The Blair family chili recipe has become legendary — it has been entered into chili-cookoffs all over the country. By us, by friends, by Design Mom readers. And it has won many, many times! It’s a pretty fantastic chili for several reasons, including how easy it is to make. It’s a recipe my family has been making (and loving) for 24 years!
One more note before we jump into the recipe: I consider this a slow-cooker recipe, but I don’t actually use an electric slow cooker! Since we work at home, and aren’t leaving the cooking food unattended, we typically do our slow cooking on the stove top in a cast iron pot. But these recipes will work for any type of slow cooking — stove top or crock pot.
Let’s dive in.
Award Winning Three Bean Chili Deluxe
Ingredients:
1 1/2 pounds ground beef
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
2 heaping teaspoons chopped garlic (about 3-4 cloves)
3, 8 ounce cans tomato sauce
2, 16 ounce cans light kidney beans (do not drain)
2, 16 ounce cans dark kidney beans (do not drain)
2, 16 ounce cans black beans (do not drain)
1 entire packet of powdered Ranch Dressing mix
1 Tablespoon cumin
1 Tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 spoonfuls of the secret ingredient (which is cream cheese)
Directions:
1. Have a large slow cooker ready. In a skillet, brown the ground beef with the onion and garlic. Drain the fat. Transfer to slow cooker.
2. Add the remaining ingredients. Place lid on slow cooker and cook on low for 8 hours, or high for 4 hours.
3. Ladle into bowls and top with sour cream, cheddar cheese, and green onions. (Bacon is also delicious if you have any on hand!)
We also think this chili is just right thickness for chili-cheese hotdogs. Yum!
TIPS
– If the chili seems like it’s getting too dry while it cooks, add a little more tomato sauce or water. It’s supposed to be pretty thick, but you don’t want it to burn on the bottom.
– This chili just gets better as it sits and the flavors meld. You can make it several days in advance.
– This makes a big batch perfect for a big family or group. You can freeze the leftovers or keep them for about one week.
– Our recipe isn’t very spicy. If you like a spicier chili add more chili powder and cumin, or add some cayenne pepper, to taste.
P.S. — Need lunchtime menus? Check out this super helpful series of 23 lunch box menus your kids will love!
Photos by Lindsey Rose Johnson.
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I hate cooking and with sports schedules it’s really getting challenging. I just found out my son has 4 volleyball games this week. Thanks to this recipe, maybe we’ll have one less take out meal. I need quick, healthy, portable dinner ideas. STAT.
Know it’s quite some time after you posted this, but I made this yesterday and yum! It’s wonderful. I used a packet of spicy ranch dressing which helped give this a nice spice. I also was worried that 6 cans of beans wouldn’t fit in my crock-pot, as after 4 it was getting pretty close to the top! So I used 4 cans – 2 pinto, 1 black and 1 dark kidney. I also used ground turkey and didn’t even cook in advance. Delicious!
I too attest that this is the best chili, ever! I however didn’t win last year, since I was up against a native Texan who always wins this particular chili cookoff. Will try this again this year, maybe add another 5 of my other fave chili ingredients, and see how I do :-).
We won the neighborhood chili cook-off with your recipe! I’d never made it before, but it’s been on my list of things to do for a while. We cooked it for about 3 hours and it was incredible! Thank you for sharing your secrets!!
I am about 6 hours in to cooking my chili. I am using a crock pot. The chili looks very watery to me right now. Will it thicken up? Or should I maybe add cornstarch+water mixture to it? What do you suggest?
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How big a slow cooker do you need for this recipe? I think mine holds 7 quarts.
Oops. It’s actually 4 qts. Is that big enough?
I just wanted to let you know I used your Three Bean Chili Deluxe recipe for a chili cook-off and won! The secret ingredient must make it a winner!
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I left this chili in the slow cooker for 8 hours and it did not thicken up at all. I checked on it it was so thin it was like soup. Followed the recipe exactly as it said, do not recommend.
Just so you know, your chili is known as “Halloween chili” in our house. We’ve been making it since you first posted the recipe, and it is a solid tradition for our (now-independent) trick-or-treaters to bring friends back to trade candy and eat chili. Parents come to the door to pick them up, too, instead of texting from the driveway.
Thank you so much for sharing the recipe! BTW, if you buy Penzey’s dip seasoning mix, it’s 3 tablespoons.
What Size Spoonfuls of Cream Cheese are added to the Recipe:
Award Winning Three Bean Chili Deluxe?
Thank you