Slow Cooker Beef Chili (with Refried Beans)

This Slow Cooker Beef Chili is an easy flavorful chili recipe that cooks in a few hours, and the refried beans thicken the chili! This beef chili is so delicious, but check out my low-carb and Keto chili recipes linked below if you don’t want chili with beans

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This Slow Cooker Beef Chili is a delicious chili recipe and of course chili is perfect cold-weather food. The recipe was popular for years, but with pinto beans, kidney beans, and refried beans, it wasn’t a low-carb chili recipe!

So recently I decided to improve the recipe with a new option that makes it a bit lower in carbs. (Here’s the original version for anyone who was a fan!)

My new version of this slow cooker chili omits the kidney beans and adds one large chopped red bell pepper cooked with the onion and spices. Everything else is the same, and I love the red pepper and don’t mind that there are a few less carbs either!

And either way you make it, this is a delicious chili with pinto beans, Pace Picante Sauce, a perfect blend of spices, and a can of refried beans to thicken it. There’s also lime juice, and I’d serve this with slices of lime people who really like lime can squeeze more lime into their chili! I hope you love this one as much as I do!

What ingredients do you need for this recipe?

(This is only a list of ingredients; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)

• lean ground beef
• Olive Oil (affiliate link)
• onion
• red bell pepper
• Minced Garlic (affiliate link)
• Chili Powder (affiliate link)
• ground Ancho chile (affiliate link) (or use more regular chili powder if you don’t have Ancho)
• ground cumin (affiliate link)
• Mexican Oregano (affiliate link)
• Pace Picante Sauce (affiliate link)
• canned pinto beans
• can of refried beans
• canned beef broth (affiliate link)
• fresh-squeezed lime juice
• lime slices for serving (optional)

Why add refried beans to chili?

In this recipe the refried beans thicken the chili, but they also add amazing flavor! If you’re a fan of refried beans, I bet you’ll love this beef chili recipe!

How high in carbs is the updated Slow Cooker Beef Chili recipe?

This tasty chili with beef, pinto beans, and refried beans has 21 net carbs per serving with 31 grams of protein!

How to make Slow Cooker Beef Chili (with Refried Beans):

(This is only a summary of the steps for the recipe; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)

1. Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan and cook the ground beef until it’s nicely browned.
2. While the beef browns, chop the onion and red bell pepper.
3. When the beef is browned, add it to the slow cooker and turn slow cooker to high.
4. Add more oil to the frying pan and cook onions until they’re starting to brown, then add the Minced Garlic (affiliate link) and cook a minute or two more.
5. Add the chili powder, ground Ancho chile, ground cumin, and Mexican Oregano and cook the spices with the onions.
6. While onions cook, drain the pinto beans into a colander placed in the sink.
7. Rinse the beans with cold water until no more foam appears (rinsing is optional, but it’s helpful for people who have trouble digesting beans.)
8. Add the onion mixture to the slow cooker with the pinto beans. Then add the Pace Picante Sauce (or other salsa of your choice).
9. Add beef broth to the frying pan and scrape off the browned bits that stick to the pan. Add the can of refried beans and stir, then add that mixture to the slow cooker.
10. Cook chili about 3-4 hours on high (or you can cook for 6-8 hours on low if you prefer.) 
11. When the Slow Cooker Beef Chili is done, stir in the lime juice and serve hot.
12. If you have a large slow cooker I’d double the recipe because this freezes very well!

Make it for a Carb-Conscious Meal:

The Slow Cooker Beef Chili would taste great with one of these low-carb breads or muffins:

• Almond Flour Savory Bread
• Low-Carb High Fiber Savory Muffins
• Olive Bread
• Flourless Zucchini Muffins

Want no-bean chili recipes?

For those who prefer chili without beans, check out my round-up with Amazing Low-Carb and Keto Chili Recipes from around the web!

Weekend Food Prep:

This recipe has been added to a new category called Weekend Food Prep where you’ll find recipes you can prep or cook on the weekend and eat during the week!

