Slow Cooker Steak Chili aka The Best Chili I’ve Ever Eaten
Another name for this post could be, “How I almost sent my friends to the ER.” I’m still having miniature panic attacks over this. Monday night I was upstairs giving the girls a bath when my husband came home from work, went into the kitchen and found this Slow Cooker Steak Chili sitting in the crock pot. He ate some, then came upstairs and said, “You know how your crock pot lid handle is loose?”
“Ya?”
“It’s missing a screw.”
“OK. Did you find it?”
He looked at me nervously. Then I realized the screw secured the handle from underneath the lid.
“I think it fell in the chili,” he said. About an hour earlier I had given half of that chili to some friends who had just had a baby. They also had small children. GASP Hubs goes back downstairs to search the chili again, and I grabbed my phone and frantically started a text to my friend. I figured they’d already eaten, but I didn’t want the leftovers to cause any issues. Otherwise I would have called.
On his way down the stairs, he goes, “Tell them if they find it, we need it back.” He smiles. He shouted from the kitchen that he found the screw.
Text deleted.
Breathing resumed.
ER visit avoided.
Future dinner invitations may or may not be declined if they happen to read this. (Or anyone for that matter.)
On a lighter note, this is probably the best chili I’ve ever made or eaten. It’s also the first time I’ve used steak in chili. I may never go back to ground beef unless I’m in a pinch. Or don’t have half of a cow in my freezer. Those chunks of beef just fall apart in your mouth.
And ALLLLL of the spice action in this chili just blows me away. Not spice as in spicy-hot, but a complex mix seasoning that gives it such a richness and depth. More than any other chili I’ve ever made. It’s well worth opening all those jars, I promise.
I’ve loved hearing about all of the chili cook-offs this recipe has won over the years! Yay for amazing chili! And yay for making chili in a slow cooker!
UPDATE: I loved this recipe so much, I tweaked it a little more and adapted it for an Instant Pot! You can find that recipe in my cookbook, The Big Book of Paleo Pressure Cooking (Harvard Common Press, Nov 2018)
Slow Cooker Steak Chili
Yield: Serves 8-10
Prep Time: About 45 minutes
Cook Time: 6 hours
Total Time: About 7 hours

Ingredients:
1/4 cup chili powder
2 Tablespoons whole cumin seeds
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons dried Mexican or regular oregano
3 bay leaves
2 teaspoons coconut sugar or honey
4 pounds steak, cut into 1-inch cubes (can also use boneless chuck or stew meat)
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 1/2 Tablespoons Kosher salt
3 Tablesoons heat-safe oil (coconut or grapeseed)
4 cups chopped onions (3 medium or 2 large)
1 1/2 cups chopped celery (about 4 ribs)
6 cloves garlic, chopped
2 jalapeno chiles, seeded and roughly chopped
1 1/2 cups stock (beef, chicken, or vegetable will do)
2 Tablespoons tomato paste
1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
1 ounce semisweet or dark chocolate chips
3 Tablespoons masa harina (corn flour, not cornstarch — optional)
2 cups water
2 cups chopped butternut squash (optional)
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1/2 cup chopped parsley
Grated cheddar, chopped green onions, and sour cream for garnish
Directions:
Combine the first 7 ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.
Add the beef to a large bowl and season with the black pepper and 1 Tablespoon of the salt.
Heat the oil in a large, deep skillet or saute pan over high heat. Add about 1/3 of the beef to the skillet. Let the meat sit for a minute or so, then stir them up. Cook for another couple of minutes, then transfer the meat to the crock of a 6-quart slow cooker. Repeat with remaining beef, adding it to the skillet in two more batches and browning them in spots. Add more oil between batches, if necessary.
When you’re finished with the beef, add the onion, celery, and 1 Tablespoon of the remaining salt to the skillet and cook, stirring, until the vegetables begin to soften, about 2 minutes. Add garlic, jalapenos, and spice mixture and cook for another minute. Pour in the stock, tomato paste, and crushed tomatoes and simmer for 3 minutes. Stir in the chocolate, masa harina, and another couple large pinches of salt and cook for another minute. Transfer this mixture to the slow cooker with the beef. Add the water and the squash cubes (if using).
