Slow-Cooker Black Bean Chili

My friends at Collective Bias issued another challenge: make something in a slow cooker, using Frank’s Red Hot sauce. I decided to combine it with my Dark Days Challenge and created the following recipe, which turned out great if I do say so myself.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb ground beef, cooked and drained (I used venison as DH got a deer this year)
• 2 pint jars of salsa (I used some of my homemade salsa which I canned last summer)
• 2 cans of black beans, drained and rinsed (this wasn’t local, but I do hope to grow my own next year!)
• 2 Tbsp taco seasoning (I used some of the made from scratch taco seasoning that I found in my cupboard yesterday – it pays to clean!)
• 1 Tbsp Frank’s Red Hot, plus more for serving

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in slow cooker and cook on high for 4-6 hours.

The Verdict: The smell from the slow cooker was making me hungry all day! It did not disappoint when DH got home and we sat down to eat. The coriander and oregano from the homemade taco seasoning went really well with the Frank’s Red Hot. I wondered if it might need more Red Hot, but it had a bite (to me, DH said he didn’t think it had a bite at all – men!) so I didn’t add any. I love how the home-canned salsa seemed so much fresher than store bought salsa, almost like I had taken the time to chop tomatoes, onions, garlic, and peppers this morning. Ha!

I was compensated by Collective Bias to make up this recipe. How cool is that?

This post also shared with Pennywise Platter Thursday and Ultimate Recipe Swap