This chili con carne is the best homemade chili recipe you will find! Fry beef cuts in bacon fat, then add kidney beans, onion, garlic, tomatoes, jalapeños, chili powder, and ground chipotle. Garnish with grated cheddar and a squeeze of lime.
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It seems like there are as many ways to make chili as there are chefs making chili!
Ingredients in this Homemade Chili Recipe
A few notes about this recipe. We use feed roast because it withstands long stewing best. The meat and onions are cooked in bacon fat, which adds flavor.
We add kidney beans because we like kidney beans, but you can substitute other beans or omit them altogether. You can also prepare your beans from scratch on the stovetop or in a pressure cooker. Some sugar is used to balance the acidity of the tomatoes and lime juice.
This recipe’s “secret sauce” is the addition of chipotle chili powder, made from smoke-dried jalapeños. Chipotle adds a smoky dimension to the chili and enhances all other flavors.
If you can’t find chipotle powder, Tabasco makes a chipotle pepper sauce that can be used to add some smoky flavor to the stew.
What is chili con carne?
Chili con carne means chilli with meat. It may have originated in San Antonio, Texas in the mid-18th century, although some trace its origins to the 18th-century Canary Islands. Immigrants from the Canary Islands settled in San Antonio in the 19th century and may have brought it with them.
Originally it was just meat, sauce and chili peppers. Eventually, the chefs added beans and tomatoes to the dish, although some people are purists and insist that beans don’t belong in true chili con carne.
Buy beef for chili with meat
You can use many different cuts of beef that can be diced for chili, but we’re partial to this one.
- Fry Chuck
- brisket
- Pre-sliced stew meat in butcher section of grocery store
- beef round
How to save and reheat this recipe
Store cooled chili in the refrigerator, tightly closed, for 3 to 4 days. Microwave or bring to a simmer in a saucepan on the stovetop and cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. You may need to add some water as the beans will absorb moisture as they sit.
How to Freeze Chili
Freeze chili in a freezer-safe zip-lock bag or container for up to 3 months. Thaw it in the fridge overnight.
CONTINUE READING:
Cook with more chilli recipes
- Best Beef Chili
- Slow cooker beef and bean chili
- Black Bean Turkey Chili
- Turkey chili with leftover turkey
- Simple chili without beans
From the editors of Simply Recipes
Chili con carne
ingredients
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2 tablespoon chili powder
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1 teaspoon Chipotle Chili Powder
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1 tablespoon ground cumin
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2 teaspoon floor oregano
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1 teaspoon dried thyme
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1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
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3 to 4 tablespoon water
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4 stripes bacon
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2 1/2 lb fry frycut into 1/2 inch cubes
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Kosher salt
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1 Middle White Onionchopped
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3 clove garlicchopped
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2 Jalapeño chilliescored, ribs removed, chopped
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1 (14–ounce) can whole tomatoes
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2 1/2 cups water
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1 tablespoon Freshly squeezed lime juice
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1 teaspoon sugar
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1 (14-Ounce) can Drained kidney beans
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1 teaspoon cornstarchdissolved in a few tablespoons of water
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Kosher salt
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Shredded cheddar cheesegarnish
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Red oniongarnish
method
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Make the chili paste:
In a small bowl, combine chili powder, chipotle chili powder, ground cumin, oregano, thyme, and ground coriander seeds. Stir in the water so the chili forms a light paste. Put aside.
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Cook bacon:
In a large skillet over medium-high heat, fry the bacon until crispy. Remove from the pan with a slotted spoon and set aside on a paper towel. Pour the bacon fat from the pan into a separate container, reserve. When the bacon has cooled, crumble into smaller pieces and set aside.
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Fry the pieces of beef in bacon fat:
Increase heat to medium-high, again add 1 tablespoon bacon fat. Work in batches so you don’t overstuff the beef (overstuffing will steam the meat instead of browning it), brown the beef cubes on all sides and lightly salt while you cook the beef. Remove the beef from the pan and set aside.
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Cooking onions:
Add another tablespoon of bacon fat to the pan. Add the chopped onions and sauté until soft, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and jalapeño, cook until fragrant, about 1 minute longer. Add the chili paste and cook another 2 to 3 minutes.
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Combine the chili ingredients in a large saucepan, allow to simmer and then cook slowly:
In a 6-quart heavy-bottomed Dutch oven, combine the onion-chili mixture, beef, bacon, tomatoes (crush the whole tomatoes with your fingers as you add them to the saucepan), water, lime juice, and sugar. Heat the chili over medium-high heat until simmering. Then reduce the heat to low. Cook covered for 1 1/2 hours. Then uncover and cook for another half hour, keeping the temperature at a place where you can maintain a simmer.
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Thicken with cornstarch:
Mix the cornstarch powder with some water to dissolve the cornstarch (otherwise there will be lumps) and add the chili to thicken it.
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Add kidney beans:
Gently mix in the kidney beans. Add salt to taste. Adjust spices. Depending on the acidity of the tomatoes and lime juice, you may need a little more sugar to balance the stew. You can also add a little more chilli powder at this point if you want more spiciness.
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Add toppings for serving:
Sprinkle with shredded cheddar cheese and chopped red onion. Serve with cornbread, tortilla chips and/or rice.
| nutritional information (per serving) | |
|---|---|
| 628 | calories |
| 35g | Fat |
| 24g | carbohydrates |
| 57g | protein |
