Is there much to say about Chilli con Carne that’s new?
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
Chilli con Carne Legend
Everyone knows Chilli con Carne – the ubiquitous Tex Mex food, with beans, without beans, with meat (carne), without meat, the latter also known as chilli sin carne. Its origin is shrouded in mystery but one thing we do know is that it didn’t originate in Mexico!
Some legends give credit to the Lady in Blue, Sister María de Ágreda, of Spain, who had apparently dreamt up this “chilli soup” in one of her many trances and taught it to the Native Americans in the 17th century.
By the 19th century, it had become a huge staple on the Western frontier despite attempts to suppress it and of course, these days, it has become quite the common dish in many countries.
Chilli con Carne Recipe
Everyone has their own different take on this very popular dish, some, unnecessarily more complicated than they need to be. This is our chilli recipe, simple and with sundried tomato paste.
And quite often, I use grilled and marinated peppers for a little bit more depth, like you see above.
A little chilli powder also lends some depth to the chilli but too much and all you get is a bitter after taste. So go easy and opt for fresh chillies to add heat.
Superhot Chilli con Carne
When I first posted this recipe in the summer of 2014, I used one of the world’s hottest chillies in it: the Carolina Reaper.
We had a Reaper growing in the garden and well, the dish is called chilli for a reason, isn’t it? And when you’re growing the world’s hottest chilli, you have got to try the damn thing at some point, right?
So we did!
Ouch!
But it was good!!!
Kids, don’t try this at home!
How to Serve Chilli con Carne?
- with tortilla
- with rice (my personal favourite)
- with any bread, be it flat, regular, baguette, focaccia
And a little avocado on the side makes it perfect. The creaminess of avocado complements the heat of chilli con carne beautifully.
Shall we get our aprons on?
If you enjoy the recipe, drop me a comment and let me know. And if you are feeling like a star, don’t forget that 5-star rating!
If you make this recipe, post it on Instagram and tag me @azlinbloor and hashtag it #linsfood.
Lin xx
Chilli con Carne (that famous TexMex Beef Recipe)
Ingredients
- 500 g lean minced beef
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 large onion finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic finely chopped
- 1 heaped tsp ground cumin
- ½ tsp chilli powder heat level to taste
- 3 red chillies (more or less, up to you)
- 250 ml beef stock
- 1 can (400g) chopped tomatoes
- 3 Tbsp sundried tomato paste
- 100 g red kidney beans, soaked overnight (or 1 can weighing 400g/14oz, drained)
- ½ green capsicum (bell pepper)
- ½ red capsicum (bell pepper)
- 1 large handful fresh coriander leaves, chopped (cilantro)
- 30 g dark chocolate
- 2 Tbsp soured cream to serve optional
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan on medium heat and sauté the onions for a minute, followed by the garlic for 30 seconds.
- Add the beef, turn the heat up and brown all over, breaking it up as you go along. Do this for about 5 minutes.
- Add the cumin, chilli powder and red chilli, stir to mix thoroughly.
- Add the beef stock, chopped tomatoes and sundried tomato paste, bring to boil, then lower heat, cover and cook for about 45 minutes.
- Add the peppers and kidney beans and cook for another 10 minutes.
- Turn the heat off, add the chocolate, stir to melt and mix the chocolate in.
- Scatter the coriander all over and serve with the soured cream if you like.
I have made this recipe many times since receiving it and I get MASSIVE compliments every time. Thank you for a great recipe.
Hi Nadene, I’m so pleased to hear that! Thank you for taking the time to let me know. xx
I was curious how many reaper chilis you used in the portion size just as a starting point. Thanks
These days, one whole chilli. But when I first started growing them, I went with a quarter the very first time. Then half, and finally a whole one.
I use the reapers and scorpions in curries too.
Hi Azlin
I was wondering, what is the best way to prepare a whole Carolina Reaper Chili to put in a chili con carne?
Hi Chris. That does depend on your tolerance to the heat. If you think you can handle the whole chilli con carne being debilitatingly hot throughout, then chopping it up fine would be my suggestion. The slightly gentler way would be to halve or quarter it. This second way will give you a very, very hot chilli still as the heat from the reaper will spread and be absorbed but you can still spot the reaper and pick it out if you want.
My way – chop it up fine or blitz it in a chopper.