Chili con Carne

Hearty Chili con Carne combines slow-cooked, melt-in-your-mouth tender chunks of chuck roast with kidney beans, onions, bell pepper, and garlic into a perfectly seasoned tomato-based chili. Top bowls of this Tex-Mex dish with sour cream, minced jalapeno, cheddar cheese, and cilantro.

Chili con Carne means chili with meat. You can use chuck roast, chili grind beef, ground beef, ground turkey, ground pork, or ground chicken. I prefer the slow-cooked tender chuck roast with this recipe.

Ingredient Notes and Substitutions

See the complete list of ingredients on the recipe card below.

• Chuck Roast: This is my favorite cut of beef for this recipe, followed by rump roast.
• Bell Pepper: Any color bell pepper works in this recipe. I really love the green and red combination. It has the perfect flavor balance, and it is aesthetically pleasing.
• Marjoram: Marjoram is less pungent, milder, and sweeter, with a woodsy citrus aroma, but oregano can be used too.
• Beef Broth: Preferably low-sodium.
• Beans: Both dark red kidney beans and light red kidney beans work in this recipe, but you can also use pinto beans and black beans.

How to Make Chili con Carne

This is a summary version; for the complete list of ingredients and instructions, please refer to the recipe card below.

• Heat a little vegetable oil in a large pot. Lightly salt and pepper the beef chunks. Add the beef to the pot to brown.
• Toss in the onion and bell pepper, stirring and cooking until soft.
• Reduce the heat to low and stir in the garlic, chili powder, ground cumin, smoked paprika, brown sugar, marjoram, and cayenne pepper.
• Pour in the beef broth and add bay leaves, then bring to a boil, cover, and simmer for an hour.
• Add crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes, dark red kidney beans, and light red kidney beans. Cover and simmer for about 2 more hours or until the beef is fork-tender, stirring several times.

Tips for Success

• Drain and rinse the beans to remove excess salt and reduce the chili’s overall sodium content.
• If you like your chili a little spicier, add more cayenne pepper, minced Anaheim peppers, or chopped chipotle peppers.
• You can find canned smoked chipotle peppers in adobo sauce in the Hispanic food section of most grocery stores. One chopped chipotle pepper with a little adobo sauce can take your Mexican and southwestern recipes over the top. Store the remaining chipotle peppers in adobo sauce in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a month or freeze them for up to 3 months.

Serving Suggestions

• Topping/garnish: Shredded cheese, pico de gallo, sliced jalapeños, or chopped onions.
• Bread/rolls: Jalapeño cornbread, dinner rolls, or cathead biscuits.
• Starch: Jasmine rice, Basmati rice, brown rice, potatoes, or buttered noodles.

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