How do you cook... chilli con carne?

Richly spiced chilli is fantastic whether it’s hot or cold outside. But what to include?

Chilli con carne, and its vegetarian alternatives, is a much-loved dish.

At its simplest, it’s a mixture of kidney beans, meat, chilli peppers and chopped tomatoes. However, even a simple recipe like this raises more than a few questions.

Controversial meat options

Here’s a question to start an argument: should you use diced stewing steak or minced beef in your chilli? Mince breaks down into the mixture, spreading sumptuous beef flavours throughout the sauce. But chunks of stewing steak give you something to get your teeth around and really chomp down on. Which is more satisfying?

And if you do go for mince, should you grind it down into a finer texture before adding to the mix?

Which meat is superior anyway? Beef is more traditional, sure, but pork can also work.

Which herbs & spices should I use?

What chillies should be used in chilli? Well, any will do, up to a point, and a lot of it comes to do heat preference. Do you prefer the gentle smoulder of green chilli, or the fiery inferno of habanero? Or shoot somewhere in the middle with jalapeños? Should you use fresh chillies anyway, or just add chilli powder?

We reckon adding smoked paprika is a fantastic way to bring depth of flavour to the recipe, but there are also cases to be made for garlic, allspice, and even mixed spice. Should you use sundried tomatoes too?

Heston Blumenthal uses spiced butter, made with paprika, Worcestershire sauce, Marmite and chilli powder to make his chilli extra rich.

At the more unusual end of the flavour scale, chocolate with very high cocoa content and freshly brewed coffee are both recommended by some people.

Vegetarian versions

Vegetarians needn’t miss out on the fun, and we even know some meat-eaters who prefer the vegetarian versions of this dish for health reasons and because of its savoury, moreish flavours.

Aside from the compulsory kidney beans, what should be added? Chickpeas and pinto beans are tasty and soak up the flavours of the sauce, but black beans and lima beans work too. Ella Woodward makes hers with a mixture of kidney beans and black beans. Does it ultimately matter which you add?

And is there any room for mushrooms in chilli?

What’s the perfect way to cook chilli? Tell us your favourite method and secret ingredients in the Comments below.

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Heston Blumenthal's rich chilli con carne recipe

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