Slow Cooker Beef and Sausage Chili
This Slow Cooker No-Bean Chili is hearty, flavorful, and packs just the right amount of heat. It’s perfect for everyday dinners and an excellent addition to your weekly meal prep.
This is a super easy recipe! Onions, tomatoes, chiles, and spices mingle with the beef and sausage, resulting in a delicious flavor that’ll have everyone coming back for seconds.
This recipe is perfect for everyday dinners and an excellent addition to your weekly meal prep.
Slow Cooker Beef and Sausage Chili Recipe Highlights
- High-Protein dinner
- Minimal Effort with Maximum Taste
- Great for Meal Prep (tastes even better the next day)
- Hearty & Budget-Friendly
- Uses Pantry Staples
- Flavorful & Filling (without the beans!)
Ingredient Notes
Please check the recipe card below for a detailed, printable ingredient list.
BEEF & SAUSAGE – Ground beef and Italian sausage bring heartiness and savory flavor. The combo is delicious, but feel free to use all ground beef if you prefer.
FIRE-ROASTED TOMATOES – While you can use regular canned tomatoes, fire-roasted tomatoes have a smoky, slightly sweet flavor that adds depth to your chili. Keeping them undrained means all that delicious juice gets added in, too!
BROTH – This flavorful liquid forms the base of your chili, adding depth and more savory goodness. Low-sodium broth is used to give you more control over the final saltiness. If you prefer a bolder flavor, you can use regular beef broth, but be sure to taste and adjust the salt at the end.
FIRE-ROASTED GREEN CHILES – Fire-roasted green chiles bring mild to medium heat and a touch of smokiness. Just like with the tomatoes, do not drain.
TOMATO PASTE – This little powerhouse is your secret weapon! It adds a concentrated tomato flavor that makes your chili extra rich and helps thicken it up.
SEASONING – Chili powder, cumin, smoked paprika, fresh garlic, yellow onion and hot sauce create that classic chili flavor we love.
BROWN SUGAR – Brown sugar is another secret ingredient used in this easy crockpot chili recipe. It helps balance out the spices for well-rounded flavor.
GARNISH – Go wild with sour cream, cheddar cheese, fresh green onions, and all your favorite chili fixings!
How To Make Slow Cooker Beef and Sausage Chili
Please check the printable recipe card below for more detailed instructions.
- Brown the ground beef and Italian sausage in a large skillet, seasoning with salt and pepper.
- While meat cooks, combine all remaining ingredients (except onion) in the slow cooker.
- Add the browned meat and diced onion to the slow cooker. Stir well.
- Cook on low for 5-7 hours or high for 2-4 hours.
- Serve with your favorite toppings.
Planning and Leftovers
STORE – Cool the chili completely before transferring it to airtight containers. It can be refrigerated for up to 3-4 days.
FREEZE – Chili freezes beautifully. Portion it into freezer-safe containers and freeze it for up to 3 months for a quick and easy meal.
REHEAT – Thaw frozen chili in the refrigerator overnight, then reheat gently on the stove or in the microwave, stirring occasionally until heated through.
More Easy and Delicious Slow Cooker Recipes
Serving Suggestions
LOADED NACHOS – Top tortilla chips with chili, shredded cheese, sour cream, and all your favorite nacho ingredients.
CORNBREAD – A slice of warm cornbread and a bowl of a chili? Yes, please!
CHILI DOGS – This beanless chili recipe is the perfect topping for hot dogs.
SIDE SALAD – A vibrant salad like our Broccoli Slaw or Green Bean Potato Salad can balance the meal.
CHILI MACARONI – Mix cooked macaroni into your chili for a super satisfying and kid-friendly meal.
CORN ON THE COB – Grill or boil corn on the cob as an easy side that pairs well with this meaty dish.
TACO CASSEROLE – Bake up a cheesy taco casserole or another Tex-Mex-inspired dish to complement your chili.
Recipe Success Tips
ADJUST THE SPICE LEVEL – This chili has a mild-medium heat level. If you want to reduce the spiciness, you can use less chili powder and hot sauce. To make it hotter, add more hot sauce, red pepper flakes, or hot peppers.
MEAT VARIATIONS – Feel free to swap in your favorite ground meat like ground turkey or ground chicken.
USE WHAT YOU HAVE ON HAND – If you have pantry ingredients you’d like to use up, regular canned, diced tomatoes and chiles will work in place of fire-roasted. The fire-roasted options offer a little more flavor.
THICKENING – If you prefer a thicker chili, let the chili simmer longer, on high, without the lid on to reduce the amount of liquid. Be sure to frequently stir so the chili doesn’t burn on the bottom of the crockpot.
TOPPING IDEAS – Get creative with your bowl of chili by topping it with your favorites! Here are a few suggestions…
- Classics – Shredded Cheese, Sour Cream, Diced Onions, Green Onions
- Veggies – Avocado, Cilantro, Jalapenos, Pickled Red Onions, Sliced Bell Peppers
- Crunchiness – Crushed Tortilla Chips, Corn Chips, Fried Onion Strings, Saltine Crackers
- More Fun Ideas – Hot Sauce, Sriracha, Lime Wedges, Queso, Roasted Veggies
More Easy and Delicious Comfort Soups and Soups
Slow Cooker No-Bean Chili with Beef and Sausage
Ingredients
- 2 pounds ground beef lean 90/10 or 96/4
- 1 pound Italian sausage
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 14-ounce-can diced fire-roasted tomatoes undrained
- 2 cups beef broth low sodium
- 1 7-ounce-can diced green fire-roasted chiles undrained
- 1 6-ounce-can tomato paste
- 3 tablespoons chili powder
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon cumin
- 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
- 1 tablespoon hot sauce
- 1 large yellow onion diced
Instructions
- Cook ground beef and Italian sausage in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Season with salt and pepper. Crumble as the meat cooks.
- While the meat is cooking, add all of the remaining ingredients, except the onions, to the slow cooker. Stir the ingredients until combined.
- Add the browned beef and sausage to the slow cooker along with the diced onion. Stir everything together and place the lid on the slow cooker.
- Cook on low for 5-7 hours or on high for 2-4 hours until the onions have cooked down and the flavors have melded.
- Serve the chili warm with any desired toppings.
Equipment
Notes
SLOW COOKER TIMES
ON LOW: 5-7 hours ON HIGH: 2-4 hoursNutritional Information
Nutritional Disclaimer
Cheerful Cook team members are not trained nutritionists or medical professionals. Calorie information and nutritional values are estimates. If you have nutritional concerns, we recommend using a nutritional calculator.
Maike Corbett is the founder and food blogger of Cheerful Cook, a popular recipe website featuring comfort food recipes from the US and Germany. She has been featured in numerous media outlets, including the AP Wire and MSN.
My family loved this recipe!
I’ve been making chili using my own off the cuff recipes and have had enough bombs that I was looking for a good recipe. This one showed up on my browser one day in crockpot collection , so decided to try it. I accidentally got Hot breakfast sausage instead of Italian…. And used a pint of beer instead of the broth. It seemed awfully thick pre-cooking, but I’m assuming it will accumulate liquid as it cooks. Can’t wait to try it though! Thanks for the recipe
I have made dozens of chili recipes, this one is the best I have ever made! It is meaty and the flavor is wonderful. So easy to change the heat to your desired level. If you follow the recipe it is not overly spicy, just a little kick. But you can alter that if you so desire. The only change I made in the 3 times I made it was based on the availability of diced or crushed fire roasted tomatoes. It didn’t matter both worked well. I’m 59 and this will be the only chili recipe I make going forward! Thanks so much!
Good Chili. Easy to make