Dump Meals

Beef Freezer bag

Beef and Bean Chili

dumpmeals.com/recipes/beef-and-bean-chili/

Browned ground beef with kidney and pinto beans, tomatoes, peppers and chili powder. Uses canned beans only.

Serves
8
Prep
20 minutes
Cook
Low 6 to 8 hours, or high 3 to 4 hours
Slow cooker
6-quart

This is a classic red chili with ground beef, two kinds of beans and a lot of tomato. The beef is browned first and drained, which is both a food safety step and a way to keep the chili from turning greasy. Chili powder and cumin give it warmth without much heat.

Only canned beans are used here, and for a reason. Dried red kidney beans contain a natural toxin that can make people sick, and a slow cooker may not get hot enough to destroy it. Canned beans are already cooked and safe. Serve with shredded cheese, sour cream, and cornbread or crackers.

A pot like this is easy to scale for a crowd. Set out bowls of cheese, chopped onion, sour cream and crackers, and let everyone choose. Leftover chili is also good over baked potatoes.

Ingredients

Into the slow cooker

  • 2 pounds ground beef, browned and drained
  • 1 (15-ounce) can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1 (15-ounce) can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
  • 1 (15-ounce) can tomato sauce
  • 1 yellow onion, chopped
  • 1 green bell pepper, chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 3 tablespoons chili powder
  • 2 teaspoons ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon salt

To serve

  • shredded cheese, for serving
  • sour cream

Directions

  1. Brown the ground beef in a large skillet over medium-high heat breaking it up as it cooks, until it reads 160°F on a food thermometer (no pink is not proof). Drain off the fat.
  2. Put the beans, tomatoes, tomato sauce, onion, pepper, garlic and spices in a 6-quart slow cooker. Stir.
  3. Stir in the browned beef.
  4. Cover. Cook on low 6 to 8 hours or on high 3 to 4 hours.
  5. Check the chili. It should be steaming hot and read at least 165°F in the center.
  6. Taste, add salt if needed, and serve with cheese and sour cream.

It's done when the chili is steaming hot and reads at least 165°F in the center. The ground beef was cooked to 160°F before it went in. Check with a food thermometer.

Leftovers go in the refrigerator within two hours. Reheat them on the stove or in the microwave until hot all the way through (165°F), not in the slow cooker. Slow cooker safety

Make it a freezer dump bag

Cook the beef to 160°F, drain it, spread it in a shallow container and refrigerate it until cold. Put it in one 2-gallon freezer bag with the beans, tomatoes, tomato sauce, onion, pepper, garlic and spices. Squeeze out the air, seal, label and freeze flat.

Bag: 2-gallon freezer bag. Keeps: 2 months for best quality; safe indefinitely at 0°F in the freezer.

Beef and Bean Chili

Frozen on:

Thaw in the refrigerator 36 to 48 hours, until no ice is left in the middle. Never cook it from frozen, and cook it within 2 days of thawing. Dump into a 6-quart slow cooker. Cook on low 6 to 8 hours. Check with a food thermometer that it reads 165°F in the center. Stir well.

Best within 2 months of the date above.

Plan several bags at once with one shopping list and printable labels.

The planner prints this label free. A designed set for all 17 freezer recipes, plus blanks, is in the Freezer Bag Labels pack ($7).

This recipe is one of the ten in The Freezer Session ($12): ten dump bags, one shopping trip, one afternoon.

Cooking for two

Use 1 lb beef, half of each can, half the onion and pepper, and half the spices. Use a 3-quart slow cooker, so the food still fills it about halfway. Cook on low 5 to 7 hours.

More in Cooking for two in a slow cooker.

Tips

  • Use canned beans. Don't put dried kidney beans in a slow cooker. If you ever use dried ones, soak them at least 5 hours, drain, and boil them in fresh water on the stove for at least 30 minutes first.
  • For a thicker chili, cook the last 30 minutes with the lid off on high.
  • Refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours, in shallow covered containers. Reheat them on the stove or in the microwave until they reach 165°F. Do not reheat them in the slow cooker.

Food-safety sources

More beef

  • Pepperoncini Pot Roast Low 8 to 10 hours, or high 4 to 5 hours Freezer bag Chuck roast cut into pieces with pepperoncini, ranch seasoning, gravy mix and butter. The dish often called Mississippi pot roast.
  • Beef Stew Low 8 to 10 hours, or high 4 to 5 hours Freezer bag Beef chuck cubes, carrots, potatoes and celery in a beef and tomato gravy. Peas go in at the end.
  • Italian Beef Low 8 to 10 hours, or high 4 to 5 hours Freezer bag Chuck roast pieces in Italian dressing mix and broth, shredded for sandwiches with pickled pepper relish.
  • Beef and Broccoli Low 4 to 6 hours, or high 2 to 3 hours Freezer bag Thin-sliced beef chuck in a soy, garlic and ginger sauce, with broccoli added at the end. Serve over rice.