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Yield: 6 servings

Slow Cooker Beef Chili (with Refried Beans)

Prep Time 35 minutes

Cook Time 3 hours

Total Time 3 hours 35 minutes

This Slow Cooker Beef Chili is loaded with flavorful ingredients and cooks in a few hours in the slow cooker! And the refried beans thicken the chili and add to the flavor!

Ingredients

• 1 lb. lean ground beef
• 2 tsp. + 1 tsp. olive oil
• 1 cup finely chopped onion
• 1 large red bell pepper, chopped
• 2 T minced garlic (or less)
• 2 tsp. chili powder
• 2 tsp. ground Ancho chile pepper (or use more regular chili powder if you don’t have Ancho)
• 1 T ground cumin (or less if you’re not a big fan of cumin)
• 1 tsp. Mexican oregano
• 1 1/4 cups Pace Mild Picante Sauce (see notes)
• one 15 oz. can pinto beans, rinsed and drained
• one 16 oz. can refried beans
• one 14 oz. can beef broth
• 2 T fresh-squeezed lime juice
• lime slices for serving (optional)

Instructions

1. Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan and cook the ground beef until it's nicely browned, breaking apart with a turner while it cooks. 
2. While the beef browns, chop the onion and red bell pepper.
3. When the beef is browned, add it to the slow cooker and turn slow cooker to high.
4. Add a little more oil to the frying pan and cook the onions until they're starting to brown, then add the garlic and cook a minute or two more.
5. Add the chili powder, ground Ancho chile (affiliate link), ground cumin (affiliate link), and Mexican Oregano (affiliate link) and saute the spices for a couple of minutes with the onions.
6. While onions cook, drain the pinto beans into a colander placed in the sink.
7. Rinse the beans with cold water until no more foam appears. (Rinsing is probably optional, but it makes the beans a bit more digestible.)
8. Add the onion mixture to the slow cooker with the can of pinto beans. Then add the Pace Picante Sauce (or other salsa of your choice).
9. Then add beef broth to the frying pan and scrape the bottom of the pan to get off the browned bits that stick to the pan. Add the can of refried beans and stir until the beans are partly mixed with the broth, then add that mixture to the slow cooker.  
10. Cook chili about 3 hours on high (or you can cook for 6-8 hours on low if you prefer.) 
11. When the Slow Cooker Beef Chili is done, stir in the lime juice and serve hot.
12. If you have a large slow cooker I'd double the recipe because this freezes very well!

Notes

I used a 2.5 quart slow cooker (affiliate link) for this recipe. If you only have a big slow cooker, I’d double the recipe. This freezes well and can be reheated in a microwave or in a small pan on the stove.

I use Pace Picante Sauce (affiliate link) because it's low in carbs, but you can use any salsa of your choice.

Recipe adapted from Penzeys catalog recipe by Kathleen Bergeron.

Nutrition Information

Yield

6

Serving Size

1
Amount Per Serving Calories 376Total Fat 13gSaturated Fat 4gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 6gCholesterol 68mgSodium 1299mgCarbohydrates 31gFiber 10gSugar 9gProtein 31g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated by the Recipe Plug-In I am using. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee 100% accuracy, since many variables affect those calculations.

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Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
This Slow Cooker Beef Chili would be approved for all phases of the original South Beach Diet. However, dried beans are limited so you should have a small serving for Phase One, and use beef with less than 10% fat for South Beach Diet. Chili with beans won’t work for a low-carb diet, but if you’d like to make this recipe even lower in carbs, use the can of pinto beans but omit the refried beans.

Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use Chili Recipes to find more recipes like this one. Use the Diet Type Index to find recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. You might also like to follow Kalyn’s Kitchen on Pinterest, on Facebook, on Instagram, on TikTok, or on YouTube to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.

Historical Notes for this Recipe
This slow cooker chili recipe with ground beef was first posted in 2012; it was updated to a more carb-conscious version with better photos in April 2020. The recipe was last updated with more information in 2026.