Cover and cook on high for 6 hours, stirring only once or twice, until the beef is very tender. Remove the bay leaves and stir in the cilantro and parsley. Serve the chili with garnishes.
Nat’s Notes:
1. The original recipe had 1 teaspoon of cayenne. I thought this was plenty spicy, and perhaps a little too much for my 4-year-old who filled her chili with cornbread and sour cream.
adapted lightly from Sizzling Skillets and Other One-Pot Wonders by Emeril LaGasse
It’s an adaptation of a fantastic recipe from Emeril Lagasse’s book, Sizzling Skillets and One Pot Wonders. (The Slow Cooker Indian Beef and Slow Cooker Chicken were also from this book and are favorites of ours!)
Disclosure: This post contains Amazon affiliate links. Purchases made by using these links doesn’t cost you any extra and helps to keep my content free.
STEAK in chili? I’m dying. I love that. Even if there are screws in it. I’m in.
Oh, I need to make this! My recipe is very similar and as I was reading down the ingredients I was going to tell you I add some dark chocolate, and voila! There it is! I’m drooling now!
How much dark chocolate? I have no idea!
1 ounce of semisweet chocolate chips. Just like it says in the recipe. :)
I had a similar thing happen, but thankfully only my husband and I were eating the food from the crockpot :) We received a crockpot with a hinged lid for our wedding. At the time, I thought it was a great idea because you didn’t have to worry about setting the lid off to the side. However, after a few uses, the hinge fell apart and pieces of plastic and the screw fell into the roast I was cooking. I think (hope) we fished them all out before eating!
I love the masa harina in this!! YUM!
Lol! So glad you found that screw! This chili looks awesome. I love the dash of cinnamon and masa harina!
That’s the kind of thing I have nightmares about! I’m so glad it all turned out okay! And this chili looks hearty in the best possible way.
Screw or no screw, I would definitely love me a bowl of this… please?
I always add cocoa powder to my chili… but chocolate chips? Interesting!
I am so pinning this. I am way overdue for a good, comforting bowl of warm chili!
I’d eat your screwy chili any day! ;) This post cracked me up and now all I want is steak chili :)
Yikes! At least you got to enjoy your chili ‘) oh and no one was hurt ;}
My pressure cooker fell apart into my dinner once and I had to throw it all away. grrrrr.
I’m glad you found the screw, how scary! But the chili looks fabulous!
I’m obsessed with chili, and I cannot wait to try this recipe!
Wait….. this chili has CHOCOLATE in it?? I think my mind just blew up! I’m going to try this with the last stew meat in the freezer. It took us about 6 months, but we’ve finally almost eaten the entire 1/8 of a cow we got last May. (We don’t eat a lot of beef, kind of ironic, right?) We’re getting 1/4 share in a few weeks, so that should last us quite a while :)
wow–I’ve never tried steak in chili but this sounds fantastic!!
Phew!! Too funny, but kinda not? ;)
My husband would be thrilled if I made steak chili. Seriously thrilled. This looks amazing.
It was awesome,we loved the steak and the squash and the screw;) you are amazing!
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Made this tonight and it was awesome! It was my first experience putting
steak in chili and I doubt I’ll ever go back to ground beef. I used chunks of stew meat, chopped into 1-in pieces (will probably cut them even smaller next time). I threw in some extra chili powder (maybe a tablespoon or so) and about 1 T. extra tomato paste. I also added 2 cans of rinsed, dark red kidney beans in place of the squash to keep it nice and savory. YUM! I’m looking forward to freezing the rest and bringing it out for a quick meal in a couple of weeks. Recipes that produce enough to use more than once are the best. ;) Thanks so much for sharing!
Oh my goodness! So glad you found it. That could have been bad. Pinning this! Looks fantastic!
I tried this recipe tonight and it was absolutely the best Chili I have ever made or eaten! Thanks for sharing!
I’ve never heard of adding chocolate giving it a try.
I’m confused about the harina de masa. Is this the same as corn meal?
