Homemade Chili Made with Dried Beans

Slow Cooker or Oven Slow-Cooked

Wait! You mean chili can be made with dried beans, not just canned beans? Yes! I'm here to say, it's not only possible, it's a great choice for homemade chili. I was first inspired by bags of mixed dried beans especially for chili from Hurst's HamBeens, fully expecting to use the colorful mix of beans in my own chili recipes. Instead, I tried the recipe on the bag ... and after juicing it up flavor-wise, it's become my #1 everyday chili.

Chili Made from Scratch with Dried Beans Instead of Cans of Beans. Hearty & Filling. Budget Friendly. Great for Meal Prep. How to Feed a Crowd. Easy DIY. Weight Watchers Friendly. So Good!!

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May We Talk About the Weather? For Just a Minute?

It's an age-old trope that the weather accounts for those forgettable small-talk conversations.

• Cold enough for ya? Heh heh.
• Whoah, this wind'll kill a body.
• We gonna get a hard-freeze tonight?

You know. That kind of weather.

But weather is important to seasonal cooks like me, like you. What we cook is shaped and inspired by weather, especially as the seasons change: when the weather changes, our food changes too.

So the lovely warm autumn we've been enjoying in the middle of the country for weeks and weeks now has had one major downside: warm weather isn't chili weather!

So when the wintry cold and wind struck Missouri last weekend (albeit briefly), I pulled out the chili pot, happy to finally have an excuse to put steaming bowls of tomato-based chili on the table.

I gotta say: twas heaven, pure heaven.

About This Recipe: Homemade Chili Made with Dried Beans

• This recipe is for a chili made with dried beans instead of canned beans. It's a mild chili, cooked either in a slow cooker or slow-cooked in the oven.
• Distinctive Ingredients = Mixed Dried Beans (pinto, black, small red and kidney beans) & Seasoning Packet from Hurst's HamBeens
• Main Ingredient List = the above + ground beef + tomato + onion + poblano + garlic
• Seasoning List = ground cumin + garlic powder + tomato paste + chipotle in adobo + apple cider vinegar + Worcestershire + maple syrup + salt & pepper
• The chili is thick and meaty in appearance, the multi-colored beans really show through.
• The chili cooks in three stints. First, like most chilis, this recipe starts off by cooking the meat, veggies and seasoning on the stove, this takes about 20 minutes. Second, the chili cooks slowly for several hours, either in an actual slow cooker / crockpot or by slow-cooking in the oven at low temperature. Third, an hour before serving, the tomato ingredients and extra seasoning is added to the chili.
• This is a time-friendly recipe, it takes just 20 minutes to get started, after that, the cooking is almost entirely hands-off either in a crockpot or in the oven. An hour before serving, the tomato, tomato paste and extra seasoning are added. The total cooking time depends on whether you're cooking the chili in a slow cooker (and whether on High or Low) or slow-cooking in the oven.
• This is pantry-friendly recipe, except perhaps for the Hurst's HamBeens Slow Cooker Chili beans. Once you find them at the grocery, likely with other bags of dried beans near the shelves with canned beans, definitely stock up.
• This is a budget-friendly recipe, even the special Slow Cooker Chili beans are inexpensive.
• This recipe makes about 11 cups of chili. If that sounds like a lot, it is, but chili freezes well.
• I do so hope you love it!


• For a spicy chili that uses canned beans, see my sister's winning recipe, Crockpot Chili with Spicy Sausage.
• Not quite what you're looking for? Check out my other chili recipes.

You Might Wonder Be Wondering ...

Have another question? Ask away, I'll do my best to answer!

• Where to find these Hurst's HamBeens Slow Cooker Chili beans? Look for bags of these mixed beans at grocery stores. They'll likely be located with other dried beans and next to all the canned beans. No luck? Two options. Buy the beans online directly from Hurst's or if you like, though pricey, via Amazon (affiliate link).


• Why add the canned tomato and tomato paste late in the cooking? Well ... With other chilis that call for canned beans, we just throw it all together and let it cook, right? Because this recipe is based on uncooked raw beans, a different tack works better. That's because acidic ingredients like tomato can both slow the bean cooking time and toughen the skins. So that explains why the chili (including the beans) slow cooks for a long while before the tomato ingredients are added.


• Why add extra seasoning late in the cooking? This one's easier. A slow cooker is notorious for just muddling all the tastes and textures together. While I do use a slow cooker occasionally, mostly I do all my slow cooking right in the oven where the temperatures are even, read more about this here, Slow Cooker & Oven-Slow Cooking Recipes. For this recipe, the seasoning is refreshed about an hour before serving, ensuring the chili tastes fresh.


