Speedy Chili Con Carne

Chili Con Carne
Home Cooking



Here's a quick idea for whipping up some Mexican-style chow. Most of the ingredients are the kinds of things you have lying around the pantry. The recipe is quite straight-forward and open to variation. No claims for authenticity but it is very delish!

We made this for a 'Mexican-themed' lunch though at the end, this was the only item present. Laziness is poisonous.


You can make this the 'main event' by supplying a huge batch with rice, bread, tortillas etc OR, nurse a bowl of chili in front of the TV with some corn chips. Savory mince of any kind is versatile so you're only limited by your creativity. The quantities in this recipe are adjustable depending on your own preferences.

Chili Con Carne
Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

• 500g beef mince
• 2 onions, chopped (I used red onion only because I didn't have brown or white)
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 x 400g can of chopped tomatoes
• 4 tomatoes, diced
• 2 capsicums (red and green for prettiness), diced
• 1/2 cup of beef stock
• 1 x 250g can red kidney beans
• 2 tbsp ground cumin
• 1 tbsp hot cayenne pepper (can be adjusted to suit your preference)
• salt, pepper and sugar to taste

Procedure:

1. Heat up some oil in a large wok/frying pan and stir-fry the mince, onion and garlic until the mince is brown and broken up.2. Add the diced fresh tomatoes and capsicum. Stir-fry for 2 min or so.3. Add the kidney beans, chopped tomatoes and beef stock. Reduce the heat to a simmer. Let it bubble away for 10min-15min or so for the vegetables to cook through whilst stirring occasionally.4. Add the cumin and cayenne pepper and taste to adjust the seasoning.
5. You can serve the chili when it's the desired consistency (keep it a bit soupy if you're serving on rice but thicken it up if you're using it as dip or taco filling).
6. Serve any way you like. I had it with sour cream, sliced green onions and tortilla chips. As well as sour cream, you can try serving the chili with cheese and/or ripe avocado.


I thought the chili con carne was great with the tort chips. In my opinion, it tastes a lot like the Old El Paso taco filling, which is definitely not a bad thing. I wouldn't mind adding corn to my mixture in the future for a bit of crunch and sweetness.

Close-up shot

And, because there's few things that appear less appetizing than sour cream stirred into beef mince, here's something to get your taste buds flowing (sorry, I couldn't resist)...