Do you have a meat lover in your family? I sure do! Meat Lover’s Crock Pot Chili is so hearty and flavorful and with three different kinds of meat slow cooked for hours together, it is sure to please that meat lover in your family!
Note: This post is sponsored by Wright Brand Bacon. We also use referral links to products we love.
Cris here. When Wright® Brand Bacon reached out to me and asked if I wanted to try their bigger better bacon, my husband was thrilled. Ever the meat lover, he LOVES thick bacon and let’s just say we have been in hog heaven these last few days between all the recipes we have tried and the summer tomatoes ripening up just in time for some incredible BLTs!
Crock Posse Battle Chili Winner
UPDATED: The Crock Posse (our YouTube community) has voted this recipe as the winner of BATTLE CHILI! We doing a cooking show of all our battle winners. Here is our show for Meat Lover’s Chili.
Now back to the bacon. I headed out to my local Walmart and very quickly found the Wright® Brand Bacon and immediately noticed that it came in 1.5 lb packages! This is such a great value at Walmart for families like mine that go through bacon incredibly quickly!
Meat Lover’s Crock Pot Chili Recipe
Once I had my bacon in hand, I got back to the kitchen and knew I wanted to make a Meat Lover’s Crock Pot Chili. My husband’s birthday was coming up and I knew this would be THE perfect dish for him.
Note: Scroll to the bottom of this post for a printable version of this recipe
Ingredients for Meat Lover’s Crock Pot Chili
1 lb Wright® Brand Bacon – chopped
1 lb Sausage
1 lb Ground Beef
2 Sweet Onions- chopped
4 Cloves Garlic- minced
3-4 Cups Beef Broth depending on how thick or thin you like your chili
1 28 oz Can Whole Tomatoes do not drain
1 15 oz Can Whole Tomatoes do not drain
2 Cans White Chili Beans with Sauce do not drain
1 15 oz Can Tomato Sauce
1 8 oz Can Tomato Sauce
3-4 Tablespoons Chili Powder really good
How to make Meat Lover’s Chili in a Slow Cooker
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Cook your bacon over medium heat until slightly crisp. Drain grease, reserving 1 Tablespoon and saving the rest for other recipes.
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In the same skillet saute your onion and garlic in the 1 T of bacon grease until the onions are translucent .
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Meanwhile in a separate skillet, brown sausage and ground beef together until fully cooked and drain.
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Combine all ingredients except garnish into slow cooker. (Note: You may want to reserve 1/2 cup of your bacon for garnish).
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Run a wooden spoon through the whole tomatoes to break them apart a bit before cooking.
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Cook on low for 6-8 hours, stirring occasionally.
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Garnish with extra bacon, sour cream, cheese, cooked macaroni noodles and/or chopped green onion
Notes on Meat Lover’s Crock Pot Chili
- For this recipe, I highly recommend our all-in-one slow cooker that has a browning setting to allow you to cook up your bacon IN the slow cooker while you are browning up your other meats on the stove. However, any 6 qt slow cooker will work. If your slow cooker is 5 qt or smaller you will need to reduce this recipe as it fills up the 6 qt.Cook your meats at the same time to save time: I fried up my bacon in my slow cooker (it has a browning setting) and meanwhile browned my ground beef and sausage together on the stove.
- SAVE that bacon grease. Seriously. It is nature’s nectar. You will thank me when you see what I do with it tomorrow ;). Just drain it out of the crock and carefully pour it into a glass jar. Trust me.
- One note about the tomatoes: I LOVE whole tomatoes in chili. I have since childhood. The secret to using them in chili is when you dump them in, take a big ole wooden spoon and break each tomato apart so that it can break down a bit more during cooking. It still will leave nice big chunks of tomato to complement all that meat, but they will blend more nicely with the dish if you break them open.
- To macaroni or not macaroni– it is an age old chili question. Where I grew up it wasn’t chili without macaroni, however, many people protest using it. My compromise? Cooked macaroni now goes on the garnishing table. I cook it up, drain it and rinse it well with water so it doesn’t stick together. Then the macaroni lovers can scoop it up into their bowl and the non-macaroni people can rest knowing that pasta has not messed with the purity of their porridge ;). (But ya know what this southern Indiana gal does with the leftovers? You guessed it… that pasta gets thrown in with the rest of the chili. Shhh!)
Once they chili was done, I put out the fixin’s– sour cream, fresh shredded cheese, chopped green onions, extra bacon (LOVE that 1.5 lb package because I ACTUALLY had extra bacon this time!) and cooked macaroni and let everyone make their bowl just like they liked.
My husband loved it. My daughter loved it too. So much so, she called dibs on the leftovers!
