Dried chili peppers are central to this easy slow cooker chili recipe. Enjoy experimenting with available chili pepper varieties!
Serves 4, 35 minutes prep time and 4 hours cook time.
For me, chili is an all-season food.
It’s a main meal, a side and a condiment: ladled into bowls on a wintry day; slathered onto buns with some coal-fired burgers at a barbeque over summer; or soaking up corn bread in the fall. Chili takes minimal preparation, requires even less oversight and can be made in huge batches that re-heat easily.
The star of this recipe is the mix of dried whole chili peppers, which add complexity, smoke and spiciness to the chili. By making your own chili paste and using whole chili peppers, you can control the spiciness and create a blend that is uniquely yours. If you haven’t tried this before, the procedure is easy and all you really need is some heat, a blender, rubber gloves and some soaking time. I promise you: you won’t go back to the store-bought powdered chili mixes.
The mix I used here resulted in a chili that I’d consider “medium” in spiciness: I’d be craving a pilsner and dabbing sweat off my brow if I’m eating a bowl of it on its own; but it adds a nice amount of zing on top of fries.
The dried chili peppers I used:
Anchos: dried poblano peppers. Mild and sweet, a little raisiny, they add the “pepper” flavour without the heat.
Pasillas: rich and sharp, they also add the “pepper” flavour without the heat.
Guajillos: warm and spicy, they are typically used in salsas, adobos and mole sauces. Use less if you want a milder chili.
Chipotles: these are jalapeños that have been smoked and dried. They add that fireside smokiness to dishes and critical to this chili recipe. If they are not readily available, look for canned chipotles in adobo instead – add them directly into the slow cooker without toasting. Spicy.
Chiles de árbol: small and very spicy, with a balanced flavour. Use sparingly at first, and then adjust. Omit this chili pepper if you want a milder chili.
Depending on availability, you’ll likely encounter different dried chili peppers than what I have here. That’s awesome. Do your research on the Scoville Heat Levels of each species before you decide on how many to go with. The recipe will recommend that you blend your chilis into your sauce in stages to give you a chance to taste it and adjust.
With the chili peppers imparting so much flavour this dish, the recipe doesn’t require much of the other spices and herbs.
How to prep dried chili peppers
First of all: don’t be a hero. Wear rubber gloves when you handle the soaked chili peppers, and don’t take them off until you’ve washed your cutting board, knives and blender. The gloves keep your fingers from picking up the capsaicin (the active component that makes peppers spicy) and transferring it into your eyes, causing them to sting and water.
Heat up 1 ½ cups of water to boiling and have it ready.
Most non-stick skillets recommend that you don’t heat them up while they’re dry, so I prefer using a stainless steel skillet for this recipe. The skillet should allow for you to lay all your chili peppers onto it without layering.
Heat the skillet on medium high. Lay the chili peppers on the skillet. It’s fine if they’re folded and wonky, do the best you can. When the peppers start to heat, they’ll become more pliable and you can unfold them more. The peppers will deepen in colour as they cook, and you’ll start to smell a warm, sweet aroma. The thin-skinned chiles (like the chiles de árbol and the guajillos) will toast up first. Usually the dried chiplotles and the achos take the longest to soften. Flip them when they toast. When all sides are toasted, remove them and place them in a medium bowl. Gently pour the boiling water over top of the toasted chili peppers to submerge them.
Cover the bowl with a plate and allow chili peppers to soak for at least 20 minutes. All chili peppers should be soft and pliable when they’re ready to be handled.
Have a cutting board and a knife ready. Wear your gloves. Lift a soaked chili pepper out of the water and let it drain. Place it on your cutting board. If there is a stem, pull it off the pepper (it should easily come off at this point). The fibrous insides and some of the seeds will likely come out with the stem. Discard the stem.
With your knife, cut the chili pepper down its length, open up each side and scrape out all the seeds from the inside to discard. Chop up the chili pepper and place aside in a pile. Complete the rest of the chili peppers, making sure to create separate piles for the milder chilis, the chipotle and the spicy chilis. You will be incorporating the chilis into the sauce in stages so that you can control the flavour.
Recipe by Tiny Kitchen CravingsCourse: MainCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Easy
Prep time
35
minutes
Cooking time
4
hours
Ingredients
1 dried chipotle chili pepper
3 dried milder chili peppers, (like anchos, pasillas, guajillo chilis)
1 dried spicy chili peppers, (like chiles de árbol), or to taste
1.5 cups boiling water
1 tbsp. vegetable oil
1 lb. lean ground beef
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup chopped onions
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. ground cumin
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1 can (approx. 27 oz./796 ml) whole tomatoes, chopped, juices reserved
1 can (approx. 18 oz./540 ml) red kidney beans, drained
2 tbsp. tomato paste, or to taste
Salt
lime wedges and hot sauce to serve
Directions
- Heat skillet on medium high heat. Lay dried chili peppers onto the skillet and toast on all sides until lightly browned. Chilis should soften slightly as they heat.
- Move chili peppers into a bowl and gently pour boiling water over them so that they are submerged. Cover bowl and set aside. Peppers should soak for at least 20 minutes to completely soften.
- Re-heat skillet with vegetable oil on medium high. Add lean ground beef to brown. Season with salt. Break up larger chunks. When browned, place beef into the slow cooker (this recipe was created with a 5 quart slow cooker).
- Add onions to skillet and cook until softened (4-5 minutes). Add garlic, cinnamon and cloves; and stir for 30 seconds. Add chopped tomatoes (the tomato juice should not be used here. It is being reserved for a later) and allow to simmer for 5 minutes, scraping the browned bits from the bottom of the pan.
- Tip contents of the skillet into the slow cooker, reserving 1 cup for the chili sauce.
- Wearing rubber gloves, take each chili pepper out of the water and lay them onto a cutting board. Remove the stems, slice each pepper open and scrape out the seeds. Discard the stem and seeds. Chop chili peppers and place the chipotle and the milder chilis into the blender, omitting the spicy chili peppers (like chiles de árbol) for now.
- Pour the soaking water into the blender, reserving the grit in the bottom of the bowl to discard. Blend chili peppers and water on high until a red sauce forms.
- Add 1 cup of the reserved tomatoes into the blender and continue to blend.
- Taste the sauce. It should be slightly spicier than you intend, as it will mellow when it cooks with the other ingredients. Gradually add the spicy chilis peppers and blend until desired flavour is reached.
- Empty blender into the crock pot. Stir to combine. Run the slow cooker for 6 hours.
- When slow cooker cycle is complete (or nearing its end), stir in tomato paste. Season with salt to taste.
- Serve with lime wedges and hot sauce.
