Easy Slow Cooker Black Bean Chili
Recipe type: Main Course
Cuisine: Southwestern
Serves: 6
 
Weight Watchers Info: 8 PointsPlus per serving
Ingredients
  • 2 large onions, finely chopped
  • 2 fresh jalapeno or poblano peppers (our addition), diced (remove seed and stems if you don’t want heat)
  • 2 tsp. olive oil + more for browning meat if needed
  • 1 lb. extra lean ground beef
  • 1 quart beef stock, simmer to reduce to 2 cups (homemade or two cans beef broth. Don’t reduce for stovetop cooking.)
  • 3 cans (15 oz.) black beans, rinsed and drained
  • 1 can (15 oz.) refried pinto beans2 cans (14.5 oz.) petite dice tomatoes
  • 2 T dried cilantro
  • 2 T chile powder (preferably New Mexico chile powder)
  • 2 T Ancho chile powder (or 2 T more regular chile powder)
  • 1 T ground cumin
  • ¼ cup fresh squeezed lime juice, plus sliced limes to squeeze into chili
  • ½ cup chopped fresh cilantro, plus more for garnish if desired
Instructions
Slow Cooker Instructions
  1. Heat olive oil in heavy frying pan, add chopped onions and saute 4-5 minutes, until softened and barely starting to brown. Add onions to crockpot. Add ground beef to same pan, adding more oil if needed, then brown beef well, breaking up with metal turner as it cooks. Add beef to crockpot.
  2. While onions and beef are being cooked, put beef stock into saucepan and simmer until reduced to 2 cups. (Skip this step if cooking the chili on stovetop.) When stock is reduced, add refried beans and whisk to blend into stock, then add to crockpot.
  3. While stock is reducing, place a colander in the sink and add canned black beans. Rinse beans well with cold water until no more foam appears. (This removes some of the salt from canned beans and makes them much more digestible.) Then add beans, stock-refried beans mixture, tomatoes, dried cilantro, chile powder, ancho chile powder, and ground cumin to crockpot. Cook on low 6-8 hours, or until beans are soft and flavors are well blended. When chili is done, stir in lime juice and chopped fresh cilantro and let cook 15 minutes. Serve hot, with slices of lime and additional chopped cilantro to add as garnish if desired.
  4. Note: A 5-quart slow cooker is recommended.
Stove Top Instructions
  1. For stovetop cooking, skip the step of reducing the beef broth, but follow all other directions, adding ingredients to large soup pot and simmering at low heat about an hour.
Recipe by The Taste Place at https://www.thetasteplace.com/easy-black-bean-chili/