Printable Recipe for Meat Lover’s Crock Pot Chili
Meat Lover’s Crock Pot Chili
Ingredients
- 1 lb Wright® Brand Bacon chopped
- 1 lb Sausage
- 1 lb Ground Beef
- 2 Sweet Onions chopped
- 4 Cloves Garlic minced
- 3.5 Cups Beef Broth depending on how thick or thin you like your chili
- 28 oz Can Whole Tomatoes do not drain
- 15 oz Can Whole Tomatoes do not drain
- 2 Cans White Chili Beans with Sauce do not drain
- 15 oz Can Tomato Sauce
- 1 8 oz Can Tomato Sauce
- 3.5 Tablespoons Chili Powder really good
Instructions
- Cook your bacon over medium heat until slightly crisp. Drain grease, reserving 1 Tablespoon and saving the rest for other recipes.
- In the same skillet saute your onion and garlic in the 1 T of bacon grease until the onions are translucent .
- Meanwhile in a separate skillet, brown sausage and ground beef together until fully cooked and drain.
- Combine all ingredients except garnish into slow cooker. (Note: You may want to reserve 1/2 cup of your bacon for garnish).
- Run a wooden spoon through the whole tomatoes to break them apart a bit before cooking.
- Cook on low for 6-8 hours, stirring occasionally.
- Garnish with extra bacon, sour cream, cheese, cooked macaroni noodles and/or chopped green onion
Video
Notes
- For this recipe, I highly recommend our all-in-one slow cooker that has a browning setting to allow you to cook up your bacon IN the slow cooker while you are browning up your other meats on the stove. However, any 6 qt slow cooker will work. If your slow cooker is 5 qt or smaller you will need to reduce this recipe as it fills up the 6 qt.Cook your meats at the same time to save time: I fried up my bacon in my slow cooker (it has a browning setting) and meanwhile browned my ground beef and sausage together on the stove.
- SAVE that bacon grease. Seriously. It is nature’s nectar. You will thank me when you see what I do with it tomorrow ;). Just drain it out of the crock and carefully pour it into a glass jar. Trust me.
- One note about the tomatoes: I LOVE whole tomatoes in chili. I have since childhood. The secret to using them in chili is when you dump them in, take a big ole wooden spoon and break each tomato apart so that it can break down a bit more during cooking. It still will leave nice big chunks of tomato to complement all that meat, but they will blend more nicely with the dish if you break them open.
- To macaroni or not macaroni– it is an age old chili question. Where I grew up it wasn’t chili without macaroni, however, many people protest using it. My compromise? Cooked macaroni now goes on the garnishing table. I cook it up, drain it and rinse it well with water so it doesn’t stick together. Then the macaroni lovers can scoop it up into their bowl and the non-macaroni people can rest knowing that pasta has not messed with the purity of their porridge ;). (But ya know what this southern Indiana gal does with the leftovers? You guessed it… that pasta gets thrown in with the rest of the chili. Shhh!)
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- As with any of our recipes, carb counts, calorie counts and nutritional information varies greatly. As a result, your nutritional content depends on which products you choose to use when cooking this dish. The auto-calculation is just an automated estimate and should NOT be used for specific dietary needs.
- Finally, all slow cookers cook differently, so cooking times are always a basic guideline. Recipes should always be tested first in your own slow cooker and time adjusted as needed.
Nutrition
This is a sponsored post on behalf of Wright® Brand Bacon. All opinions are 100% my own.
Her site Recipes That Crock is dedicated to helping everyone find delicious recipes to serve their families every month.
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what if i want to use my own kind of bagged beans instead of the canned white chili beans ? Would it make any difference other than me having to cook the beans first?
Hi Anissa-
As long as they are cooked ahead of time, there shouldn’t be any differences other than you may need to add a bit of water to reach the consistency you want.
Hope that helps!
What kind of sausage works best in your meaty chili?
Hi Judy!
I use my favorite breakfast sausage. It comes in tubes located near the bacon and I usually grab a mild variety. Sometimes we use fresh ground sausage too, but it is rare we have that on hand. Enjoy!
It would be nice if we could purchase all the different products in Canada’s Walmart as are sold State side. I would truly love to get the bacon in the chili recipe. Here in Ontario the companies have knock down the size of the bacon packages, but still charge as if it was a pound!!! Walmart in the States is GREAT!!!, all your recipes are FANTASTIC!!!
We love homemade chili. With the bacon on top, it gave the whole dish “the best chili I ever ate” taste. A pleaser. I will be buying Wright’s bacon from now on. My husband loves thick bacon. He’s hooked!