Slow Cooked Hatch Pepper Chili is a lush chili perfect for the summer months when fresh Hatch chiles from New Mexico are available ~ but use canned or frozen Hatch chiles the rest of the year so you don’t miss this amazing recipe.
I think chilis are one of the best types of recipes for crock pot cooking, they just get richer as they cook down, and, while some dishes suffer in the looks department after a day in the crock pot, chili seems to thrive.
this chili is loaded with Hatch chile peppers
Hatch chiles are New Mexican chiles with a super short season, from mid August through September. They range from mild to medium hot, and they have a cult following among chiliheads everywhere because of their meaty flesh and great flavor. Fire roasting, or in this case, broiler roasting, brings out that flavor and adds a special character to this meal.
how to roast hatch pepper chiles
- I lay mine out on a lined cookie sheet and put them under the broiler at the at the closest setting to the flame. It took just a few minutes per side to get nice and charred.
- You could also do this on an outdoor grill, with a kitchen torch, or just by holding them with a pair of tongs over the gas flame on your stove top. The aim to get the skin scorched. You can either chop them up and use as is, or put them in a plastic baggie to steam for a few minutes. That loosens the skin and you can peel it right off. Scrape out the seeds with a small knife and chop them up.
hatch pepper chile is meaty
Even though Hatch peppers got top billing, this is a meaty chili, with both ground beef and chunks of stew meat in the recipe.
I do like to brown the meats before adding them to the crock pot, it only takes a few minutes and is so worth it. After that it’s a chop and drop affair, and, of course, the long leisurely hands-off cooking time that crock pots are famous for.
You don’t need to add much liquid to the pot because the slow cooking retains all the moisture. I use beer and tomato sauce as my base. Drain and rinse your pinto beans well before adding them to get rid of the canned flavor.
fresh garnishes are key
- I added a pre-shredded Mexican blend cheese,
- some thinly sliced green onions,
- and lots of fresh cilantro
Add them just before serving for best effect. Slow cooked meals can always benefit from that last minute fresh garnish to wake up their appearance.
If you’re a Hatch chile fan, you need to try my other hatch recipes ~ I’ve got a killer SWEET CORN, HATCH CHILE, AND BACON SALSA, a to-die-for HATCH GREEN CHILE CORNBREAD, and the recipe that got me started on these amazing peppers, my CHEESY HATCH GREEN CHILE DIP.
Slow Cooker Hatch Pepper Chili
Ingredients
- 1 lb beef stew meat
- 1 lb lean ground beef, 15%fat
- vegetable oil, for browning
- salt and fresh cracked black pepper, to taste
- 1/2 large yellow onion, diced
- 3/4 lb Hatch chiles, about 6-8
- 8 oz beer
- 8 oz tomato sauce
- 1 Tbsp chili powder
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp sweet paprika
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 15 oz canned pinto beans, drained and rinsed well
- 1 Tbsp cornmeal, for thickening
garnish
- thinly sliced green onions
- fresh cilantro
- grated cheese
Instructions
- Coat the bottom of a large heavy skillet or pot with oil and heat until hot. Brown the stew beef on all sides. Do this in two batches. Put the browned beef in the crock pot.
- Add another bit of oil to the pan and brown the ground beef. Add it to the crock pot.
- Add the beer and the tomato sauce, along with the onions. Stir in the spices, salt and pepper.
- Put the lid on a turn to low.
- In the meantime, set your broiler on high and put the rack in the highest position. Arrange the chiles on a lined baking pan. Broil until the chilies are blackened, then flip them and char the other side.
- Remove from the oven and immediately put them on a platter or plate and cover tightly with plastic wrap. You can also put them in a zip lock baggie. Leave them to steam for 15 minutes, then remove them. Slice off the stem ends, and slip off the outer skins, which will come off easily. Slice the peppers open lengthwise and scrape our the seeds. Chop the flesh.
- Add the peppers and the pinto beans to the crock pot and let the chili cook for 6 hours on low.
- If you like your chili thicker, stir in the cornmeal towards the end of the cooking time.
- Taste the chili to adjust any of the spices, and then serve topped with cheese, green onions, and cilantro.
Nutrition
Don’t forget to pin this Slow Cooked Hatch Pepper Chili!
This looks delicious!!! Just a tip about roasting the peppers- if you stem, seed, and cut in half lengthwise before you roast them it will be easier and take half the time!
Thanks Sheri, I’ll try that!
Thank you for this recipe! I had visited New Mexico just as Hatch Season started. I returned home and a couple weeks later, my favorite locally owned grocery store had Hatch Chilis! I bought mild to start and then went back for the hot and hotter! I made this chili and it has turned out really great! I did change a bit of the recipe. I sautéed the onions to caramelize them and garlic and stirred the spices in to cook a little. I also sautéed the meats separately in my Fagor Multi-cooker. The rest of the ingredients I tossed in the pot, except the cornmeal. I pressure cooked the chili for an hour, then added the cornmeal and simmered it for a bit to thicken. I actually chilled and froze most of the batch. Forgot, about what I had set aside for a meal. After sitting for a few days the flavors all came together beautifully.
I have made this recipe; however being a vegetarian I use lots of mushrooms (whatever kind I have on hand) and I love kidney beans instead of pinto beans for tge fibre. The chili turns out wonderful!!!!
Living in NM (Albuquerque), Hatch green chile is a household staple and essential ingredient in any authentic Southwestern recipe. I buy it freshly roasted, then place in freezer bags for year round use. It’s available in Mild, Medium, Hot, and X-Hot. I add it to just about everything, eggs, pasta, pizza, chicken enchiladas and green chile stew. When making chile, I use fresh pinto beans; they’re so much better than canned beans!
Now that I have my instant pot I use dried beans so much more often, they cook so quickly. I’m jealous of your proximity to these amazing pepper Loreal 🙂
Just found your website. I live in Colorado where Pueblo chilies are all the rage! Can they be trade out for the hatch chilies ? Chili looks great.