• Can I just mix my own dried beans? Yes, of course. But two things.
• First, the Hurst's HamBeens seasoning packet is important to the chili's taste, you'll need to compensate. Hurst's provides some good hints, the packet contains ancho pepper, paprika, turmeric, salt, garlic powder, cocoa powder and paprika.
• Second, dried kidney beans need special treatment to avoid severe gastrointestinal consequences. Please read the note of caution in the recipe below if you include kidney beans in your bean mix.


• Can you pre-cook ground meat for chili? Yes! Earlier this year, I had to cook about 30 pounds of ground beef afer a freezer door got left open. I browned four pounds at a time in two large cast iron skillets, no seasoning, then divided it into four quart-size freezer bags and moved to the freezer. Much to my surprise, I love-love-love having precooked ground meat ready and waiting in the freezer. It just saves critical minutes when dinner's a big rush — and yeah, if dinner includes ground meat, odds are high that it is.
• And here's a pro tip. If you buy a whole or half or quarter beef from a farm or butcher, have them use the "chili grind" for the ground meat, it's chunkier. Over many years of making my signature Chocolate Chili, I've taken to using stew meat or cut-up round steak for the meat instead of ground meat. So good!

For Best Results

For my weekly column in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, I interviewed chefs and translated their restaurant recipes for home kitchens. The most illuminating question? "How can a home cook ensure the same results?" So now I ask that question of myself, too, for my own recipes. Have another question? Ask away, I'll do my best to answer!

Move from Mild to Marvelous Without adding some extra ingredients, this chili is verrrrry mild, a very traditional old-school chili. I've already included the ingredients that we use to spice it up but you may want to go even further. The biggest choice is the meat, to use spicy Italian sausage a la Crockpot Chili with Spicy Sausage.

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What to Serve with Chili? Cornbread, Of Course.

~ Skillet Cornbread (PIN This) ~
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How do you save and share favorite recipes? recipes that fit your personal cooking style? a particular recipe your mom or daughter or best friend would just love? If cooking chili with dried beans inspires you, please do save and share! I'd be honored ...

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HOMEMADE CHILI made with DRIED BEANS
(using Hurst's HamBeens Slow Cooker Chili Beans)

Hands-on time: 20 minutes
Time-to-table: 5 - 6 hours (oven) or 6 - 10 hours (slow cooker)
Makes about 11 cups chili

The bag of Hurst's beans include a Seasoning Packet, don't accidentally throw it away! Also, note that the chili cooks in three stints: the tomato ingredients and half the Seasoning Packet are added about an hour before serving.

START ON THE STOVE
• 1 pound (450g) ground beef, turkey, venison, etc.
• 1 medium onion, diced (about 180g)
• 1 poblano, diced (about 112g)
• 3 large cloves garlic, minced
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 2 teaspoons salt (assumes Diamond Crystal, use less table salt, more sea salt)
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder or granulated garlic
• *** half *** the Seasoning Packet

BEANS
• 1 bag (15.5oz/440g) Hurst's HamBeens Slow Cooker Chili Beans
• 7 cups water

AN HOUR BEFORE SERVING
• 1 can (about 15oz) diced tomato
• 1 6-ounce can (170g) tomato paste
• *** remaining half *** the Seasoning Packet
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 2 teaspoons chipotle in adobo (more info chipotle in adobo sauce)

TO FINISH
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar or another vinegar
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup
• Additional cumin, garlic powder, vinegar, Worcestershire, maple syrup and salt (especially), to taste
• Hot sauce, optional

START ON THE STOVE In a large Dutch oven (if slow-cooking in the oven) or a large skillet (if cooking in a slow cooker), cook the ground meat until it begins to lose its pink. Stir in the onion, poblano, garlic and let cook, just until beginning to soften. Stir in the cumin, salt, garlic powder and let cook for 2 - 3 minutes.

BEANS Wash the beans under running water, checking as you go for little stones, extra-desiccated beans, etc.

To continue with a slow cooker, combine the cooked meat, the rinsed beans and 7 cups water.

To continue in the oven, add the rinsed beans and 7 cups water to the Dutch oven.

TO COOK in a SLOW COOKER Cook on HIGH for 4 - 5 hours or on LOW for 8 - 9 hours.

Do let the beans fully cook, start checking after about 4 or 8 hours. How long this takes depends on several factors, especially the age of the beans. For more information, see Why Dried Beans Won't Cook.

AN HOUR BEFORE SERVING Once the beans are cooked, and about an hour before serving, add the tomato, tomato paste, remaining Seasoning Packet, cumin and chipotle in adobo. Since these new ingredients will drop the temperature, switch the slow cooker temp to HIGH, once the chili starts to simmer, you can keep on HIGH or switch lower to cook for about another hour.

