Easy Low-Carb Chili for the Slow Cooker or Stovetop

This hearty low-carb chili combines ground beef, sausage, peppers, tomatoes and warm spices in one flexible recipe. Make it in a slow cooker or on the stovetop, customize it with your favorite toppings, or double the batch and freeze half for an easy meal later.

Ingredients

• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 pound bulk sausage, mild or hot
• 1 bell pepper, diced
• 1/2 medium yellow onion, chopped
• 3–4 cloves garlic, minced, or 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes, with juices
• 1 6-ounce can tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1/3 cup water

Slow-cooker directions

1. Brown the ground beef and sausage in a large pot, breaking the meat into crumbles with a wooden spoon.
2. Drain the meat and reserve half of the drippings.
3. Transfer the meat to a slow cooker. Add the reserved drippings and the remaining ingredients, then stir well.
4. Cover and cook on low for 6–8 hours or on high for 5 hours, as recorded in the approved source recipe. Slow-cooker performance varies.

Stovetop directions

1. Brown the ground beef and sausage in a large pot, breaking the meat into crumbles with a wooden spoon.
2. Drain the meat and reserve half of the drippings.
3. Return the meat and reserved drippings to the pot. Add the remaining ingredients and stir well.
4. Cover and cook over low heat until the vegetables are tender. The approved source recipe does not specify a stovetop cooking-time range.

Easy ways to serve it

Try the chili with shredded cheese, sliced green onions, sour cream, guacamole, sliced jalapeños, low-carb chips or low-carb cornbread.

Make it work with what you have

• Use whichever ground meat you have available.
• Add more peppers, onions or other non-starchy vegetables to stretch the recipe.
• Stir in cauliflower rice, or serve the chili over cauliflower rice seasoned with garlic and spices.
• Increase the chili powder, cumin and garlic to taste when increasing the batch size.
• Double the recipe and freeze half. The original source notes that the flavor is even better the next day or after freezing and reheating.