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This Easy Slow Cooker No-Bean Chili is a hearty, no-bean, low carb, keto, gluten free chili and no one will miss the beans!
On a cold winter’s day there is nothing like a warm bowl of chili served up with a side of corn bread! This comforting meal is amazing whether you’re on a low carb diet or not! Even if you’re a die hard bean lover when it comes to enjoying your favorite chili, I can almost guarantee, you won’t miss the beans here. It’s filling, satisfying and delicious!
I have to admit when I served this bowl of No-Bean Chili to my hubby, I was sure to get a few snarks and grumbles. In fact, I never even mentioned there were no beans in it when I handed him the bowl. I made sure to have a nice piece of my Grain Free “Corn” Bread on the side so he wouldn’t complain too much.
If you’re new to my blog then you may not know that my hubby is a non low carber and one who loves his meat, potatoes and carbs. We’ve been happily married for 20 years but 13 of them I’ve been sugar-free and the last 3-4 low carb. He “tried” for a short time last New Years to eat low carb, even with all the delicious meals I make, he still can’t seem to give up sugar or carbs. I’ve learned that you just can’t make someone do anything they don’t want to do. Motivation has to come from within and no amount of nagging will help the situation as much as I want him to be healthier.
At least he eats everything I make and usually loves everything I make, but a NO BEAN CHILI? I was worried I’d pushed my luck too far!
To my complete surprise he LOVED it! I was shocked! Not because I don’t think it’s fabulous. But because this man of mine loves beans!
Shocked I was. Happy But utterly shocked.
He said he didn’t even mind there weren’t beans, less tooting later if you know what I mean LOL!
Brenda’s Notes:
- The sugar grams you see in the nutrition info below come from the tomatoes used in the recipe. You could always increase the beef broth and reduce the tomatoes used but it wont be as thick as you see in the pictures here.
- You could certainly reduce the calories if you need to by replacing the ground beef with ground turkey. You will need a little bit of oil to brown the turkey in a skillet.
- You can add more spice, just taste and adjust seasonings to your preferences.
- You could also make this on the stove top by cooking the beef, onions, peppers, garlic in a large Dutch oven over medium heat until meat is no longer pink. Add all remaining ingredients, bring to a boil then reduce heat to low and simmer 1 hour or longer. The longer you simmer it the better!
- Here’s the Grain Free “Corn” Bread recipe and I made it in a cast iron skillet.
- This recipe was first published in Jan of 2016 and updated in 2017 with a video and some adaptions. I reduced the beef broth by half from the orginial recipe because some comments mentioned it wasn’t as thick as a chili should be. You can reduce the broth even more or even eliminate it if the canned tomatoes seem like enough to you.
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Slow Cooker Low Carb No-Bean Chili
Ingredients
- 3 pounds ground beef I use Butcherbox
- 2 cups onion chopped
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tbsp ground cumin
- 1-3 tsp chili powder
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
- 3/4 cup sweet red pepper chopped
- 1 small jalapeno seeded, finely chopped
- 24 ounces marinara sauce
- 14 ounces diced tomatoes
- 4 tbsp tomato paste
- 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
- 3 cups beef broth
Instructions
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Brown your ground beef with the onion and garlic in a large skillet until no longer pink.
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Stir in the dry seasonings then place it into the slow cooker.
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Add all remaining ingredients into the slow cooker and stir to combine.
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Cook on low 8 hours or high 4 hours.
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Optional toppings: green chiles, cheddar cheese, sour cream, avocado
Recipe Notes
Net Carbs: 7g
So glad there are people like you who can come up with great recipes that are sugar free and low Carb for those of us whose bodies react so negatively to sugar. Can’t wait to try the “cornbread” too! (Just read that recipe)
Drooling! Saving to feature on my slow cooker site!
Thank you!
My chili came out like soup. Is that the way it should be. Is there a way to thicken it.
