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If you want an easy crockpot chili that everyone, including the kids will love, then make this crockpot Italian chili. There are no beans for the kids to pick out and the flavor is 10/10. There is some work on the front end with caramelizing the meat, onions and garlic but other than boiling noodles, the crockpot does the rest of the work. Letting the chili cook for 8 hours allows those flavors to develop. You can add noodles to the crockpot but then you run the risk of the noodles getting mushy. I like to boil the noodles separately to keep this from happening. A good time to boil the noodles is while you’re browning the meat and onions. Boil to al dente, rinse, put in a container and place in the fridge.
If you’d like to make this keto-friendly or low carb, omit the noodles altogether.
Don’t want to use a crockpot? This crockpot chili can also be made on the stovetop. Follow my Italian Chili recipe!
Tips for the Best Crockpot Chili
- Chop onions with a vegetable dicer. Saves so much time and keeps your eyes from watering!
- Take the time to caramelize the meat, onions and garlic on the stove first. The caramelized flavor can’t be achieved from the crockpot alone.
- Be sure to add the wine to the pan with the meat and onions to deglaze. You want to pull all the brown bits and flavor from the pan.
Crockpot Italian Chili
Ingredients
- 1 lb breakfast sausage
- 1 1/2 yellow onions diced
- 5 cloves garlic minced
- 4 oz cream cheese
- 28 oz crushed tomatoes
- 64 oz chicken stock
- 1 tbsp better than bouillon chicken base
- 1 tsp dried basil
- 1 tsp dried parsley
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
- 2 bunches fresh spinach
- 1 C heavy whipping cream
Instructions
- Brown the sausage and onions over medium heat for 20 minutes. Add minced garlic and cook 10 more minutes. You want the mixture to be deeply caramelized.
- Deglaze the pan with the wine and scrape up all the brown bits.
- Add the meat mixture, cream cheese, chicken stock, seasoning, crushed tomatoes, and chicken base to a crockpot set to low. Cook for 8 hours.
- Add heavy whipping cream and fresh spinach to the crockpot and stir.
- Boil your preferred noodle, we love cavatappi.
- Ladle the soup over a bowl of your prepared noodles. Top with shaved parmesan cheese and enjoy.