Chili con Carne

Storing and Planning Ahead

Refrigerate 5 days, freeze 3 months. It genuinely improves for the first 48 hours as the spices bloom into the fat.

Making Chili con Carne

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1. Pat the beef dry and season. Brown it hard in the oil in a heavy pot, in three batches so the pan never crowds, about 5 minutes per batch. Set aside.

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2. Lower the heat and cook the onions for 8 minutes until soft, then add the garlic and peppers for 4 minutes more.

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3. Add all the ground spices and the oregano and cook, stirring, for 90 seconds until intensely fragrant.

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4. Stir in the tomato purée and chipotles and cook 2 minutes, then return the beef with any resting juices.

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5. Add the tomatoes, stock and salt. Bring to a simmer, then cover and cook at 150°C / 300°F for 2 hours.

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6. Stir in the beans and cook uncovered for a further 30 minutes, until the sauce has reduced and the beef pulls apart.

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7. Off the heat, stir in the chocolate and vinegar. Taste and adjust the salt and acid.

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8. Rest for 20 minutes before serving — or better, cool and refrigerate overnight.

   Mark done Start 20 min timer

Related guide: Prep, cook and total time.

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Worth Knowing

• Cubed chuck beats mince every time; you get texture instead of grit.
• The vinegar at the end is what makes the flavours snap into focus. Do not skip it.
• Serve the toppings separately: soured cream, grated cheese, spring onion, avocado, tortilla chips.

Why the Method Is What It Is

Toasting whole spices before grinding releases their volatile oils and creates new aromatic compounds through the Maillard reaction — a step that measurably deepens the finished chilli. Dark chocolate adds bitterness and body that balances the sweetness of the tomatoes without reading as chocolate.

What to Put Next to It

A dark Mexican beer or a Zinfandel · Serve with cornbread, rice or baked potatoes · Finish with lime sorbet

Sides from the same cuisine on this site: Pan de Muerto, Cilantro Lime Rice, Corn on the Cob with Chilli Butter.

Swaps and Variations

• An eighth of a teaspoon of garlic powder per clove is the stand-in usually given when you are out of fresh garlic; it will not brown the same way, and it burns easily, so add it with the liquid.
• Fresh herbs work in place of the dried oregano at roughly three times the quantity — a teaspoon of dried is about a tablespoon of fresh, chopped.

Chili con Carne FAQ

The Numbers per Serving

No nutrition figures are given for this recipe: they cannot be worked out reliably from its ingredient list (some ingredient lines cannot be read). Why some recipes have none.

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