recipe-1

Recipe-1 › Curries of the world › Chili con carne

Texas, United States

Chili con carne

The Texas bowl of red: beef simmered with chillies, onions, garlic and cumin. Beans are optional and argued about.

Chili con carne
Close to the base recipe Hot

Too hot for you? Use half the chilli (powder, paste or fresh chillies) and leave out the green chillies.

New here? How this page works

Recipe-1 is one simple curry recipe in nine steps: fry onions and green chillies, add your vegetables or meat, add chilli powder and turmeric, then water and salt, and boil. With small changes the same nine steps make curries from all over the world.

This page takes those nine steps and shows what to change to make Chili con carne. You don’t need to read anything else first: every base step is written out below. The changes are worked out on paper from what is typical for this dish; not yet kitchen-tested. Cooked it? Tell others how it went.

Green: the base recipe step (crossed out = do not use it for this dish)Red: what to do instead for Chili con carne

See the full base recipe (with timers and tips) · See all curries on the world map

You’ll need

How many people?4

The amounts change with the number of people; cooking times stay about the same (use a bigger pot for more). Taste as you go: you can always add more chilli or salt, but you cannot take it out.

Main ingredient: 1 kg Beef chuck in small cubes or coarsely minced.

From the base recipe

  • 2 Onions
  • 2 Green chillies
  • 3 tbsp Cooking oil
  • Red chilli powder not used
  • Turmeric not used
  • 1 tsp · 500 ml Salt and water
  • Ginger garlic paste not used
  • Cloves, cardamom and cinnamon not used
  • Garam masala (optional) not used

Add for Chili con carne

  • 3 tbsp Dried chillies or chilli powder blend
  • 2 tsp Cumin
  • 5 Garlic
  • 400 g Tomatoes (optional)
  • 400 g Kidney beans (optional)
  • 1 tsp Oregano

Leave out

  • Turmeric
  • Whole spices
  • Garam masala

The nine steps, with the changes

Where a step has a red line, do the red line and not the crossed-out green base step. Steps with only green are done just as in the base recipe.

  1. Base step: do not useCut onions and chillies.

    Chili con carne: do thisChop the onions and jalapeños.

  2. Base step: do not useFry in some oil for around 4 minutes on medium-high heat.

    Chili con carne: do thisFry with garlic.

  3. Base step: do not useCut the vegetable(s) of your choice.

    Chili con carne: do thisUse the beef.

  4. Base step: do not useAdd them and fry for around 4 minutes on medium-high heat.

    Chili con carne: do thisAdd the beef and brown it.

  5. Base step: do not useAdd red chilli powder and turmeric.

    Chili con carne: do thisAdd chilli powder, cumin and oregano instead of turmeric.

  6. Keep frying until just before they start browning.

  7. Base step: do not useAdd some water.

    Chili con carne: do thisAdd water or stock, and tomatoes if you like.

  8. Add salt.

  9. Base step: do not useBoil until the gravy is as thick as you like.

    Chili con carne: do thisSimmer 1½–2 hours; add beans for the last 20 minutes.

Serve: With cornbread, rice or crackers.

For meat and seafood, make sure it is cooked through: chicken until no pink remains inside; mutton, goat and beef need long, slow cooking.

← Chile verdeAll curries on the mapRopa vieja →

Food marks, as on packaged food in India: vegetarian · non-vegetarian (meat, fish or egg). Dishes with both marks can be made either way.

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