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 36g, carbohydrate 25g, fat 17 g, saturated fat 6g, fibre 6g, sugar 1g, salt 2.32 g

Recipe from Good Food magazine, May 2002.

Try 3 issues of Good Food magazine for £3 - subscribe now!

Latest comments and suggestions

Results 141-160

  • Binder photo Jonno78

    02 February 2009

    Jonno78 rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Great idea with the chocolate. Good recipe.

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • Binder photo Liisa

    02 February 2009

    Liisa rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Just made this tonight and i can say it was the best Chilli recipe that i have done!! Yum!

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • Binder photo sara79

    04 February 2009

    sara79 rated this recipe

    5 stars

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • Binder photo Boris

    05 February 2009

    Boris rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Went down very well with kids to older folk so was well worth doing. Left out the chocolait though as I didn't fancy that bit.

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • Binder photo Wayne Keegan

    06 February 2009

    Wayne Keegan rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    All my family loved it, even the wife who doesn't like chilli!

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • Binder photo almarsha

    07 February 2009

    almarsha rated this recipe

    5 stars

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • Binder photo Emma

    10 February 2009

    Emma rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Really lovely recipe and very easy too. We make a big batch and freeze the leftovers, which works really well, and goes down nicely with a jacket potato for a change. Love the suggestion of cheese and guacamole - sounds like taco shells or nachos could also be the order of the day ;)

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • Binder photo hannah

    14 February 2009

    hannah rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Easy to make and just the right amount of spice. I used the dark chocolate instead of the sugar. I will definitely mke this again.

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • Binder photo Yummy-yummy

    17 February 2009

    Yummy-yummy rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Excellent! The best we've made so far. I didn't have paprika so left it out - I can't imagine it tasting any better, so not sure I would put any in next time either. Perfect for freezing large batches.

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • Binder photo julie

    18 February 2009

    julie commented on this recipe

    Delicious and great for feeding large familys! One of our favourites (Our Tuesday night special) ENJOY Julie

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • Binder photo Zoe

    19 February 2009

    Zoe rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    very easy and very very nice have made lots of time and will make lots more times

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • Binder photo Erlik27

    25 February 2009

    Erlik27 rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    I agree - the nicest I've tried. Added a red chilli or two (like it hot) and a splodge of tomato ketchup.

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • Binder photo hankmarving

    26 February 2009

    hankmarving rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    easy to make perfect chilli

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • Binder photo loobylea

    02 March 2009

    loobylea commented on this recipe

    This looked scrummy and I got my husband, who normally doesn't cook anything like this, to cook it. It was absolutely delicious...can't wait to try it again. We used sugar but tempted to have a go with the chocolate next time....give it a go, you won't be disappointed.

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • Binder photo HayleyH

    08 March 2009

    HayleyH rated this recipe

    5 stars

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • Binder photo Wendy Lockley

    13 March 2009

    Wendy Lockley rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    I made it to the recipe and included the chocolate, Delicious!

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • Binder photo Duke Nukem

    17 March 2009

    Duke Nukem rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Excellent but two ingredients missing in my book Worcester sauce and mango chutney (Mrs Balls).Taste even better the next day!

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • Binder photo unkdysfunk

    17 March 2009

    unkdysfunk rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Cracking recipe, I love it with yellow peppers added.

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • Binder photo Paul

    19 March 2009

    Paul rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Absolutely delicious! We had this last night for dinner and loved it. Theres still some left, so we're having that with Baked Potato tonight!

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • Binder photo Frejja

    19 March 2009

    Frejja rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Made this tonight, my first attempt and it was wolfed down by me and my husband. Far nicer than any pre made jar and a joy to make. Very impressed, this will be a regular on the menu.

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

Leave a comment or suggestion

You must sign in or register to leave a comment.

Sign in / Register

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
Print this recipe
Add to your binder

Per serving

387 kcalories, protein 36g, carbohydrate 25g, fat 17 g, saturated fat 6g, fibre 6g, sugar 1g, salt 2.32 g

Advertisement

Your binder

Here are three other great reasons why to sign up:

  • You get an online binder, where you can store all your favourite recipes and create menus.
  • You can add your own recipes to this site for others to try; plus, rate and make comments on recipes, and share your views on our blog.

Follow Good Food

Advertisement

All about Good Food

Magazine

Good Food Magazine

Subscribe to Good Food magazine - enjoy 100+ triple-tested recipes delivered to your door, every month.

Order today, and receive your first 3 issues for just £3

On TV

Foodie TV

See your favourite chefs on Sky Channel 247, Virgin TV 260 and find their recipes at goodfoodchannel.co.uk.

Good Food Apps

Good Food Apps

For Good Food on the go, download our apps to your phone or portable device.
Find out more here

Buy ingredients

With just one click, the full list of recipe ingredients will be put into a basket at your choice of provider. Choose from:

mySupermarket Compare prices and choose a retailer you wish to buy them from.

Ocado Let Ocado deliver all you need for this recipe, right to your door

Tesco Buy all the ingredients from our recipes through your Tesco online shop.

new

Asda Shop with Asda? You can now buy ingredients for our recipes via your Asda online shop.

In association with the above providers. Terms and conditions apply.

Close