This slow cooker beef bean chili recipe meets all your main requirements: simple ingredients, made in a slow cooker to set and forget, rich + meaty, and loaded with them smoky seasonings that make crockpot chili so dang good. A bright lime and cilantro sour cream topping adds a cool, zippy finish. Even if you don’t need the sour cream topping, this is still a great overall crowd pleasing crock pot chili recipe you can keep on repeat!

I’m always a big fan of adding in liquids anywhere I can that can contribute flavor… Whether it’s a splash of wine in a sauce or flavorful stock. Tequila fit the bill perfectly in this delicious smoky beef chili soup recipe. It melts in perfectly while quietly adding to the layers of flavors in here that naturally pair together perfectly.

A Simple yet flavorful Beef Bean Chili Recipe Loaded with Smoky Bold Flavors

Dashes of smoky chipotle, smoky paprika, chili powder, and cumin make up that delicious foundation for tasty chili flavors that cook out low and slow in the crock pot. Let’s not forget the beans either! For me, it just ain’t chili without classic bold red kidney beans or chili beans!

You could even get a little extra tex-mex and do some black beans too, if desired. It would add nicely to the little nods of southwestern flavor happening in here. They all fit together like a perfectly tasty puzzle in this slow cooker tequila chili with the cilantro crema.

Mix Together Spices For Chili

How do you builld up that bold chili taste? Easy! Season it… There are just some classic things that make chili taste like chili no matter how ya cook it. It’s the pinches of smoky dried seasonings that slowly make it come alive with mouthwatering flavor in the pot. Here above, you can see a few of the basic seasonings you’ll want to include.

The Best Spices For Chili To Build Up Bold Smoky Flavor…

Chili powder (a must!), paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, hints of oregano, and my favorite: a dash of smoky chipotle powder! I personally use a specific chipotle powder seasoning blend that I think makes this hot chili a knockout every time.

My Favorite Smoky Chipotle Seasoning For Delicious Beef Bean Chili

It’s called Mesa Rosa chipotle seasoning. It’s a smoky southwestern blend that instantly bumps up the flavor and makes a delicious batch of chili every time. I’ve used it many many times and I highly recommend grabbing a bottle to sprinkle in for this chili recipe. You won’t regret the tasty results!

now give it some backbone.

The rest of the tasty body for the chili comes from meat, of course, and a mix of tomatoey additions and beans! I kept it simple and used a combination of 2 beans: kidney beans and chili beans, which add an extra little punch of flavor. The rest of it comes together with some liquid help from the crushed tomato, diced tomato, beef stock, and a splash of earthy tequila!

I splashed in some of Exotico’s Blanco Tequila. This is totally optional but kinda fun! You could also use smoky mezcal to add a touch of unique flavor too! If not using, replace with stock in the same amount.

(Optional) Add Cayenne For Extra Heat

If you want to make it spicy, take the opportunity to add in pinches of cayenne pepper before closing the lid on the slow cooker. Alternatively, you could add generous dashes of good hot sauce.

If I do the hot sauce, I like to wait until the end and then stir it in so the spice is nice and bright. Frankly, the hotter the better. All that heat will give us a delicious bold contrast for that cool finishing touch: the limey cilantro crema!

How To Make This Easy Beef bean Chili Recipe

The first thing I like to do is toss all the spices we’ll be using up in a bowl really quick and give it a stir. This creates our quick basic chili mix seasoning for the slow cooker chili. Grab a bowl and toss in the chili powder, chipotle seasoning or chipotle powder, paprika, cumin, onion powder, garlic powder, and oregano. Mix together with a spoon and set aside.

brown the ground beef for the Beef chili Soup

In a hot skillet, drizzle some olive oil and brown the beef breaking it apart into smaller bits with a wooden spoon for about 5 minutes or until browned through. Drain excess fat, if needed. Next add in diced onion and bell pepper and toss together, cooking through until onion sweats and becomes translucent, about another 5 to 8 minutes.

transfer to slow cooker and add stock + (optional) tequila!

Transfer the ground beef mixture to your 6 quart slow cooker and finish off by adding in the rest of our ingredients. Splash in the beef stock, tequila, diced tomato, and crushed tomato.

add Tomatoes and beans To the Beef Chili soup

Once you’ve added the canned tomatoes and stock, add the kidney beans and chili beans. Then, add in our bowl with the seasonings that we mixed together earlier plus pinches of sea salt and coarse pepper to taste.

Now stir everything together and cover with the lid. Cook the beef chili soup on low for 8 hours or on high for 4 to 6 hours. I will say (from tasty experience) that the low setting over long periods of time develops the richest best flavor for the chili.

(Optional) make Some cilantro lime crema

While everything cooks up in the slow cooker, make a cool sour cream topping with this simple cilantro lime crema! In a small bowl, combine sour cream with minced cilantro and fresh lime juice. Season with pinches of salt and pepper and whisk together. Taste to adjust seasonings if desired. Cover with plastic wrap and store in the fridge until serving time. This makes a cool and creamy delicious topping for our slow cooker tequila chili.

When finished, serve heaping scoops of hot chili with a dollop of the lime cilantro sour cream on top. Finish it off with hints of fresh cilantro and sliced jalapeños if desired.

A Simple Beef bean Chili Recipe That Bursts With Flavor…

This rocked out easy slow cooker beef bean chili really is great in the winter for a satisfying warm-up dinner on snowy days. It also makes a great slow cooker summer chili! The slow cooker recipe keeps the oven off on hotter days and the stovetop clean!

The cool limey cilantro crema keeps the beef chili soup fresh and cool while spicy tex-mex, southwestern, and Mexican flavors inspire the delicious taste.

I’d say you could go all out and make a whole thing of it! Serve with this awesome grilled tomatillo salsa verde and maybe get saucy with these simple prosecco lime margaritas . These mango strawberry tequila smash cocktails could easily hit the spot too! Either way, it’s bound to be a tasty time!

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