
…and have some really good winter food to go along with it!
But chili and slow cookers go hand in hand. There is just something about that long, slow simmer that makes for the best, flavor packed meal.
Sprouting the beans before you get them into the slow cooker will make for a much more pleasant digestion experience 🙂 If you know what I mean! Sprouting beans not only makes the nutrients in the beans more available for your body to absorb, but it also makes them less “gassy” to digest, and is easier on the gut. It involves very little hands on time and red beans sprout very easily and quickly.
Slow Cooker Sprouted Chili
Ingredients
- 1-1 1/4 lb dry organic red beans
- 1-2 lb grassfed ground beef browned (depending on where your budget is – 1lb works just as good and I do that often!)
- 2 medium onion chopped
- 1 small/medium head of garlic minced (about 8 cloves)
- 2 zucchinis large chop
- 2 green peppers large chop
- 3 jalepenos seeded and de-ribbed, then chopped
- 2 quarts beef bone broth chicken broth works too if that is what you have. Homemade preferable – see Tips below for how to make your own easily in the slow cooker!
- 15 oz organic tomato sauce 1 can
- 30 oz organic diced tomatoes 2 cans
- 1 ½ TB organic chili powder
- 1 tsp organic paprika
- ¼ tsp organic chipotle powder
- 1 ½ TB sea salt to taste (if you are using broth that is already salted you can back off on this)
- Optional TB or 2 of organic pure cane sugar to cut the tomato acid if needed.
- Optional whole sour cream or shredded raw cheese to garnish
Instructions
- The red beans need about 8 hours to soak and then about 24 hours to sprout, so start them a couple days before you want to make the chili.
- Put the dry beans in a large bowl and fill with water to cover about 3 inches. Put the bowl under the light in your oven to stay warm over night to soak, about 8-10 hours.
- Drain the beans, put them back in the bowl WITHOUT WATER, and place them under the light in your oven until they sprout – it will take about a day. Rinse and drain the beans a 3-4 times during the sprouting time.
- Put the sprouted, uncooked beans in the slow cooker, along with the rest of the ingredients and cook on low for 10 hours.
- Top with whole sour cream, or raw shredded cheese if desired!
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Tips:
- Here is how to make your own bone broth in the slow cooker! Too easy! And will fill your chili with nutrient dense, rich flavor!
- I get these canned organic diced tomatoes
and tomato sauce
at Costco. Tomatoes are one of those dirty dozen produce items that I almost always buy in organic.
- Peppers are another dirty dozen item, so spices like paprika
, chili powder
, and chipotle powder
are important to buy in organic.
- I buy dry organic beans in bulk at our local health food store, but ask around at farmer’s markets and look into co-ops – that is a typical item for those venues too.
- This amount of chili makes enough for my family of 5 to have dinner plus a little over 3 quarts left for the freezer. This makes a great quick pull out lunch or dinner, and the flavors only get better over time!
- I use a large 8 quart slow cooker
for this recipe.
- Here is how I make the gluten free cornbread you see in the photos to go with your chili! Get a big spread of real butter up on top too!
This post was shared at Real Food Wednesdays and Allergy Free Wednesdays!
Yum!! Love that you use a head of garlic, my kind of recipe! Thanks for sharing with us.
-Rama
Haha! Great! And your welcome!
I love your comment about not batting an eye when using a whole head of garlic! We are fans too. =) Pinned.
Hahha! Good! And thank you!
This looks SO good! I love chili! I love the ingredients you used, love all that garlic. Beautiful photos – love the snow pic.
Thank you Emily! The snow sure is pretty 😉 Ask me in February if I feel the same way about it though!
I loooove chili! Such a great meal for cold winters! Pinned too!
Thank you Anna!
Oh my gosh! THIS! I have such a hard time eating beans but this makes it sound like my stomach would tolerate the beans much better. Thanks for a great recipe. Pinned!
I can’t do beans from a can or just a soak either Loriel 🙂 I have zero issues with sprouted beans of all varieties though 🙂 Hope it works out for you!
I need to try chipolte in my chilli, I bet it is to die for. I love using the slow cooker for chilli, it just makes everything so perfect. Great recipe.
Thanks Jessica! Let me know what you think of the pepper in there – I am a big fan of chipotle!
When you sprout the beans do they get soft? I find it hard to get them nice and soft but maybe I’m not cooking them long enough.
Naomi I think it depends on the bean. The red beans in the chili do fine. I have miserable failed with black beans and garbanzo beans in the crockpot. The red beans do great as long as you go the 10 hours or longer. I thought they might get mushy when I first tried but they have a nice soft bite like you want in a bean.
We love chili and I LOVE the crockpot! 🙂 We have it at least 2 times a month. I haven’t tried sprouting my beans yet but I think I will next time. Thanks for the great, healthy recipe!
Great Rachel! Yep we have chili a couple times per month through the winter!
This looks and sounds delicious and comforting!
Thank you Linda!
This looks like a perfect recipe!! The pictures, the sprouting; I definitely want to dive into a bowl right now; you make it look so good!! It’s great that you’ve figured out the sprouting piece!! Thanks, pinning! 🙂
This looks amazing. And your photos are gorgeous too. I want to come to your house for dinner!
Thank you Jennifer! You are welcome at my table anytime!
I always soak our beans, but very rarely sprout them! You’ve inspired me! I will do it right! 🙂
Yay! A great recipe for properly prepared chili. Hooraaaaay! Ingredients all sound fantastic and I love that it’s in the slow cooker. Pinning this one!!! Thank you! 🙂
Great! Thanks Jessica!
This looks soooo good! 🙂
Thank you Alyssa!
I love that you sprout the beans before cooking the chili. Most of my friends look like I have two heads when I tell them I do that. Oh, and garlic? There is no such thing as too much garlic!
Yes! I agree!