Taco Chili Recipe (Slow Cooker or Stovetop)
When your taco chili recipe has been served to hundreds of people over the last 25 years and still earns standing ovations every time, you know you've got a keeper! This taco chili is a family favorite, and the best part is it's super easy to make and is packed full of rich flavor thanks to a couple shortcut ingredients.
🔍 Recipe At-A-Glance: Taco Chili Recipe
- ⏰ Prep Time: 15 minutes
- 🕰️ Bake Time: 45 minutes
- ⏲️ Total Time: 1 hour
- 👥 Servings: 8 servings (but it's so good, it'll go quickly!)
- 🥘 Good For: Easy Fall dinners, potlucks, weeknight dinners, game day food, family gatherings
- 👩🏻🍳 Flavor Profile: Rich, hearty, TexMex flavor, mild kick (you can make it spicier if you'd like), perfect for scooping with tortilla chips!
- ↪ Make-Ahead Friendly: Chili is even better the next day! Make it in advance and reheat anytime within the next few days.
- 🧡 Difficulty: Easy breezy!
"I don't usually take the time to comment on recipes I use, but they're not usually THIS DELICIOUS. Seriously, this recipe is amazing. I can't stop eating it."
- JESSICA -
Summarize and Save this Recipe Using:
🧡 Why You'll Love This Recipe
Hiya friend: This taco chili is a family recipe that has fed hundreds of happy guests and earned rave reviews every single time. It was a HUGE hit in my dorm my freshman year of college. Every time I went home to visit, my Mom would send me back with a big pot of taco chili to share with all of my floormates. Packed with hearty beans, ground beef (or turkey!), and bold taco spices, it's a chili that brings people together!
Here's why you'll love this recipe:
- Quick and Easy: Simple ingredients and just a few steps mean dinner is on the table in under an hour.
- Big, Bold Flavor: Zesty taco seasoning (you can use store bought or make your own taco seasoning) and salsa (again, either store bought or if you're into canning salsa, use that) add a ton of flavor and a hint of spice that takes this chili to the next level.
- Crowd-Pleaser: Perfect for game day, potlucks, or feeding a hungry family-this chili stretches beautifully for a big batch. We like to serve it with tortilla chips for dipping!
- Freezer-Friendly: Make a double batch and stash extras for stress-free future meals.
🌶️ The Ingredients You Need
- Ground beef or turkey: Our original family recipe uses ground beef, but you can lighten it up by using either half or all ground turkey if you prefer.
- Frozen corn: Corn in chili? Yup! It adds awesome color and flavor to this unique chili. Use store bought frozen corn or if you froze your own this summer (here's how to freeze corn), that'll work, too!
- Taco seasoning: The "taco" part of this taco chili! You can use store bought or make your own taco seasoning. It adds a ton of flavor in a jiffy.
- Salsa: Another shortcut ingredient that adds a ton of flavor. Use your favorite store bought salsa or if you're into canning salsa, use that!
Make sure to check the recipe card below for the full ingredients list, along with quantities and my expert tips and tricks.
🔁 Substitutions & Variations
- Swap in ground turkey: Looking to lighten this up? Swap in either half or all ground turkey for the ground beef.
- Make it in the slow cooker: I've made this chili in the slow cooker no less than a billion times, and it turns out just as well as it does on the stovetop. I don't brown or pre-cook anything. Just toss it all in and put it on low for 6-8 hours, or high for 4-6-make sure you stir it a few times during cooking to break up the ground meat.
- Thin it out: I love a thick chili, but if you prefer something thinner, just thin it out with a bit of homemade chicken bone broth, water, or tomato juice.
🥣 How to Make This Taco Chili Recipe
Step 1: Brown the ground beef or ground turkey in a large Dutch oven or soup pot.
Step 2: Add in the celery, onion, and garlic.
Step 3: Add in the taco seasoning, cumin, and chili powder.
Step 4: Add the salsa, corn, tomato paste, broth, and crushed tomatoes.
Step 5: Stir together and let it simmer for 30-40 minutes until thick and bubbly.
Step 6: Serve with your favorite chili toppings. I recommend sour cream, cheese, and tortilla chips for dipping!
Want to save this recipe?
I'll email this recipe to you, so you can come back to it later!
🙋🏻♀️ Taco Chili Recipe FAQs
Let it cool, then freeze it flat in gallon freezer bags. When you're ready to eat, either warm it up on the stove, or plop the chili popsicle in the slow cooker and let it warm up slowly while you do other things.
My favorite part about this chili (other than the taste) is that it's incredibly versatile. You can serve it as a dip with tortilla chips. You can serve it on top of macaroni and topped with cheese, diced onions, and sour cream and make the tastiest chili mac you've ever had. You can serve it with my honey cornbread recipe for dipping. You can put it on top of hot dogs and make my oven baked chili dogs.
