoes in half and serve the chili on top.
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You can also make Four Bean Chili Spaghetti simply by making a big old pot of spaghetti and adorning it with the chili before serving. So simple and the perfect weeknight dinner.
Four Bean Chili Baked Fries have to be Chloe’s favorite. For these, I cut two russet potatoes into fries and air fried them for 15 minutes at 400 degrees. You can totally bake them in the oven too, it just might need a couple more minutes.
Last but certainly not least is this Four Bean Chili Mac & Cheese. For this one, cook the macaroni as directed. After you drain the pasta, place it back in the pot and mix with the chili and shredded cheddar cheese. Voila!
I would love to hear which variation is your favorite, or if you come up of any of your own!
Four Bean Chili
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons vegetable or canola oil, divided
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 1 15 ounce can white beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 15 ounce can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 15 ounce can pinto beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 15 ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 28 ounce can chopped tomatoes with juice
- 2 15 ounce cans tomato sauce
- 2 tablespoons chili powder
- 1 tablespoon cumin
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
Instructions
- 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.
- 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.
- Add the cooked beef and the remaining ingredients to the crock pot and stir to combine.
- Cover and cook the chili on low for 8 hours.
- Top with desired accompaniments and serve.
[…] Chili cheese fries, fruit […]
Yes, serving size is 1 cup 🙂
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!
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.
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!
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.
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!
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!
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!
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.
What size crockpot did you cook this in? I have an 8 qt, and was wondering how much it would fill it up.
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.
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…???
made this chilli today for our little Super Bowl home party and it is SOO good, SUPER easy and my 3 1/2 year old even liked it. We topped it with cheese and sour cream! mmm..mmm
I also do not like the reliance on canned ingredients. Eden Organics beans were actually on sale today – score! So that helps. Pomi tomatoes come in a box (though are not organic) and you can get organic tomato juice in a bottle, so you can reduce the amount of canned goods (or at least cans with BPA lining) going into this soup. Making this tomorrow before we go to church and can’t wait to try it! Thanks for the recipe! Can’t wait to try the chili fries too! 😉
Hi Catherine
This recipe sounds delicious. I am definitely going to try this for my little one.
One quick question: Can I use ground chicken instead of beef? We do not eat beef, so I was wondering.
Thanks