~ or ~

TO SLOW COOK in the OVEN Set the oven to 250F/120C. Before switching to the oven, bring the chili to a boil on the stove. Transfer the Dutch oven to the oven and let simmer for 3 - 4 hours until the beans are fully cooked.

Do let the beans fully cook, start checking after about 3 hours. How long this takes depends on several factors, especially the age of the beans. For more information, see Why Dried Beans Won't Cook.

AN HOUR BEFORE SERVING Once the beans are fully cooked and about an hour before serving, add the tomato, tomato paste, remaining Seasoning Packet, cumin and chipotle in adobo.

Bring back to a boil on the stove, then return to the oven and let cook for another hour.

TO FINISH Taste the chili. Stir in the vinegar, Worcestershire and maple syrup. Taste again and adjust to your own taste, adding additional ingredients.

TO SERVE Serve chili plain; or with oyster crackers or Doritos; with grated cheddar, sour cream and chopped onion; over Baked Sweet Potatoes; over Mashed Potatoes or Mashed Potatoes & Carrots or Mashed Cauliflower (Low-Carb Mashed "Potatoes"); or over hot butter noodles or Spaghetti Aglio e Olio (Italian Spaghetti with Garlic & Olive Oil).

MAKE-AHEAD TIMING TIP Like many chilis, this one develops extra flavor when made a day ahead of time. Just bring back to a boil, adding water if it's gotten a little thick.

LEFTOVERS freeze well.

CAUTION Hurst's bag of beans for Slow Cooker Chili includes four different beans, pinto beans, black beans, small red beans and red kidney beans.

If you opt to mix your own beans and include either red kidney beans or white kidney beans (also called cannellini) in the mix, you'll need to take some extra steps before starting the chili.

Be sure to (1) soak the beans for at least five hours and discard the soaking water, then (2) boil the chili for at least 10 minutes. More Information: Eating Well

Why? Because kidney bean skins include a protein called lectin that, when not soaked and cooked, causes severe abdominal distress including vomiting and diarrhea.

When you plan to slow-cook this chili in the oven, just be sure to boil the chili mixture for at least 10 minutes on the stove before moving the pot to the oven.

If you plan to use a slow cooker for the chili, be sure to boil the chili mixture for at least 10 minutes before moving it to the slow cooker.

Again, this practice is imperative only if you substitute your own beans (and include red or white chili beans, you could always omit them) for the Hurst's Slow Cooker Chili Beans. Are Hurst's beans pre-treated to avoid this problem? I don't know. I haven't found any confirmation (nor have I gotten a response from a recent query) that the beans are pre-treated. There is one small hint: Hurst's online recipe for Slow Cooker Chili directly states that the bean mix doesn't require soaking.

For the record, I've made this chili with Hurst's Slow Cooker Chili beans at least a half dozen times over six years with zero gastrointestinal issue.

ALANNA's TIPS Salt is especially important when you make chili from dried beans, that's because unlike their canned counterparts, dried beans are unsalted. Still, rather than leading with salt, I like to juice up the other seasoning ingredients first, that means more cumin and garlic powder for more "chili flavor" or more vinegar for extra acidity or more Worcestershire for extra umami or more maple syrup for extra sweetness and finally, salt, a half teaspoon or so at a time.

FOR MORE INFO If you "skipped straight to the recipe," please scroll back to the top of this page for ingredient information, ingredient substitutions, tips and more. If you print this recipe, you'll want to check the recipe online for even more tips and extra information about ingredient substitutions, best results and more. See https://www.kitchenparade.com/2023/11/homemade-chili-with-dried-beans.html .

NUTRITION INFORMATION Sorry, due to technical issues during a laptop conversion, nutrition info and Weight Watchers points will be updated later.

Adapted from the recipe printed on bags of Hurst's HamBeens Slow Cooker Chili beans.

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Kitchen Parade is written by second-generation food columnist Alanna Kellogg and features fresh, seasonal dishes for every-day healthful eating and occasional indulgences. Quick Suppers are Kitchen Parade favorites and feature recipes easy on the budget, the clock, the waistline and the dishwasher. Do you have a favorite recipe that other Kitchen Parade readers might like? Just send me a quick e-mail, you'll find my current address in the FAQs. How to print a Kitchen Parade recipe. Never miss a recipe! If you like this recipe, sign up for a free e-mail subscription. If you like Kitchen Parade, for more scratch cooking recipes using whole, healthful ingredients, you're sure to like my food blog about vegetable recipes, too, A Veggie Venture. If you make this recipe, I'd love to know your results! Just leave a comment below.

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