Chili Con Carne
Heading straight into the belly of the fire beast
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It’s taken me a long time to build up the courage to write about chili con carne in the Capsule Pantry. I am neither Mexican nor American and I’m certainly not Texan where it’s thought this dish has its origins. And I know that people get as protective over their chili recipe as Italians do over pizza.
BUT this is The Capsule Pantry. The point is that you can make this dish however you damn well please.
Thus, this isn’t one definitive recipe, this is a flexible, adaptable dish as all Capsule Pantry recipes are.
So that made me feel a bit better about tackling CCC.
In reality, I’ve been making chili con carne since I was a student when I would mix packet of fajita spices into a jar of ready-made tomato sauce, pour it over ground beef and use it to line my stomach before heading to the pub.
My recipe has come a long way since then.
Nowadays it includes a hefty stewing time and authentic Mexican dried chillies. I also go a little off-piste from true original recipes by adding tomatoes (the acidity lifts the dish) and yes, I do like to include beans.
This takes a couple of hours to make but well worth it. You can also stick it in a slow cooker if you want to forget about it for the day. You could also stick it in the oven on low heat for perhaps two to three hours (keep an eye on it).
As always, I’ve included plenty of variations below including how to make this vegetarian and vegan-friendly. And the No Waste section is chock full of ideas about what to do with leftover ingredients.
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Serves 4 people
Key: Bold = Capsule Pantry ingredients
500g / 1lb stewing beef — ask your local butchers what’s best for a 2-hour stew —chopped into 3/4 inch dice
1 large white onion finely chopped
4 garlic cloves finely chopped
2 dried chilies of your choice. I like to use Ancho and Chipotle
1 generous teaspoon of ground cumin
1 scant teaspoon of smoked paprika
100g-150g / 1 scant cup of passata or canned chopped tomatoes
Beef stock - start with 500ml / 2 cups
1 teaspoon dried oregano
Sea salt to season
Optional - beans of your choice
Fixings - see the variations section
Re-hyrdrate your chili peppers by steeping them in a mug of hot water for around 10 minutes. Take the peppers out and finely chop them. Reserve the water.
Take a frying pan and heat a glug of olive oil until it shimmers.
Fry the beef on each side until brown. Place the browned beef in a saucepan.
Turn down the frying pan temperature and fry the onions gently until soft. Around 5-7 minutes should do it. Add more oil if you need to. Add the garlic for the last few minutes of cooking.
Place the onion / garlic mixture in the saucepan with the beef and turn on the heat. Once sizzling, add the cumin and smoked paprika. Keep it stirring for a minute or two to cook out the spices but don’t let them burn.
Add the beef stock, passata, chopped chillies, reserved chilli water and oregano into the pan. Add sea salt to season, place a lid on, and slowly simmer on low heat for around 1.5-2 hours. Be sure to frequently stir and add more water if it gets too thick.
Once the meat starts to fall apart, break it up with your spoon a little bit. Add whichever beans you fancy. I use chickpeas because my husband doesn’t like canned beans but if he’s not around I’ll often use kidney or pinto beans.
Simmer the mixture down until it’s thick.
Serve with rice or tortillas plus the fixings of your choice.
Dietary requirements
This dish is naturally nut-free, gluten-free, and dairy free.
See below for ways to make it vegetarian/vegan.
The beef
I’ll frequently use ground beef, pork or a mix of both in this recipe. You can also swap it for ground turkey too.
To make it vegetarian / vegan, there ain’t nothing wrong with a good old-fashioned bean stew. If you’re using canned beans, make the sauce and simmer it for as long as you can up to around an hour. That will ensure the onions have enough time to melt into the sauce and the flavors have time to develop. Add the beans towards the end of cooking so they don’t go mushy.
The spices
The smoked paprika is designed to give the dish some smokiness but you could omit if you’re using smoked dried chilies such as chipotle. There are plenty of chilli con carne recipes that don’t include cumin so you can omit if you like.
The chilies
I frequently travel without dried chilies in my arsenal and replace them with chili flakes instead. If I do this, I wouldn’t skip the smoked paprika because it gives the chili the smokiness it requires.
The garlic
Swap for garlic powder if you don’t have fresh garlic to hand
The tomato sauce
If they’re in season, you could swap canned tomatoes for fresh. The dish will require something in the region of 3 ripe medium-sized tomatoes, deseeded and finely chopped.
The beans
These are optional - many a chili purist wouldn’t include beans. But I like them so I do.
The stock
Living on the road means I don’t always have stock to hand and I’ve made this dish plenty of times with just water. You may need to adjust the salt level in the dish to account for the lack of salt from stock.
The fixings
You can go to town on your accoutrements here or keep it simple. Chili without a topping is just as fine a dish as one laden with them.
My favourite fixings are:
Guacamole or chopped and salted avocado
Soured cream (you can also use creme fraiche)
Hot sauce
Coarsely chopped fresh coriander (cilantro)
Cheese. Grated cheddar, Mexican queso fresco or even crumbled feta
Quick pickled onions (thinly slice some onion into quarter moons, marinade in lemon juice, a tiny splash of oil, and a small pinch of sugar and salt for minimum 15 minutes).
Leftover chili can be frozen for another day. Just defrost and re-heat when required.
Leftover beef can also be frozen for another dish.
The beef
Make a ragu by following the same recipe above but omitting the dried spices and chillies and adding extra tomatoes. Stir into pasta and top with parmesan cheese.
The tomatoes
If fresh - charred tomatoes on yogurt or Panzanella