This Smoky Beef and Bacon Chili from The Whole30 Slow Cooker is a fantastic dish to serve during game day parties or potlucks. Use it as a topping for your baked potato bar, or serve a “build your own chili bowl” spread featuring tasty toppings like chopped green onions, toasted almonds, avocado slices, diced tomatoes, or Kite Hill Cream Cheese or Ricotta.
You’ll love this chili’s deep, smoky flavor from the beef cooked in bacon drippings. It’s got a generous dose of chili powder—2 whole tablespoons! If you like your chili with some serious heat, use a hot chili powder or 1 tablespoon each of mild and hot.
This is an Instant Pot recipe but it works just as well in a slow cooker! Just use a large skillet to do all your sautéing, then transfer everything to your slow cooker and cook on high for 4 hours or on low for 6-8 hours.
Whole30 Smoky Beef and Bacon Chili
Ingredients
- 1 lb Whole30-compatible bacon chopped
- 1 lb lean ground beef
- 2 tbsp mild chili powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 (28) oz can Whole30-compatible diced tomatoes undrained
- 1 cup Whole30-compatible beef broth or beef bone broth
- 1 medium onion chopped
- 1 medium red bell pepper chopped
- 1 medium jalapeño seeded and chopped
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- Chopped fresh cilantro optional
Equipment
- 1 Slow Cooker
Instructions
Instant Pot
- ON a 6-quart Instant Pot, select sauté and adjust to Normal/Medium. Add the bacon and cook, stirring occasionally, until crisp, about 10 minutes. Transfer the bacon to paper towels.
- ADD the ground beef to the bacon drippings in the pot. Cook, stirring frequently, until browned, 8 to 10 minutes. Drain off the fat if needed. Return three-fourths of the bacon to the pot. Stir in the chili powder and salt. Stir in the tomatoes, broth, onion, bell pepper, jalapeño, and garlic. Lock the lid in place.
- SELECT Manual and cook on high pressure for 20 minutes. Use quick release.
- SERVE the chili topped with the remaining bacon and cilantro if desired.
Slow Cooker
- ADD your bacon to a large, cold skillet and cook over low heat until crisp. Transfer the bacon to paper towels.
- ADD the ground beef to the bacon drippings. Cook, stirring frequently, until browned, 8 to 10 minutes. Drain off the fat if needed, then transfer to your slow cooker.
- Roughly chop or crumble three-fourths of the bacon and add to the slow cooker. Then stir in the chili powder, salt, tomatoes, broth, onion, bell pepper, jalapeño, and garlic.
- COVER with the lid, then cook on high for 4 hours or on low for 6-8 hours.
- SERVE the chili topped with the remaining bacon and cilantro if desired.
Excerpted from The Whole30 Slow Cooker. Copyright © 2018 by Melissa Urban. Used by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved. Photography by Ghazalle Badiozamani. Whole30 is the legally registered trademark of Thirty & Co. LLC.
