This Slow Cooker Chili with Black Beans and Corn is absolutely scrumptious. It’s healthy, hearty, and is easily made in your Crock Pot. Stovetop option included.
Winning Slow Cooker Chili
We are a team of chili fans around here. From this Chunky Hearty Chili to Chili with Sriracha to White Chicken Chili…we’ve got mountains of chili love to share.
This Slow Cooker Chili with Black Beans and Corn is a variation of my favorite classic chili, but modified for use in my enormous Crock Pot; my faithful kitchen BFF of 15 years and counting.
Though there’s definitely a place for Instant Pot meals, there are other days when you want to throw all the ingredients into a slow-cooker and let it slowly cook its way to perfection throughout the day, while you go about your routine. That’s where this slow cooker chili comes in.
Use Your Basic Pantry Ingredients
One of the best things about homemade chili is that it gives you the opportunity to use up those pantry ingredients you already have.
Ingredients like olive oil, a can of diced tomatoes, sweet corn kernels, and a can of black beans are often staples in the pantry. Now is the time to dig those out, as this chili is begging to be cooked up.
Chances are high that you already have many of the seasonings required: garlic powder, chili powder, cumin, cayenne, sugar, and allspice are a few of the basic pantry seasonings many of us already have in our kitchen. Make good use out of all those seasonings while they’re still fresh.
If you have frozen ground beef or turkey sitting in your freezer, this homemade chili is waiting to make the most of your ground meat as well.
Fresh ingredients include garlic cloves, green bell peppers, and an onion. Optional toppings such as fresh cilantro, shredded cheese, and lime slices are fun and delicious ways to add flavor to your homemade chili.
Serve Your Homemade Chili with One of These
- Jazz up Chili Night with these sweet corn muffins that are outrageously moist and tasty.
- 5-Minute Real Guacamole is amazing with some crispy tortilla chips and chili
- Sweet Potato Cornbread is so tender and healthy-delicious.
Note: This makes a wickedly delicious big batch, so if you have leftovers…smile. It’s just as awesome, if not more so, the next day 🙂
Try this beef stew with potatoes, too:

Slow Cooker Chili with Black Beans and Corn
- Prep Time: 20 min
- Cook Time: 6 hours
- Total Time: 6 hours 20 minutes
- Yield: 10 1x
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
This Slow Cooker Chili with Black Beans and Corn is absolutely scrumptious. It’s healthy, hearty, and is easily made in your Crock Pot. Stovetop option included.
Ingredients
- 2 lbs. lean ground turkey or beef
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp fresh round black pepper
- 1–2 TB light olive oil
- 32 oz good tomato sauce
- 16 oz can Italian diced tomatoes, with juices
- 2 cans (16 oz each) black beans, drained
- 1 cup frozen sweet corn kernels
- 6 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 green bell peppers, seeded and chopped
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 2–4 tsp chili powder, depending on desired amount of heat
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tsp sugar
- Dash of cayenne
- Dash of Tabasco sauce
- Dash of allspice
- Optional Toppings: shredded cheddar cheese, chopped fresh cilantro, fresh lime slices, or sour cream
Instructions
- Mix uncooked ground meat with 1 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp kosher salt, and 1 tsp pepper. Mix together well. Add olive oil in a large skillet and cook meat until browned, breaking it up while you cook.
- Transfer cooked meat to slow cooker. Add in the rest of ingredients to the browned meat. Cook on Low for 6-7 hours or high for 4-5 hours. (If using a Dutch oven or heavy pot on stovetop, bring to simmer for 4 hours.)
- Keep warm until ready to serve. Garnish with desired toppings.
Notes
For stovetop option, use a large heavy pot. Follow same instructions for slow-cooker, but cook over medium-low heat, covered, for 1-2 hours until flavors are melded and veggies are soft.
If you enjoyed this recipe, please come back and give it a rating ♡
- Category: Main Dish, Dinner
- Method: Slow Cooker
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: Slow Cooker Chili, Crock Pot Chili
Favorite Chili Recipes to Try
1. White Chicken Chili – this is always easy, always good, and always hits the spot. Your people will love this.
2. Chili with Sriracha – tastes just like a fantastic classic chili, but with a kick of Sriracha to amp up the flavor. Hearty and satisfying.
3. White Chicken Chili with Quinoa – a twist on our white chicken chili recipe, elevated with quinoa and avocado. YUM.
4. And all these chilis MUST be paired with these Sweet Corn Muffins; like cornbread, only incredibly better. Always moist and tender, perfectly balanced with savory sweetness. So good, we eat the leftovers for breakfast.
