It’s not shocking news that I have the best husband ever! And I am not only saying this because he let’s me share his Chili con Carne recipe!
Besides all the reasons why he is a wonderful person and friend and all the little quirks that make him exactly right for me he is also a great cook! He makes a darn delicious Thai Curry and the perfect Steak but his not so secret weapon is his wicked Hot and Spicy Chili con Carne! I am in love – with the Chili and the guy! I mean who wouldn’t be putty in the hands of a man who cooks?
Now that it’s autumn here in Germany my cravings shift again. When the temperatures drop I always start to crave warm stews or casseroles. It’s the season of comfort food! And Chili con Carne perfectly fits my needs.
This recipe is perfect for meal prepping. Stefan always cooks enough to feed a small army. When I decided to finally share the recipe my first intention was to break the measurements down to a more reasonable dinner size portion plus leftovers. But then I decided against it. It is the perfect recipe to bulk cook and freeze for lazy days or days when you just don’t have time to make a decent meal.
It’s packed with protein and flavor, has a nice slightly hot and spicy touch and is perfectly healthy although it ticks all the boxes for happiness inducing comfort food! I adore complex flavors and with the mixture of hot, spicy, slightly sweet, salty and the nice fresh touch of lime it’s one of my favorite dishes ever!
I love to pimp my bowl of chili by topping it with all the yummy things that I find in my pantry. My favorites are avocado, cheese, Sriracha, spring onion or croutons. Get creative and make it your own. If you’re not sold to making this by now I am sorry but we can’t be friends anymore!
Spicy Chili con Carne
Ingredients
- 4 lbs ground beef
- 6 mixed bell peppers diced
- 3 cans sweet corn
- 3 cans kidney beans
- 3 cups red onion diced
- 2 liters sieved tomatoes
- 6 cloves of garlic chopped
- 1 Habanero chili + 2 red Thai chili chopped
- 1/2 cup tomato paste
- salt & pepper to taste
- 2 cups of strong black coffee
- 6 T olive oil
- 1 lime cut in halves + zests of 2 lime
Instructions
- In a large cooking pot roast the onions and garlic until lightly sautéed
- Add the ground beef and stir fry until brown
- Now clear a small spot in the pot and roast the tomato paste, then stir until everything is well combined
- Then add the sieved tomatoes and stir again
- One after another add the diced bell pepper, sweet corn and kidney beans and stir in
- Now add salt and pepper, chili, coffee, lime zests and lime halves and stir again
- Cook on medium heat for at least 4 hours
Notes
In my eyes, the perfect way to eat the chili is to top it with cheese and avocado and garnish with lime juice and Sriracha - it can't be hot enough!
If you don't have time to let the Chili cook on the stove for several hours, you can just transfer it all to a crockpot and let it cook on medium to low overnight.
For freezing, just pre-portion the chili, put in freezer bags and toss in your freezer. If we want to have the chili for dinner, we just take it out of the freezer in the morning and let it thaw in a bowl on the kitchen counter
I've said that several times before but I love to eat the chili cold. It also makes a wonderful breakfast!
Plain Chili is too boring for you? No worries! How about pimping it up a little with one of these ideas:
Chili Stuffed Eggplant
Chili Stuffed Hokkaido Pumpkin
Sweet Potato Chips with Chili, Guacamolea and Salsa
Chili Stuffed Sweet Potato with Cheese and Sour Cream
Nachos with Chili
Chili Quesadillas
Okay now I am exhausted and hungry for meat! And my workday is only starting right now! Well done Juli!
Luckily I work from home today and can do whatever I want whenever I want! And I guess I am gonna start with a coffee break and a snack 😛
Have a great weekend!
You have inspired me to make Chili today, sans meat. It sounds perfect for the cool, cold weather and I also much prefer to make it in giant batches so I can freeze the leftovers for later.
I can’t wait to meet the man behind the Chili con Carne. I will get to meet him yes?
🙂 Glad to provide some inspiration. The sad thing is that our freezer is tiny. I would bulk cook a lot more if I had the space to freeze it!
The man behind the Chili will stay in NYC. Bringing him would have been too much – financially and logistically.
I am going to try and make this in the slow cooker – seems an ideal recipe for it! And thank you for a recipe that feeds a small army… I’m all about the leftovers!
Also I think I am going to try it with ground kangaroo – such a yummy meat that’s in abundance over here! I think you would really like it!
If you make this in the slow cooker just make sure to really brown the meat in the pan before. Otherwise it just looses the texture.
I have tried kangaroo before and I liked it. I can see this working 🙂
Let me know how you liked it!
This..omg I can just picture pouring sriracha all over it.
Seriously I could live off Sriracha! We need to compared our spice tolerance levels.