The Best Homemade Chili Recipe with Beans or Chili Con Carne - this is comfort food at its best. Low-carb, high in protein, gluten free this chili con carne is healthy, delicious and nutritious, and it goes down well with the whole family.
Who doesn't like a nice bowl of hot chili? I certainly do, especially on a cold winter's day. Chili con carne is just that, spicy ground meat that is beautifully cooked.
It's heart warming, filling, and full of goodness. Plus, it goes well with any side dish, be it rice, pasta, mashed potatoes, jacket potatoes, couscous, nachos, or just some greens on the side.
There is a bit of confusing between the terms " chili" and "chilli". Chili, spelt with one "l" is this dish, where the chilli with 2 "l's" is the spicy pepper that we add to a dish.
You can leave the dish without any beans, but I highly recommend adding some, they are so much more goodness, and flavour too. Pinto beans, red kidney beans, cannellini , just use anything you have, or even a combo of more beans.
If you like this chili, how about my Slow Cooker Short Rib Chili? It's insanely delicious and so meaty too! Other chillies you may enjoy are Pumpkin Chili and Slow Cooker Ground Beef Chili with Sweet Potatoes.
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Ingredients needed to make chili with beans
- ground beef - or minced beef for the UK audience
- chopped tomatoes - or plum tomatoes, or even fresh tomatoes if they are juicy and ripe
- large onion - either yellow or red
- garlic - the more, the better
- chilli pepper - for a bit of heat
- red bell pepper - or any other colour
- kidney beans - or any other beans
- bay leaves - they add a subtle flavour to the dish
- beef stock - or broth, for extra flavour
- vegetable oil - for any other oil
- ground black pepper & salt - to taste
- tomato puree - the concentrated paste adds both flavour and an intense colour to the sauce
- fresh parsley - to garnish
- grated cheese - to serve
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Step-by-step photos and instructions
It is ridiculously easy to make, and a huge batch costs well under £10. And trust me, with that you get to feed your whole family.
So, all we need is some nice beef mince (ground beef), a small can of kidney beans, onion and garlic, chilli peppers, a bit of earthy spices, some nice cheese, if you want to make it extra nice. And ta-daah, the best dinner of your life is right here, in front of you.
- sautee the onion until golden
- add the beef mince and cook until no longer raw
- add the garlic and chilli peppers
- add the beef stock (broth) and bay leaves, and leave to cook until the liquid is absorbed
- throw in the chopped tomatoes, spices and seasoning, and leave to cook until the liquid from the tomatoes is reduced
How long does it take to cook chili?
If you make it on the stove top like I did, it should not require more than 40-50 minutes at the most. I do prefer to cook the beef for longer than otherwise needed, just so I can get a super soft meat. I don't really like chewy mince, but if you don't mind it, skip the beef stock, and just add the canned chopped tomatoes.
Leave to cook until the liquid from the tomatoes is absorbed, and that should do. And there you have, the glorious homemade chili, a Mexican style dish that is so popular all over the world. Easy to guess why.
Chili can also be made in the slow cooker, I have this amazing recipe for Slow Cooker Ground Beef and Sweet Potato Chili. The sweet potatoes can be replaced with any squash or root vegetables. What a glorious dish!
Expert tips
I don't usually like to use too many spices that overpower the very taste of the ingredients I use. But in this dish, the two spices bring a bit of heat and spiciness that are hard to get by just using cayenne pepper or any other spicy peppers.
Chili can also be made with leftover roast beef, my Leftover Roast Beef Chili is super easy to make, and so delicious! Or, for a seasonal touch, why not try my Pumpkin Chili?
Other ground beef recipes
If you’ve liked my CHILI RECIPE WITH BEANS or any other recipe on the blog then don’t forget to rate the recipe and let me know how you got on in the comments below, I love hearing from you! You can also FOLLOW ME on FACEBOOK, and PINTEREST to see more delicious food and what I’m getting up to.
Chili Recipe with Beans
Ingredients
- 500 g ground beef (minced beef)
- 1 tin chopped tomatoes (400 g, 13 oz)
- 1 large onion
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 1 red chilli pepper
- ½ red bell pepper
- 1 tin kidney beans (200 g, 7 oz)
- 3 bay leaves
- 2 cups beef stock
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon tomato puree
- fresh parsley to taste
- grated cheese to serve
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Instructions
- Cut the onion roughly and add the vegetable oil to a large pan.
- Fry the onion until translucent, then add the minced beef and chopped garlic and stir until it the beef is no longer pink and the liquid is evaporated.
- Chop the red chilli pepper and mix it in. I recommend deseeding the red chilli pepper if you do not like that much spiciness.
- Add the chopped tomatoes, red kidney beans and beef stock. I like to throw the bay leaves in at this stage so the flavours can be released while the beef is cooking.
- Cook on a medium heat until most of the liquid has been absorbed and the beef is tender, that should take about 30 minutes on a medium heat.
- Add the cayenne peppers, tomato puree, chopped parsley and season with salt and black pepper.
- Remove from the heat and serve with grated cheese, basmati rice, couscous, bulgur wheat or anything else that takes your fancy.
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