Tender beef chunks and 15 different types of (dried) beans make up the foundation of this mouth-watering chili. The cajun sour cream that tops the chili is an integral part of the dish–be sure to give it a try!
This recipe is made possible by Hurst’s Beans. Thanks so much to Hurst’s for sponsoring this recipe. It’s always so much fun to work with such a great family-owned company.
I love this chili! My family loves this chili! My son had thirds. Thirds. And then he went to the fridge 10 minutes after dinner. He’s seven. I’m scared for when he’s seventeen. Should I scrap the college fund and start a grocery fund?
For this recipe I started with Hurst’s (famous) Cajun 15 bean soup®. It’s very similar to their original 15 bean soup, but it has a little more kick…which is perfect for chili. But don’t worry, it’s not too spicy at all. If you love the spice you can always kick it up with some jalapeno, but if you have younger kids, like me, you can keep it pretty mild.
Looks at all those pretty colors! This recipe is also naturally gluten free…so bonus for those of you dealing with dietary restrictions.
Start this recipe the night before. I love to soak these beans overnight. They just seem to taste so much better. And I always soak them in a pot of water with a tablespoon of salt. The salty water really helps the flavor and texture of the beans to be spot on! The next morning drain off the water and then rinse the beans in a colander.
You’re going to use a lot of beef for this recipe! I used almost 2 1/2 pounds of beef stew meat. Keep in mind that this recipe makes a lot! Probably about 10 servings. If you want to make your own stew meat, just buy a chuck roast and cut it into cubes. Sometimes this method is a lot cheaper than buying the already-cut-for-you meat.
The spice packet that’s inside of the soup package is a cajun spice that you’ll coat the beef with. I browned my meat with half of the spice mix and saved the other half of the spice mix for later (I added it into the chili at the end of the cooking time to give it a flavor boost).
Although you don’t HAVE to brown the meat, I like to for this recipe. It just bumps up the flavor. I brown the spicy beef for about 5 minutes on each side in just a little bit of oil.
While the beef is browning, dice up one large yellow onion. For this recipe, you don’t have to saute the onion before it goes in the slow cooker.
Add the beef, beans, onions and water to the slow cooker and get it going! This recipe takes a while to cook. My hot slow cooker cooked it in about 4 hours on high. But if you want to cook it on low it will take at least twice that long. This is a good recipe to make for those days you’re going to be gone all day.
When the beans are soft and the beef is fork tender you know your chili is done! You’ll add in the tomato products (the acid in the tomatoes keeps the beans from getting tender so don’t add it in at the beginning or your beans won’t get tender) and a diced green pepper. I prefer adding the green pepper in at the end because it gives just a slight crunch and fresh flavor component.
For serving, you’ll whisk some sour cream, lime juice, hot sauce and cajun seasoning together for a delicious chili topping. Believe me, you’ll love this! Don’t forget to make it.
If you love the heat, dice up some jalapenos and add them to your bowl of chili (none for me, thanks). I also added a heap of grated sharp cheddar and a few sliced green onions on mine. Funny side note…I cut up some jalapenos when I was getting ready to take pictures of the chili and my daughter came by and said “mmm, can I have some?” She started popping them in her mouth. I told her that they’re going to be super spicy! She didn’t believe me but in about 2 minutes her eyes were watering and she was downing about a gallon of milk. She thought they were just going to be like regular green peppers. Um, no.I hope you love this chili as much as we did! Make sure to visit Hurst’s on Facebook to see other great recipe ideas. And if you want to see all the recipes that I’ve personally made with their products scroll to the very bottom of this post!
2 1/2 lbs beef stew meat (or you can cut a chuck roast into bite size cubes)
2 tsp canola oil
1 yellow onion, diced
2 tsp salt
3 garlic cloves
1 (14.5 oz) can petite diced tomatoes
1 (6 oz) can tomato paste
1 green pepper, diced
Salt and pepper
Optional Toppings: grated cheese, sliced green onions, diced red onions, sliced jalapenos
For the sour cream:
3/4 cup sour cream
1 Tbsp lime juice
2 tsp hot sauce
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp cajun seasoning
Instructions
The night before you want to make the chili you’ll need to soak the beans. This really helps get the beans to the right texture. Get a big bowl and pour the beans into the bowl. Save the seasoning packet for tomorrow! Add water to the bowl. The beans will absorb a lot of water so you’ll want to fill the bowl with enough water to cover the beans by at least 2 inches. Sprinkle in 1 Tablespoon of salt. The salt will help the beans get to a creamy, smooth texture as opposed to a gluey, mushy texture. Let the beans sit overnight for at least 8 hours.
Drain the water from the beans by placing the beans in a colander. Rinse off the beans.
Pour the rinsed beans into a large slow cooker. Add in 6 cups of water.