Difficulty finding it in Alaska :/
Hi Amy! You’ll love the richness the chocolate adds! And corn masa is corn flour, not cornmeal. It’s finer like regular flour. If you can’t find it you can either leave it out or use cornmeal, but using it may make the chili kind of gritty. You might be better off serving it with cornbread. Good luck!
Chili without any beans? Isn’t this vegetable beef soup.
Calling something “chili” has more to do with the spices you use than whether or not it contains beans. In some parts of the country (ahem… Texas) it’s blasphemous to put beans in chili.
This sounds great, but I have to ask… what type of steak cut did you use? Serloin? Bonesless ribeye? Curious, but I wanna make this!
I believe I used sirloin. I think any cut of steak would work well except maybe tenderloin. Because it’s a slow cooker recipe, you could also use stew meat or boneless chuck roast cut up into small chunks.
Fantastic chili! no changes except for using only one jalapeño, won 1st prize in chili contest at my church with 13 other entries. Thanks so much!
Wow!! Thanks for letting me know! And congrats on the win :)
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This looks amazing, I can’t wait to try it this weekend! Are there no beans in this chili? or am I missing something? PS I absolutely LOVE your whole grain, shortening free pie crust..to die for. Thanks!
Nope, no beans. Some people (ahem…a handful of Texans) think that chili shouldn’t have beans. I like it with and without. If you wanted to add a can to replace some of the steak I’m sure it would work!
Tried this recipe and it is AWESOME! I added too much salt the first time but I am going to make it again this week :-) Thank you!!!
Hello, just wanted to say thanks for sharing this recipe. I tried it once and cannot stop thinking about it. It will become a regular in our household, I feel. Quick question: can you freeze it once you’ve cooked a batch? My dream is to have a constant supply of this in my freezer, and wondered whether that would be safe…
I like your recipe can I do it in a slow cooker?
Kea, since the first two words of the recipe are “Slow Cooker”, and since the recipe tells you twice to use a slow cooker, YES, you can do it in a slow cooker. :-)
Amazingly good! I made this for a chili cook-off we had yesterday at work and didn’t change a thing except didn’t use squash. Beat 12 other contestants in the ‘Best overall’ category and in the ‘spicy’ category both, and now have the ceramic pepper award hanging from my cube wall for the next year, thanks to your recipe =D
Printed your URL at the bottom of the ingredients card, so credit has been given. Many many compliments from all who had some!
I loved it. I tried it today for a church thing. Very tasteful. I would say it had a complex taste, but I’m not sure exactly what that means. One of the best recipes I have ever tried. Next time I will double the cayenne pepper, though. Really good. Thanks for sharing.
Best chili I have ever eaten!!! Tried at a church function tonight and can’t wait to make it. I love chili and try lots of different kinds. This by far, is the best!! It even beats claim jumpers steak chili and I thought that would be tough to beat!! Thanks to my friend who made it and saw the recipe from you!!!
living in Jacksonville,Florida Temp 4o tomorrow sound yum yum going to try in our cold day.
GREAT RECIPE!!! I threw in a can of beer, a large jar of my favorite barbecue sauce, a cup of Lee and Perrin’s, 3 cans of kidney beans for my “not so traditional” chili eaters, and used 4 times more tomato paste….. It came out fabulous….I’ll probably add more jalapeño and cayenne the next time,,,,, This recipe helped me create an awesome chili that I hope to get me the elusive first place trophy in my daughters’ school chili cook-off!!!!!
That’s so great to hear! Thanks for letting me know, Timmy!
Does it really take a full six hours in a slow cooker? On high?……I’m hoping to make this today but only have a bout 4 hours prep time. What about making on stove top like a stew??
It depends on your slow cooker. If you have a newer one you could probably get by with 4 hours of coooking because they cook hotter than older models. I prefer cooking it longer because the meat becomes more tender and the flavors develop and blend better. If you use steak that’s already pretty tender that shouldn’t be a problem. You can definitely make this on the stove top and simmer it for an hour or two. (It’ll probably taste better the next day if you do that.)
Thank you for the nice recipe.