Hmmm sorry about that, not sure what happened. Try adding some tomato paste and reheating.
Maybe because I used tomatoes sauce instead of puree tomatoes.
Oh yes they are much more watery.
How many carbs in a serving please?
all nutrition is on the right corner, 7 net carbs.
Marlene,
Like yours, my chili came out quite “liquidy”.
I slow cooked mine for 8 hours in a crock pot. Before I made this chili for the first time I had read your comment about it coming out soupy and I chose to cut back on the beef broth by 1 cup and I was sure to drain any grease from the hamburger before I added the dry ingredients.
I only used EXACTLY what was required per the ingredient list provided.
I may be spoiled when it comes to chili because my family has always prepared thick, hearty chili without much liquid.
I do like the taste and the fact it’s a lower carb recipe.
Merry Christmas to you and your family this holiday season!
Sorry you felt it wasn’t thick enough for either of you. Adding tomato paste would also be a way to thicken to your liking.
Thank you, Thank you for being one of the few Blogs that post the nutritional values with your recipes.
I believe part of the obesity problem is because people do not realize the calories they are consuming in one recipe. I have seen recipes that have 600 to 900 or more per serving. Again thank you.
Agreed!
Really appreciate all of your tips and suggestions for altering the recipe. Especially when it comes to substituting foods with others. Thank you!
The nutrition info shows “Amount Per Serving (1.5 g)”. Should that be 1.5 cups?
Yes my recipe plug in has gone wonky! I will fix it thank you!
Not sure who this can be called low carb after buying the ingredients and seeing how many carbs (100+ grams total) in the Tomato Ingredients listed..
The serving is 1.5 cups and net carbs are 9.1grams.
I thought the net carbs is 5? Is it 9.1?
It was incorrect and adapted to lower the carbs back in Sept of 2017. The accurate net carbs per serving is 5.
What is the reason for the cocoa powder?
A long time ago a friend of mine won a chili contest and she mentioned her secret ingredient was cocoa powder. It adds a rich depth of flavor that just can’t be compared to anything else. I’ve been using it in my chili for years.
Without sugar, chocolate works great in savory dishes. Look up mole sauce.
I was wondering too! Im trying it! Ive watched molè recipes too! Its all so interesting to me. Love and hugs! Thanks for all you do!
WOW!!!! It looks so unique and delicious! Keep sharing!!
I can never pass up a bowl of chili, especially this time of year. This looks delicious!
why is there no recipe for the corn bread ?
It’s linked under “Brenda’s Notes”.https://www.sugarfreemom.com/recipes/grain-free-low-carb-cheesy-corn-bread-nut-free/
Made this on Thursday and my non Keto husband ate most of it!!! By far the best Keto recipe I’ve tried. Thank you!
Chili isn’t supposed to have beans anyway. 🙂 Its chili con carne not chili con carne frijoles.
This looks awesome. I have never been a huge bean fan but chili without any beans? I will try anything once. I’m not sure how my husband will feel so it’s a good thing he doesn’t eat well unless I cook! Thanks for sharing!
This seems like a lot of ingredients for a croc pot. What size slow cooker do you use?
Mine is a 6 quart.
This sounds great. I’d like to add portabella mushrooms, I know-not typical, but tasty. Do you have any recommendations for cooking them in the crockpot?
I’d probably wait until the last hour to add them in.
Sorry to sound like an idiot, but is the sweet red pepper the same thing as red bell pepper?
No worries, yes red bell pepper.
Assuming you mean Tbsp on the chili powder, not tsp.
Well my hubby would prefer tbsp but my kids prefer tsp, you can decide.
I’ve made this chili quite a few times now. LOVE it! Did you recently change the ingredient list? I’ve never noticed marinara sauce before!
Is there a substitute for making the marinara sauce ahead? Can you just add those ingredients to the chili?
If you don’t want to make marinara, you could buy Rao’s brand which is keto.
It came out perfect….-