Heat 2 tsp of oil in a large pan over medium high heat. While the oil is heating get your beef out. You’ll want to use a paper towel to blot as much moisture off the beef as possible. This will ensure that you get a nice browning on the meat. Place the beef into the hot pan and try to let each piece of meat get a space on the bottom of the pan. Sprinklehalfof the seasoning packet from the 15 bean soup mix onto the meat. Let the meat brown for 5 minutes, then turn the meat over with a spatula and let it brown for 5 minutes on the other side. Add the meat to the slow cooker.
While the meat is browning, you’ll want to dice up your onion. Add the diced onion to the slow cooker.
Add 2 tsp of salt and 3 minced garlic cloves into the slow cooker.
Cover the slow cooker and cook on LOW for about 8-10 hours or HIGH for 4-5 hours, or until beans and beef are very tender.
Remove the lid. At this point I ladled out some extra liquid and discarded it. If you want it really thick instead of soupy, ladle out some of the liquid.
Add in diced tomatoes and tomato paste. Stir in. Add in the diced green pepper. Add in the remainder of the seasoning packet (you should have half of the packet left). Then salt and pepper to taste (I added in probably another 1/2 tsp of salt).
Make the cajun-lime sour cream. In a bowl, whisk the sour cream, lime juice, hot sauce, oil and cajun seasoning together until smooth and incorporated.
Scoop the chili into serving bowls and top with sour cream and optional toppings of your choice. Enjoy!
No store in my area carries the Cajun 15 bean soup bag. I have Cajun spices. Can you estimate how much I should use if I just buy the regular 15 bean soup bag. Thank you
In my opinion, this is not a chili recipe. It is a soup recipe. Very bland and not very good to be honest. I am glad I found this recipe though because it introduced me to the Hurst 15-bean bags. Next time I will use a real chili recipe and just add these Hurst 15-beans. And I probably won't use beef tips next time…I'll use ground turkey.
Please don't be offended by my response. It just wasn't my favorite…I normally like all your recipes. 🙂 I'm just more of a traditional chili person, rather than this soupy variety 🙂
It's okay! I actually forgot to add that I ladled out some of the liquid after the beans were cooked. I just corrected the recipe. Is that the main problem? That it had too much liquid? Really sorry about that!!!
It's probably that. II will probably use rotel next time and chili powder, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, and cumin…and definitely I'll get rid of the excess liquid!
I can't wait for our weather to cool down a bit, so I can make this – we love chili, and as the mother of a 15 year old boy, YES, you will need a grocery fund 🙂
Looks yummy! Any suggestion for those who can't use packets included (food allergies, etc)? I would love to try it, but I checked the ingredients in the seasoning package and it's a no go for us. Thanks!
Melissa, you can still make it! Just discard the packet and then make your own seasoning blend. I would use chili powder, cumin, Cajun seasoning, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Start with a small amount and add more to taste.
No store in my area carries the Cajun 15 bean soup bag. I have Cajun spices. Can you estimate how much I should use if I just buy the regular 15 bean soup bag. Thank you
I would start with 2 tsp and go from there.
Great Chili Recipe. Very easy and and absolutely delicious! Served it with a side of Cornbread for a wonderful winter evening meal.
So glad you liked it! I would love to have some cornbread right now with honey and butter on it. That sounds really good 🙂
In my opinion, this is not a chili recipe. It is a soup recipe. Very bland and not very good to be honest. I am glad I found this recipe though because it introduced me to the Hurst 15-bean bags. Next time I will use a real chili recipe and just add these Hurst 15-beans. And I probably won't use beef tips next time…I'll use ground turkey.
Please don't be offended by my response. It just wasn't my favorite…I normally like all your recipes. 🙂 I'm just more of a traditional chili person, rather than this soupy variety 🙂
It's okay! I actually forgot to add that I ladled out some of the liquid after the beans were cooked. I just corrected the recipe.
Is that the main problem? That it had too much liquid?
Really sorry about that!!!
It's probably that. II will probably use rotel next time and chili powder, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, and cumin…and definitely I'll get rid of the excess liquid!
Great tip on soaking the beans with some salt! This chili looks great!
It's crazy that something that simple makes such a big difference but it totally does 🙂
Cajun lime sour cream sounds fabulous!! I add lime to my sour cream all the time, but I love the idea of cajun too! Pinning!
Michelle, it's real good!!!!
I can't wait for our weather to cool down a bit, so I can make this – we love chili, and as the mother of a 15 year old boy, YES, you will need a grocery fund 🙂
Heather, I'm scared!
Dear Karen, Cajun-Lime Sour Cream???? Sounds so delicious and the perfect topper for this mouth-watering chili recipe!!!
it's so perfect! you'll love it.
Could you use ground beef or Turkey instead of stewing beef?
yep! I think that would taste really good 🙂
Looks yummy! Any suggestion for those who can't use packets included (food allergies, etc)? I would love to try it, but I checked the ingredients in the seasoning package and it's a no go for us. Thanks!
Melissa, you can still make it! Just discard the packet and then make your own seasoning blend. I would use chili powder, cumin, Cajun seasoning, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Start with a small amount and add more to taste.
Great – thanks for the advice! 🙂