👩🏻🍳 My Expert Tips & Tricks
- Bloom Your Spices: Add the taco seasoning, cumin, and chili powder to the pot for 30-60 seconds before adding liquids. The brief cooking releases deeper, richer flavors.
- Feed Your Freezer: This chili freezes beautifully. Double the recipe and portion into quart-size freezer bags laid flat for easy stacking. Reheat gently on the stove or in a slow cooker.
- Flavor Grows Overnight: Like most chilis, the flavors meld even more after a night in the fridge-plan for leftovers if you can.
- DIY Toppings Bar: Offer shredded cheese, diced avocado, lime wedges, cilantro, chopped green onion, cooked noodles, and crunchy tortilla chips so everyone can customize their bowl.
🍲 More Soup & Stew Recipes
If you tried this Taco Chili Recipe or any other recipe on my blog, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the comments!
📖 Recipe
Taco Chili
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive or avocado oil
- 2 pounds ground turkey ground beef, or a combination of the two
- 3 stalks celery diced (about 1 cup)
- 1 large onion diced (about 1 ½ cups)
- 6 cloves garlic minced
- 28 ounces kidney beans drained and rinsed
- 28 ounces crushed tomatoes
- 16 ounces salsa mild or hot, depending on your preference
- 8 ounces tomato paste
- 2 cups frozen corn
- ¼ cup taco seasoning (2 packages)
- 2 tablespoons ground cumin
- 3 tablespoons chili powder
- 1-2 cups chicken broth optional (to thin out if you prefer thinner chili)
- Salt and hot sauce to taste
- Chili toppings cheese, sour cream, cilantro, onions, etc.
Instructions
- Heat 1 tablespoon olive or avocado oil in a large Dutch oven or soup pot over medium-high heat. Add in 2 pounds ground turkey and cook until brown, about 10 minutes. Do not drain.
- Add in 3 stalks celery, 1 large onion, and 6 cloves garlic, and cook until just tender and fragrant, about five minutes.
- Add in 28 ounces kidney beans, 28 ounces crushed tomatoes, 16 ounces salsa,8 ounces tomato paste, 2 cups frozen corn, ¼ cup taco seasoning, 2 tablespoons ground cumin, and 3 tablespoons chili powder. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 20-30 minutes, or until thick and bubbly.
- Taste for seasoning, adding Salt and hot sauce, if desired.
- If you prefer thinner chili, thin it out with 1-2 cups chicken broth, a little at a time, until it's your preferred thickness. Serve topped with favorite Chili toppings.
Video
Notes
- To make in the slow cooker: Put all ingredients in the slow cooker on Low for 6-8 hours or High for 4-6, making sure you stir it a few times during cooking to break up the ground turkey.
- Bloom your spices: Add the taco seasoning, cumin, and chili powder to the pot for 30-60 seconds before adding liquids. The brief cooking releases deeper, richer flavors.
- The flavor melds in the fridge: Like most chilis, the flavors meld even more after a night in the fridge-plan for leftovers if you can.
- This is a great freezer meal: This chili freezes beautifully. Double the recipe and portion into quart-size freezer bags laid flat for easy stacking. Reheat gently on the stove or in a slow cooker.
would like to cut WAAAY down on the sodium (cardio diet) I can tweak this. have health issues, need something easy for Christmas--this can be a salad, tacos, sandwiches, some yellow rice on the side.
Delicious. Changed it up with 4 cheese spaghetti sauce because I had 1/2 can left. Threw in diced tomatoes with chills, and used 1 can kidney beans and 1 lb of turkey. There are only 2 of us and it still made a lot. The taco and salsa additions added heat and so much flavor.
What a wonderful dish for the cold weather! I just wanted to let you know that I have a food photo submission site (Simply Creative Recipes) and I am linking to this post if you don't mind. You are welcome to submit your recipes at my site if you'd like.
I don't usually take the time to comment on recipes I use, but they're not usually THIS DELICIOUS. I like spicy, so I added a serrano pepper and a jalapeno and used hot salsa. I was very heavy handed with the spices and garlic as well. Seriously, this recipe is amazing. I can't stop eating it. OM NOM NOM.
Hi! I love your blog! You have such a lovely voice and approach to things. Also, I tried this recipe (using your taco seasoning recipe), and it was amazing. Even my husband, who (somehow) doesn't like chilli, loved it!
I made Turkey chili today! I was searching for a good recipe all morning. Yours looks 5000 times better than mine! I'm definitely going to try this recipe next time. Salsa is such a good idea! I have been making extras lately to freeze and chili is such an easy one!
I'm so hungry right now. I want to reach into the computer screen and grab a bowl of this. Looks AMAZING! I wish my husband liked chili. *sigh*
I wish it was a little cooler in Atlanta, so that I could make this to enjoy during the football games this weekend! Your post about blog income inspired me to sign up for ZipList, so I've saved this one there! Can't wait to make it.
This looks delicious. The addition of the taco seasonings sounds like it would give it a unique flavor.