Lori’s 3-Bean Chili {Quick & Easy Recipe}

This 3-bean chili is so easy and can be made in under 30 minutes or thrown into the crockpot to simmer!

I’m barely holding onto my sanity here and I’m sure I’m not alone. Four more days until school starts! And with the start of school comes the normal hustle and bustle of fitting in dinner around extracurricular activities, PTA meetings, school events, etc.

This recipe was originally a slow cooker meal, but I made it over the stovetop the first time. Then I made it as it was originally posted the second time, but the beans didn’t cook all the way. My panicky nature compelled me to Google if we could eat not completely cooked beans and I found out that they can actually make you sick. Yep, that’s right…you can get food poisoning from undercooked beans. Cooking raw beans just isn’t for me. Even following instructions to soak and cook them resulted in raw beans. Although, I don’t think the kids were too mad because we got Chick-fil-A that night (when Chick-fil-A is life…am I right?!). So the next time I made this recipe, I just stuck to canned beans.

I’m happy with how the chili turned out in the end and I know it’s definitely on our permanent meal rotation. We have soup/chili on Wednesdays throughout the year, so there are plenty of opportunities to make it. I appreciate anything that can be made in under 30 minutes on a weeknight like this recipe. And it has tons of room for variation to suit your family’s tastes and you can top it with whatever you’d like, the sky is the limit!

It’s such a quick and easy recipe. Brown the ground beef with onion and jalapeño and then add the rest of the ingredients. It’s literally that easy!

(Print)

What you need:

• 1 1/2 to 2 lb. ground beef
• 1 to 2 jalapeño peppers, seeded and diced finely (adjust to desired spiciness)
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced
• 3 cloves minced garlic
• 3 Roma tomatoes, diced
• 1 can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 can pinto beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 can (15 oz.) tomato sauce
• 3 Tbsp. chili powder
• 2 tsp. cumin
• 1 tsp. black pepper
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 Tbsp. hot sauce
• Sour cream, cheddar cheese, green onions, diced jalapeños, Fritos, etc. for garnish, if desired

Directions:

1. In a stockpot, brown and crumble ground beef with jalapeño and onion over medium high heat.
2. Add remaining ingredients, bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer on low.
3. You can simmer this as long or little as you want (as long as it’s heated through).
4. Finally you can serve it up with garnishes!

Recipe note: You can adapt this for the crockpot by following step one and then adding the cooked beef with the remaining ingredients into the crockpot. Cook on low.

Recipe adapted from Lori’s Culinary Creation.

I hope you all enjoy this recipe as much as my family and I do. But before you leave, I have to tell you about Sara’s Four Freezer Friendly Muffin Recipes for Back to School Breakfasts. I mean this is something I need in my life because I’m not a morning person at all. Talk about convenient! And although summer is going to be over before we know it, there is still time to make The Only Summer Side Dish You’ll Need on the grill that Lindsay Brazier shared last month.