I love this recipe! I’ve been making a vegetarian chilli on the stove for years now with chocolate in so was thrilled to find this! Was wondering what size your crockpot is? I have a standard size one (for the UK anyway…) and this recipe doesn’t seem to fit it in too well.
For this I use a 6 quart crock pot. Glad you like it!
Is 2T Cumin Seeds correct? It sounds like a lot.
By Celery, you mean actual stalks of Celery? Just checking…..
If I can’t find masa harina what would be a good substitute? Or better to omit?
I would just omit it. :)
Made this over the weekend for friends…it was delicious! My husband (who is very picky), said to make sure to save this recipe because “it’s a keeper”. From him, that is the highest praise. Also, I did change 2 things. My store didn’t have whole cumin seeds, so I used 1tb ground instead. Also, I didn’t have masa harina, so I used regular wheat flour. (Sorry paleo followers! But my family isn’t paleo. I just stumbled on this recipe since I was looking for a good steak chili recipe…and this one definitely is awesome). Oh, I also added the butternut squash…delish! Thank you for the recipe!
I absolutely adore this recipe!!! I subbed out the butternut squash (only cuz I have super picky eaters) for black beans. I like to add the beans to make it heartier and chose black beans because the chili is so dark and gorgeous it screamed for dark beans, lol. I’m getting ready to make this for my second time and I’m really excited to eat it tonight for dinner. It’s delicious!! I’d like to try it with the squash too but maybe I’d pulverized it in my chopper to disguise it in the dark chili so my family doesn’t know it’s there…….shhhhhhhh, don’t tell them ;)
Thanks so much for this great recipe,the first time I made it my wife and friends loved it.Tonight I’m making again for chilli cook off at work.It really is some of the best chilli I’ve ever eaten and definitely the best I’ve made.
You wouldn’t be the first to enter this recipe in a cook off. Apparently it does quite well! I hope everyone loved it! Thanks, Brent.
I love beans in chili, will adding kidney beans change this in a Bad way?
Absolutely not! I didn’t add beans because my blog has a paleo-focus now and I try to avoid using legumes in my recipes.
This sounds amazing! I’m always trying different chili combinations, and I tend to find no matter what I do it still comes out tasting too much like tomato. This picture and recipe looks like that won’t be the case. Couple questions- If you leave out the masa will it not have the right thickness? Also can you make this the same way but in a big stock pot instead of crockpot and just simmer for hours?
I’m making this right now and it definitely isn’t as dark as the pictures. Is there a reason it’s happening? The only thing I didn’t add was the cornflour. Thanks!
This was awful! I always make my chili with sirloin but man this sauce didn’t even taste like chili. I had to throw out all of it, although I salvaged the 4 lbs of sirloin (waaaaaay too much by the way) and fed it to my pooches. DONT FOLLOW THIA RECIPE OR YOU WILL WASTE A BUNCH OF FOOD
Hey! I’m sorry you didn’t it. You’re actually the first person who has left me negative feedback on this recipe. I’m glad your dogs liked it, though.
Wow I’ve made this every cold front we get in Texas since 2014 and it’s amazing each time. I can’t believe the bad review. My coworkers come running to me when a cold front is coming and give me cash since I only use ribeyes or strip steak!! We don’t play about our meat lol. The only thing I do different is double the seasonings and I slow cook it with two whole jalapeños for an extra kick. Thanks for the recipe
I’m so glad you’ve enjoyed it for so long! xoxo
If not using squash, are the 2 cups of water required? Thanks Natalie! Making it right now.
Hi Sean, I assume you figured it out? Sorry I didn’t get back to you earlier. I’ve been nursing sick kids this week. I would put half of the water in and then check the texture when it’s finished and maybe add more if it’s too thick. Hope it turned out well!
Hi Natalie,
Made it…loved it….I substituted 1 cup dark beer for the 2 cups of water. Froze leftover sauce and put it on my eggs.
Thanks for the recipe and the reply!
Good to hear! Glad you liked it. :)
Would 8 hours on low be okay? 6 hours wont work with our schedules.
