Chilli con carne
See this recipe step by step

Chilli con carne

This great chilli has to be one of the best dishes to serve to friends for a casual get-together

Difficulty and servings

Easy

Serves 4

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 50 mins - 1 hr 10 mins

Can be frozen

Method

  1. Prepare your vegetables. Chop 1 large onion into small dice, about 5mm square. The easiest way to do this is to cut the onion in half from root to tip, peel it and slice each half into thick matchsticks lengthways, not quite cutting all the way to the root end so they are still held together. Slice across the matchsticks into neat dice. Cut 1 red pepper in half lengthways, remove stalk and wash the seeds away, then chop. Peel and finely chop 2 garlic cloves.
  2. Start cooking. Put your pan on the hob over a medium heat. Add the oil and leave it for 1-2 minutes until hot (a little longer for an electric hob). Add the onions and cook, stirring fairly frequently, for about 5 minutes, or until the onions are soft, squidgy and slightly translucent. Tip in the garlic, red pepper, 1 heaped tsp hot chilli powder or 1 level tbsp mild chilli powder, 1 tsp paprika and 1 tsp ground cumin. Give it a good stir, then leave it to cook for another 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  3. Brown the 500g lean minced beef. Turn the heat up a bit, add the meat to the pan and break it up with your spoon or spatula. The mix should sizzle a bit when you add the mince. Keep stirring and prodding for at least 5 minutes, until all the mince is in uniform, mince-sized lumps and there are no more pink bits. Make sure you keep the heat hot enough for the meat to fry and become brown, rather than just stew.
  4. Making the sauce. Crumble 1 beef stock cube into 300ml hot water. Pour this into the pan with the mince mixture. Open 1 can of chopped tomatoes (400g can) and add these as well. Tip in ½ tsp dried marjoram and 1 tsp sugar, if using (see tip at the bottom), and add a good shake of salt and pepper. Squirt in about 2 tbsp tomato purée and stir the sauce well.
  5. Simmer it gently. Bring the whole thing to the boil, give it a good stir and put a lid on the pan. Turn down the heat until it is gently bubbling and leave it for 20 minutes. You should check on the pan occasionally to stir it and make sure the sauce doesn't catch on the bottom of the pan or isn't drying out. If it is, add a couple of tablespoons of water and make sure that the heat really is low enough. After simmering gently, the saucy mince mixture should look thick, moist and juicy.
  6. Bring on the beans. Drain and rinse 1 can of red kidney beans (410g can) in a sieve and stir them into the chilli pot. Bring to the boil again, and gently bubble without the lid for another 10 minutes, adding a little more water if it looks too dry. Taste a bit of the chilli and season. It will probably take a lot more seasoning than you think. Now replace the lid, turn off the heat and leave your chilli to stand for 10 minutes before serving, and relax. Leaving your chilli to stand is really important as it allows the flavours to mingle and the meat.
  7. Serve with soured cream and plain boiled long grain rice.
Try

Other ways to enjoy chilli

Serve it on a bed of plain, boiled rice, with a spoonful of soured cream on top. Pile it on tortilla chips and sprinkle it with grated cheddar. Wrap it up in a tortilla with shredded lettuce, chopped tomatoes and guacamole for a great burrito.

A Mexican twist

Rather than add the teaspoon of sugar, you can stir in a small piece of chocolate (about the size of your thumbnail) when you add the beans. Any plain dark chocolate will do. Be careful not to add too much - you don't want to be able to identify the flavour of the chocolate.

Per serving

387 kcalories, protein 36.0g, carbohydrate 25.0g, fat 17.0 g, saturated fat 6.0g, fibre 6.0g, sugar 1.0g, salt 2.32 g

Recipe from Good Food magazine, May 2002.

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Latest comments and suggestions

Results 121-140

  • Binder photo michelle

    30 December 2008

    michelle commented on this recipe

    Simply delicious! The kid's and husband polished it off in minutes- winner!!

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  • Binder photo Speckled Egg

    05 January 2009

    Speckled Egg rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    This is soooo nice - definitely the best chilli I have made!

