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Slow Cooker Beef and Refried Bean Chili is an easy chili recipe that cooks in a few hours, and the refried beans thicken the chili! This recipe is delicious, but if chili with beans doesn’t work for you, check out my low-carb chili recipes.

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Chili is perfect when you’re wanting comfort food and needing to use pantry ingredients. This Slow Cooker Beef and Refried Bean Chili is a delicious chili recipe that’s been popular for years, but with pinto beans, kidney beans, and refried beans, it’s definitely not a low-carb 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 recipe omits the kidney beans and adds one large chopped red bell pepper that’s 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!

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 a healthy amount of lime juice, and I’d serve this with slices of lime so lime lovers (like me) can squeeze even 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.)

Why put refried beans in 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 refried bean chili!

Want lower carb chili recipes?

For those who prefer Low-Carb Chili, check out my round-up with 20 Amazing Low-Carb and Keto Chili Recipes from around the web!

Slow Cooker Beef and Refried Bean Chili process shots collage

How to make Slow Cooker Beef and Refried Bean Chili:

(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 probably optional.)
  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 Ground Beef and Refried Bean 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!

Slow Cooker Beef and Refried Bean Chili shown in serving bowl with condiments in back.

More Chili Recipes to Enjoy:

Weekend Food Prep:

This recipe has been added to a new category called Weekend Food Prep  to help you 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 and Refried Bean Chili

Prep Time 35 minutes
Cook Time 3 hours
Total Time 3 hours 35 minutes

Slow Cooker Beef and Refried Bean Chili is loaded with flavor and cooks in a few hours in the slow cooker!

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 Ground Beef and Refried Bean 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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© Danica Thomas
Square image of Slow Cooker Beef and Refried Bean Chili shown in serving bowl on plate.

Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
This Slow Cooker Beef and Refried Bean Chili is loaded with low-glycemic ingredients and 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 a chili like this with even fewer carbs, I’d use the red pepper variation and just use one can of 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 Danica'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 refried bean chili recipe was first posted in 2012; it was updated to a more carb-conscious version with much better photos in April 2020. The recipe was last updated with more information in 2023.

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