Ehh. Maybe. If you have an older slow cooker (like, the crock part isn’t removeable) it would be fine. The newer ones cook hotter and I’m afraid that beef would totally dry out. If you’re cutting the beef up, you could make bigger chunks and then break it apart at the end. That would help. Or if your crock pot kicks over to the warm setting, set it for 6 hours or so and then let it sit on the warm setting until you’re ready.
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I’m very excited to be making three batches of this over the next two days for a chili party in france. One question: I’m using a 5 quart slow cooker…is that ok? Or do you have any suggestions as to how to make it ok if it’s not. Thanks so much for your time…and recipe!!!
Just had to share…I made your recipe for a chili cook off at my son’s school yesterday AND WON FIRST PLACE! I’ve made it several times for my family (who love it), but it was pretty great watching the judges come back for 2nds and 3rds! I upped the number of jalapenos from 2 to 4 and threw in a Serrano pepper too (we like it spicy), but the taste that lingers after that first bite is just delicious! Thank you!
Oh … and I shred the beef too about 5 hours in … it adds a nice texture to it.
Eek! I love it! And great idea to shred the beef, too!
This chili looks amazing and for the most part looks to be very low carb. One question though…the first ingredient states 1/4 cup of chili powder. Is that a typo? That sounds like way too much. I would like to make this today to take on our camping trip.
Nope, not a typo. This recipe makes a lot of chili — nearly fills a 6 quart slow cooker. Sounds like the perfect camping meal!
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Hey, great recipe!
I found the chocolate chips are a bit much…. I’ll exclude those next time.
I used kidney beans instead of squash, which worked great. Also, searing/browning the beef on a gas grill before dicing gives a more “steaky” flavor in my view. But I needed a bit more liquid later.
Also I added more cayenne since I like a little more kick.
Thanks for this! Can’t wait to make the next one with some adjustments….
Thanks!
I know from experience to never use that much cumin seed, use ground cumin instead. It`s never a joyful experience chewing on cumin seed in any dish. Cumin is a very important flavor in chili, but you don’t want to taste cumin from start to finish. It should be subtle, just like any other spice. Also, beans add texture and flavor to chili, cut down on the water content. No need to add masa if you hold back on the water/broth, especially if adding squash, because it excretes water when cooked. Also, give roasted green chilis a try for a less spicy version. From a quick glance, wonderful ingredients! Chili, soup, etc…always taste while adding ingredients, layer by layer, pinch by pinch, to avoid wasting money.
Sincerely,
A Chef
Hi Steven,
1. The cumin measurement is fine. This makes a giant pot of chili and it doesn’t overpower it, I promise. And because the chili is slow cooked for several hours it softens the seeds somewhat. I don’t remember ever having to “chew” them.
2. I didn’t add beans because my blog has a paleo focus. Paleo = no legumes. Not all chili recipes have or are required to have beans. In some areas of the country (ahem, TX) it’s actually preferred to leave them out.
3. The masa adds flavor and is not just for thickening and can definitely be left out — especially if one is on a strictly grain-free diet.
4. This chili isn’t too spicy but roasted green chiles would also be a good addition. Thx for the suggestion.
5. This recipe is adapted from one by Emeril Lagasse — also A Chef. I appreciate recipe critiques, but I feel that comments and recipe critiques are more valuable if a person has actually tried the recipe out first.
Have you tried this in an Instant Pot?
If not I’ll stick to the slow cooker but was just wondering. Can’t wait to try it out.
Fantastic recipe. I added an extra small can of crushed tomatoes and left out the corn flour. Used 2 lbs of hamburger and 2 lbs of stew meat since that is all I had. I also cooked it for a little over 12 hours in the crockpot and it turned out great. It has a wonderful hint of Indian flavor in it. This recipe won my neighborhood chili cook off yesterday.
Lastly, you are too nice to “A Chef Steven.” What a jerk.
So good to hear! And yeah… I tried to hold in my snark as best I could.
This is in my crockpot right now, but I tasted the “sauce” and OMG!!!! I know this is gonna be so delicious in a few hours! Couldn’t find the corn flour I thought I had ????, and I added dried black beans, but otherwise I followed the recipe exactly! I can’t wait to eat it!