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  • Binder photo Maria

    06 January 2009

    Maria rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    This is the best chilli con carne I've made.

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  • Binder photo Lisa

    07 January 2009

    Lisa rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Great recipe, but I also try using other beans - pinto or cannellini, maybe some worcester sauce or mushroom ketchup, cocoa powder if you don't have chocolate - lots of possibilities but a lovely recipe anyway.

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  • Binder photo AEJ

    08 January 2009

    AEJ commented on this recipe

    I REALLY recommend adding a generous pinch of ground cinammon and serving chilli with fresh lime wedges. It's REALLY good.

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  • Binder photo Gordon

    10 January 2009

    Gordon commented on this recipe

    This was fantastic. Hate to admit it but never cooked a con carne other than from a jar previously! Was much easier and tastier than any I've ever had before, even tried the chocolate rather than the sugar and it was beautiful, thumbs up from my wife and she's a chilli freak!

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  • Binder photo warney

    11 January 2009

    warney rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Best chilli i've ever eaten, even better as it was cooked for me.

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  • Binder photo ST

    11 January 2009

    ST commented on this recipe

    Recipe looks longwinded but this is really easy, foolproof. Excellent to make in advance & serve for friends with rice, nachos, cheese, guacamole and any other extras :-)

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  • Binder photo gareth

    11 January 2009

    gareth rated this recipe

    5 stars

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  • Binder photo Mary

    14 January 2009

    Mary rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Been making this recipe for years...firm weekly favourite....quick and easy to make too.....do find if you leave it cook on a low heat for about 1 to 2 hours it tastes even better. Sometimes need to hot water to it though.

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  • Binder photo McRudders

    15 January 2009

    McRudders rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Easy to make and very tasty

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  • Binder photo Tina

    19 January 2009

    Tina rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Really nice.

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  • Binder photo Scrappydoo

    19 January 2009

    Scrappydoo rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    A great chilli recipe. I've used this recipe since it was first published.

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  • Binder photo bakerDan

    21 January 2009

    bakerDan commented on this recipe

    This is now my standard recipe for chilli. I use extra lean mince. Brown the onions well and use smoked paprika for a superb flavour. I prefer it without the chocolate and never add sugar either.

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  • Binder photo bakerDan

    21 January 2009

    bakerDan rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    oh yes......the rating!

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  • Binder photo DJJ

    22 January 2009

    DJJ rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Went down well with everyone. Will add alittle bit more Chocholate next time.

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  • Binder photo lianne

    23 January 2009

    lianne rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    A house faviourite- will have to try the chocolate mmmm

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  • Binder photo lucysmum

    23 January 2009

    lucysmum rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Delicious but will not add the sugar next time, will try the chocolate instead.

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  • Binder photo Donna

    26 January 2009

    Donna rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Very good!

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  • Binder photo UnderstandingMoon

    30 January 2009

    UnderstandingMoon rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    I didn't have a red pepper so used extra chilli powder, a few drops of Tabasco and one chopped green pepper - which added some miraculous colour to the dish. The dark chocolate was fabulous. Greek Yogurt had to replace sour cream and proved an excellent compromise. It gets my award of best chilli recipe!

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Difficulty and servings

Easy

Serves 4

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 50 mins - 1 hr 10 mins

Can be frozen

Ingredients

  • 1 tbsp oil
  • 1 large onion
  • 1 red pepper
  • 2 garlic cloves , peeled
  • 1 heaped tsp hot chilli powder (or 1 level tbsp if you only have mild)
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 500g lean minced beef
  • 1 beef stock cube
  • 400g can chopped tomatoes
  • ½ tsp dried marjoram
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 2 tbsp tomato purée
  • 410g can red kidney beans
  • plain boiled long grain rice , to serve
  • soured cream , to serve
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Per serving

387 kcalories, protein 36.0g, carbohydrate 25.0g, fat 17.0 g, saturated fat 6.0g, fibre 6.0g, sugar 1.0g, salt 2.32 g

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