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USAThe tomato paste step is not optional. Two minutes in a dry hot pan turns it from sharp and acidic into something rounder and deeper. It takes almost no extra effort and changes the whole flavour.
Chili tastes better the next day — the sauce fully binds overnight. Make a double batch and freeze half in portions. It reheats perfectly in 10 minutes with a splash of water.
Chili con Carne
Ground beef simmered with tomatoes, kidney beans and a short list of spices. The tomato paste goes in first and cooks dry — that single step is what separates a flat chili from one with actual depth.
Key Ingredients
What you'll need
Ingredients
- 600 gSee recipes with ground beef
ground beef
i - 400 gSee recipes with canned tomatoes
canned tomatoes
i - 400 gSee recipes with canned kidney beans
canned kidney beans
i - 1
- 4See recipes with garlic cloves
garlic cloves
i - 2 tbspSee recipes with tomato paste
tomato paste
i - 1.5 tsp
- 1 tspSee recipes with smoked paprika
smoked paprika
i - 0.5 tspSee recipes with cayenne pepper
cayenne pepper
i - 0.5 tspSee recipes with dried oregano
dried oregano
i - 1 tsp
- 0.5 tspSee recipes with black pepper
black pepper
i
How to make it
Instructions
- 1
Dice the onion finely. Mince the garlic. Drain and rinse the kidney beans.
- 2
Heat a heavy pot or Dutch oven over medium heat with a splash of oil. Add the onion and cook for 8–10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until it turns golden and soft. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute more.
- 3
Push the onion to the sides and add the tomato paste to the centre of the pot. Let it cook undisturbed for 2 minutes until it darkens slightly and smells caramelised. Stir it into the onion.
- 4
Raise the heat to medium-high. Add the ground beef and spread it out. Leave it for 2–3 minutes without stirring so a crust forms on the bottom. Then break it up and cook until no pink remains. Drain excess fat if needed.
- 5
Add cumin, smoked paprika, cayenne, oregano, salt and pepper. Stir and cook 1 minute to toast the spices. Add canned tomatoes, kidney beans and 100 ml water. Stir, scraping up anything stuck to the bottom.
- 6
Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low. Simmer uncovered for 35–40 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes, until the sauce thickens and the fat rises slightly to the surface. Taste and adjust salt. Serve with rice, sour cream and grated cheddar.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did my chili con carne turn out watery instead of thick?
Two reasons. First, the beef wasn't browned properly — if you stir it immediately, it releases water instead of forming a crust, and that water stays in the pot. Spread the beef out and leave it untouched for 2–3 minutes before breaking it up. Second, the lid. Simmering covered traps steam. Cook the last 15–20 minutes uncovered over medium-low heat and the chili will thicken on its own. If it's still thin, stir in 1–2 tablespoons of tomato paste and cook another 10 minutes.
How long should chili con carne simmer for a deep flavour, not a bland one?
At least 45 minutes on low heat, ideally an hour. The first 20 minutes just open up the spices; the next 40 are when they merge with the beef and tomatoes into something unified. The key step before any of that: cook the tomato paste dry in the pot for 2 minutes until it darkens — this removes the sharp acidity and adds depth that no amount of simmering can replicate. Chili the next day is always better than chili fresh from the pot.
Can you freeze chili con carne and how do you reheat it without losing flavour?
Chili freezes well — one of the best dishes for batch cooking. Cool it completely, pack into containers in 2–3 portion sizes, freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge, then reheat on medium heat with 2–3 tablespoons of water — the sauce thickens during freezing. Don't microwave straight from frozen; the beef turns tough. After thawing, the flavour is often deeper than the day it was made.
What can replace kidney beans in chili con carne if you don't like legumes?
Canned corn is the closest swap by texture and adds a slight sweetness. Diced zucchini or eggplant — add them 20 minutes before the end so they soften but keep some shape and absorb the sauce. Bell peppers added at the start bulk up the dish without changing the flavour profile much. Red lentils dissolve completely into the sauce and thicken it — invisible but effective. The strict Texas version has no beans at all: just beef, chili peppers and spices.
How to fix chili con carne that's too spicy after adding too much cayenne?
Add 1–2 teaspoons of sugar or a couple of squares of dark chocolate (70%+): they don't remove the heat but dull the burning sensation. Extra canned tomatoes or tomato paste dilute the spice concentration. Sour cream and grated cheese at serving cut the heat in every spoonful. If it's really too hot — add another tin of beans and a splash of water, increasing the volume. Next time, start with half the cayenne: adding more is easy, fixing too much is not.
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