I’m so happy you made this! No worries about the corn flour. :)
any guesstimate on the nutritional content?? thanks!!
Sorry, no! I don’t calculate that. There are a lot of online nutrition calculators that you could use.
Natalie. This is the best chili that I have ever eaten! I’m not even kidding…I’m pretty sure the masa harina gave it a taste similar to Fritos chips lol. I can’t get over how delicious it was! I’m definitely making this again and again!
I try not to use “best ever” very often — I’m glad you agreed! I love how the masa harina gives it a little something extra, too. :) Thanks for sharing!!
I tried this yesterday, it was truly amazing. Unfortunately I was missing a few things so I did have to make some changes but I did my best to stick to the recipe as far as I could. The spices, onion, garlic, stock, and water were exactly as described – except cinnamon (didn’t have it). The main difference was that I didn’t have canned tomatoes, instead I used some spicy tomato sauce I made in the autumn from our garden tomatoes. I left out the chocolate (didn’t have any) and masa harina (prefer grain free), as well as celery (family member with a massive hate-on for it!). I used stewing beef, and it definitely needed a long time – it wasn’t ready at 4 hours on high, but was perfect at 5.5 hours. It seemed a bit too watery but it thickened up very nicely towards the end to the perfect consistency (and not a single chewy cumin seed *eyeroll*). Next time I will make sure I have the cinnamon and the chocolate, but even without those this was fantastic. One word of warning – I found it a bit too salty, but that was probably my fault as I used a stock cube that was fairly salty itself. I prefer to make my own, but again , just didn’t have any yesterday. So I’d consider how much salt is in your stock before adding the extra salt at the various steps. Thank you for the fantastic recipe!
I had never heard or thought about putting chocolate in chili, now I know what i was missing!!!! (My Mom was a great cook, but chili wasn’t something she “doted” on…my friends in TX called it hamburger & bean soup w/chili flavoring, but her fried chicken was way better than KFC!!!) Anyway, this chili is deliciously awesome!!!! Had to adapt the recipe a little, had to leave out the salt cut back on the spice a little, and didn’t have the masa harina, substituted whole kernel corn, which we like in our chili. Still the best chili I ever ate!!! Thanx for sharing it!!!!
I’m so happy you loved it! How amazing to grow up eating the best fried chicken ever! My mom had things she excelled at, too. She made cookies better than anyone I knew. xoxo
very testy recipe !
Glad you liked it!
This is the best recipe for chilli I have had to date. I use dried chilli flakes and less than quarter of a cup (instead of the powder) and no squash or beans. The first time I did it I won a competition and I just made it again tonight and it’s as delicious as I remember it. I cook a lot and pride myself on knowing a few knock out dishes, this has been added to that list. Thanks again.
Congrats on winning that competition! I’m honored that it made into your knock out collection.
What are the macros? I want to make it looks sooo yummy
Sorry, I don’t provide nutritional information on my recipes yet, but it’s coming soon. :) There are a lot of online calculators to help you out as well.
Super YUM!
So glad you liked it!
Help!!!!! I followed this recipe exactly except for only one jalapeno, and tasted it just before putting on the lid to cook, and it is so HOT IT BURNS MY LIPS!!! I CAN’T TASTE ANYTHING IN IT!!! HOW CAN I SAVE ALL THAT STEAK?????? Even put in the squash!!! Researching now how I can reduce the burn!!!!!
Wow… great recipe! Entered this in a contest at church and got 3rd place out of 27 entries, and I had never made chili before! I did make a few modifications: no masa harina and I used a bell pepper instead of the jalapenos. I too was worried about the heat- I tasted it after about 4 hours of cook time and it was spicy hot- especially the pieces of squash! After sitting overnight, though, the heat seemed to moderate some. Oh, and I used venison instead of beef- some cubed some ground- worked great! I was really surprised how well I could taste the little bit of cinnamon that was in it. I think that is what really makes it a unique and tasty recipe. Thanks!
I made this last night and it was delicious. My husband said it was the best chili he has ever had. Thank you for the recipe.