Chilli Con Carne- An Easy Recipe

A chilli con carne is a favourite in my household. My children have quite diverse tastes as I have brought them up eating a variety of cuisine, so spicy dishes are not an issue. It is also easy to alter the spice levels of this chilli con carne to suit your own tastes.

Everyone loves this Tex-Mex meat dish, and I serve it in various ways. We commonly eat it with rice, tortilla chips, soured cream, and guacamole. However, it is also a great filling in tortilla wraps, jacket potatoes, or loaded potato skins. Here is how to make a simple chilli con carne.

Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 50 minutes + (see ‘Additional Tips’)
Servings: 6
Vegetarian/ Vegan: NO
Dairy-free: YES- If served without soured cream
Gluten-free: YES

Ingredients for Chilli Con Carne Recipe

• I kg lean minced beef
• 1 red and 1 green pepper
• 2 tins chopped tomatoes
• 1 tin kidney beans
• I beef stock cube
• 2 chillies, finely diced
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 2 tsp hot chilli powder
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 3 tbsp tomato puree
• 2 tsp paprika
• 3 tsp sugar
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• Salt and black pepper

How to Make Chilli Con Carne Recipe

1. Dice the peppers, crush the garlic and finely chop the chillies.
2. Add the oil to a pan and put over medium heat.
3. Then, add the chillies, peppers, and garlic to the pan and cook for two minutes.
4.  Add the minced beef to the pan and brown.
5. Once the mince is browned, add the chilli powder, paprika, and cumin.
6. Stir in all the spices and leave to cook for a further ten minutes, occasionally stirring to break up the mince.
7. Crumble the beef stock cube into 300 ml of hot water, stir, and then pour over the mince in the pan.
8. Next, add the chopped tomatoes and tomato puree.
9. Stir the mixture thoroughly and then bring to the boil.
10. Turn down the heat so the mixture is simmering and place a lid on the pan.
11. Leave to simmer for 20 minutes occasionally stirring to prevent sticking to the bottom of the pan.
12. Drain and rinse the kidney beans and add them to the pan. Stir into the chilli mix and bring back to a boil.
13. Leave to stand for ten minutes to allow the flavours to develop and then serve.

Tips

• Spice levels: In my house, we enjoy spicy food. However, if you prefer your food less spicy, it is easy to alter the levels of spice to suit your own tastes. Simply use fewer chillies and less chilli powder, cumin, and garlic.
• TRY: You might like to try this chilli con carne as a replacement filling for our loaded potato skins recipe. You might also like to try our spicy beef tacos and our Thai spicy beef and lettuce boats.
• Enhancing the flavour: The longer you leave the chilli con carne simmering in the pot, the more you will enhance the flavours.
• WINE: Read our article about pairing wines with Mexican food to find the perfect accompaniment for your meal.