I made this today and it was absolutely awesome as stated! Can’t wait to make it again and try some of your other chili recipes, too! Thanks so much for sharing the recipe.
Yay!! Thanks so much for letting us know you liked this, Teresa! Hope you continue finding things you enjoy here. 🙂
Do I have to brown the chicken beforehand or can I just throw all of the raw ingredients into the crockpot? This extra step sounds like a pain to me because I’m so busy!
Jennifer, you can toss all raw ingredients in and set/forget it! I like to brown the chicken beforehand for better flavor and also to prevent the “foam” stuff that raw meat often gives off when cooked in liquids. But if that doesn’t bother you, then definitely go with throwing everything in at the same time 🙂
i won first place in a school chili cook off with this recipe! my only substitution was to use turkey! it was delish!!
Yay! WOW, that is super awesome to hear this got you 1st place! Great job 🙂 Thanks for coming over and letting us know 🙂
I love this chili recipe and you should totally enter this chili contest! I think you have a good chance at winning!
http://bushbeans.thedailymeal.com/
Sweet! Thanks for such a kind comment 🙂 So glad you came over today and glad you love this chili! Hope you continue finding recipes you love here at COL! Happy cooking 🙂
Hi there, any way to find out the calorie count for this recipe?
Hi, Lindsey! I appreciate the desire to know calorie counts, but I’m not currently using an app/plugin for that. You can get a rough idea through one of these great calorie counter apps: http://www.healthline.com/health/diet-and-weight-loss/top-calorie-counter-iphone-android-apps#2
Hope that helps a bit. Thanks for coming over today 🙂
Made it as is, except I only had one can of black beans and one can of kidney beans, so in they went. That really fills up a 6-qt. slow cooker! 4:30 hours on high, 1 more hour on low to take the little bit of crunch left in the onion and peppers. Topped with sour cream and shredded cheese. A delight! Definitely going into the rotation for the winter 🙂
Sounds great, Elizabeth! Thanks for coming over today, and happy chili-ing 🙂
I’ve had my slow cooker for a few years, and this is hands down the best recipe it has produced. It’s delicious as is, or with variations (kidney beans, jalapeno peppers, chipotle…) Thank you so much!
Yay, Elizabeth! So happy to hear it 🙂
I was thinking about making this for a friends meal train. Would it do well freezing after being made, so they could thaw it when they are ready to eat it? Or would it be better to just throw all the ingredients together prepped for them and then freezing so they can toss it in their own crockpot when ready?
Alix, that’s wonderful of you to make your friend a meal. The chili should freeze nicely after being fully cooked, and they can easily thaw and reheat when ready to eat. I’m sure they will so appreciate it. Have a wonderful fall season!
Hi there, can you please tell me if/how this recipe might be adapted using soaked/uncooked black beans? Thank you very much!
Hi, Tracy! You can use almost 1-1 ratio with the soaked beans (you can soak them overnight) and put the beans into slow cooker at the beginning; it should have enough time to cook down and become tender that way. Here’s a great link for details. Hope that helps! https://newleafwellness.biz/2015/10/28/how-to-substitute-dried-beans-for-canned-beans-in-slow-cooker-recipes/
We take full advantage of any recipe that doesn’t require constant attention. This will be a great help as we take advantage of the slower days and find time to rest. It’s going to be so comforting on cooler days, too. Thank you.
★★★★★
Our weather just turned cold last week so this recipe is perfectly timed. Can’t wait to try it!
★★★★★
This is definitely what I want for dinner today. I love the sweetness from the corn and such a bonus that it is healthy as well.
★★★★★
Oh look it’s my favorite combination of things foe cold nights, excited to experiment with squashes in it!
I was looking for a good slow cooker chili with black beans and this is it! The flavor is perfect and it came together so nice. What a great recipe.
I just love how chunky this chili is! For me, the more beans the better! Will definitely be trying this bean chili recipe!
★★★★★
I absolutely love that you added corn to this recipe! I think it’s the perfect addition to chili and not something you see super often!
★★★★★
Perfect! I was just thinking about chili for dinner! This looks delicious and I love the addition of corn.
★★★★★
This chili saved dinner tonight! I didn’t know what I was going to make and found your recipe. It was amazing! Thank you.
★★★★★
So happy you all loved this, Alexis!! 🙂 🙂
Love slow cooker chili. This looks so delicious. The flavors here are awesome. Thanks for sharing
★★★★★
Love moderate cooker bean stew. This looks so scrumptious. The flavors here are magnificent. A debt of gratitude is in order for sharing.
Love moderate cooker bean stew. This looks so scrumptious. A debt of gratitude is in order for sharing.
fabulous recipe dear.
Thanks, Norma! 🙂