If you’re a New England native, you are familiar with the cold weather that creeps in with Autumn and lingers through the early days of Spring. With the kitchen being the heart of the home, we like to make warm delicious meals to keep everyone feeling cozy. Life is busy and it can be challenging to find time to cook nutritious comfort foods. The crock pot is a lifesaver during the cold weather months.

It’s easy to throw a bunch of nutrient-rich ingredients into a slow cooker and let them simmer all day. By dinner, you’ve got a hot meal ready-to-go that will warm you up after a long busy day.

We’re here to share one of our favorite crock pot recipes with you! Nothing pairs better with cool weather than a hot bowl of chili.

BONUS: It’s great on Game Day Nachos! There are so many great ways to reheat and use leftover chili. A few other ideas: chili cheese dogs, twice-baked sweet potato boats, chili rice bowls. It’s a family favorite for so many reasons!

The wonderful thing about chili is that you can customize it to meet the dietary needs and preferences of your family. You can make it sweet by adding honey, you can spice it up by adding hot peppers, you can make it vegan by skipping the beef or keep it lean with ground turkey! The options are endless.

Here’s what we typically throw together in a batch of crock-pot chili!

INGREDIENTS:

• 1lb ground beef or turkey (cooked + seasoned with chili powder, pepper, salt)

• 1 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

• 1 green bell pepper diced

• 1 red bell pepper diced

• 1 large vidalia onion diced

• 3 cloves garlic minced

• 2-3 tablespoons chili powder to taste

• 1 tablespoon cumin

• 1/2 teaspoon paprika

• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper* optional to kick up the heat!

• 1 jalepeno pepper chopped* optional to kick up the heat!

• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

• 1 can red chili beans

• 1 can white chili beans

• 1 can diced tomatoes with green chiles

• 2 small cans of tomato paste

Instructions:

1. Season and cook the meat.

2. Chop fresh vegetables and mince the garlic

3. Drain Tomatoes

4. Drain + rinse beans

5. Add all ingredients + spices to the crock pot

6. Cook on low for 6-8 hours.
   
   *At about 4-5 hours in, have a taste! See if any adjustments need to be made. If it’s too spicy you can add honey, bbq sauce, or maple syrup to balance out the flavors! If there isn’t enough heat, try adding some of your favorite spices to increase the intensity.

   *If your chili isn’t thick enough - add a tablespoon of cornstarch at a time until you reach the desired thickness. The use of tomato paste rather than tomato sauce helps to keep the chili thick!

   *You’ll definitely have leftovers and we’re here to confirm that chili freezes well in plastic storage bags!

If you are remodeling your kitchen in the near future, chili is a great make-ahead meal! You can store it in the freezer until the morning before you’re ready to serve it for lunch or dinner. It heats well in the microwave in a bowl or topped over nachos. Chili cheese dogs are also a microwave friendly meal! It can get tiring (and expensive) ordering out when you’re kitchen-less. If you can take the time to prep your food before the remodel starts, you’ll be setting yourself up for success. We always recommend setting up a temporary cooking space in your home while kitchen renovations take place. Move your microwave, crock-pot, and some diningware to a space that will make it easy for you to whip up a delicious home-cooked meal.