Chilli Con Carne
Bursting with comforting, fiery flavours, our slimming-friendly version of classic Chilli Con Carne never gets old. It's the best midweek warmer for the colder months, or perfect for the centre of a Mexican-inspired fakeaway feast. Grab your favourite toppings and tuck in!
Also in these categories:
NutritionPer Serving
- Calories259
- Carbs22g
- Protein26g
- Fat5.3g
- Saturates2.2g
- Sugars13g
Your dishes
You’re amazing, look at the Chilli Con Carne dishes you’ve made…
For the full list of ingredients and comprehensive instructions, please see the recipe card at the end of this post. Before you scroll, there’s important stuff to know in the blurb!
Inspired by the classic fiery dish, our slimming-friendly version of Chilli Con Carne doesn’t compromise on the hearty flavours you know and love. It’s spot on for a weeknight dinner, and you can top it with lots of different tasty ingredients – leafy coriander, reduced-fat cheese, guacamole, sour cream…there’s loads of options!
We love the comforting Mexican flavours, and the beauty of this dish is that it’s a total crowd-pleaser. You can vary the spice as much as you like, and if you’re feeling brave enough you can up the hot sauce and chilli powder for more of a kick!
There’s also a reason why it’s left to simmer for 45 minutes; it may seem like a long time, but the longer you cook a chilli, the deeper the flavours mix together. We promise, it’s well worth the wait!
Our favourite thing about Chilli Con Carne is that it’s so versatile. Serve it over a fluffy portion of basmati rice, or branch out by enjoying it with pasta or potatoes. You can even enjoy leftovers on a baked potato, or inside an oven-baked tortilla wrap.
Take a look through all of our Chilli Con Carne inspired ideas by visiting our blog: Different Ways to Serve Chilli Con Carne.
What diets is this Chilli Con Carne suitable for?
This recipe is suitable for dairy-free diets. If you’re gluten-free, this recipe is suitable as long as you swap out the following ingredients for gluten-free versions:
- Beef stock cubes
- Beef stock pot
- Worcestershire sauce
As always, make sure to double or triple-check all of your ingredients if you’re cooking for people with allergies.
Do you need any special ingredients to make Chilli Con Carne?
Most of the ingredients in this recipe are store cupboard essentials – tins of tomatoes, kidney beans and some vegetables from the fridge.
As for the hot sauce, we generally use Frank’s as it adds a bit of heat without overdoing it. It also brings a nice bit of acidity. If you don’t have any though, you can leave it out without any problems. You can use whichever hot chilli sauce you like to give this chilli a kick!
You can make this as mild or as hot as you like; add a bit more or less chilli powder, or stir in more fresh chillies.
Hints & Tips
Below we added some of our communities most common hints and tips. We hope you find them useful.
Send us a Hint or Tip
We love hearing from you, submit any tips or tricks you have for this dish and we’ll review them and add some of them here. Just click here.
SEND US a HINT & TIP, Or QUOTE for this recipe
THANKS
we have your picture
The process
- Check
Now we have your Hint & tip
we’ll check them over. - Review We’ll review your Hint & Tip, and see if its suitable to use on the website.
Your details
- Name: %name%
- Recipe: %recipeName%
YOUR HINTS & TIPS
Your “QUOTE”
SWAG!
Due to the large number of submissions we recieve we’re afraid we’ll only inform you if we use it on the Recipe page - then we’ll send you some swag…
(Please remember others may of had the same idea as you!)
‘"You would be silly.. not to try this chilli" - Absolutely loved it, as did my son and partner!’
This post contains affiliate links: what this means
We like it hot! Frank’s Hot Sauce does the job.
You’ll need a good-sized casserole dish to cook up this recipe.
How many calories are in this Chilli Con Carne?
There are 259 calories in each portion of our slimming-friendly Chilli Con Carne. This means it falls into our Everyday Light recipe category.
This recipe is perfect if you’re following a calorie-controlled diet, and fits well with any one of the major diet plans such as Weight Watchers.
As a guide, an average man needs around 2,500kcal (10,500kJ) a day to maintain a healthy body weight. For an average woman, that figure is around 2,000kcal (8,400kJ) a day. Obviously, if your goal is to lose weight then you might want to adjust these slightly! You can read more about these recommendations on the NHS website.
Step 1
Spray a casserole dish with low-calorie cooking spray and set on a medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, chillies, carrots and peppers. Fry for 5 minutes until softening.
Step 2
Add the mince and cook for 4 minutes until it starts to brown.
Step 3
Stir in the chilli powder, Worcestershire sauce, Italian herbs and cook for another minute or so.
Step 4
Add the tomato puree and chopped tomatoes, stir well. Add the mushrooms and courgette.
Step 5
Add the stock cubes to the water and mix until dissolved. Pour into the pan.
Step 6
Bring to the boil, then turn down the heat. Cover and allow to simmer for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Step 7
After 45 minutes add a few drops of hot sauce and beef stock pot. Add the kidney beans and allow to simmer for another 10-15 minutes.
Step 8
Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve with your choice of accompaniment.
What should you should serve with Chilli Con Carne?
Any of the following go really well with Chilli Con Carne. It’s one of those dishes that goes with pretty much anything. It’s so hearty it can of course be eaten on its own!
Whatever accompaniment you choose, don’t forget to account for the extra calories, and adjust the nutritional values.
How do you know when Chilli Con Carne is cooked?
You should cook this Chilli Con Carne until the meat is tender and the sauce is rich and reduced.
This should take approx 1 hour on the hob.
Standard advice here in the UK is to cook food until it has reached 70°C and stayed at that temperature for 2 minutes. This is to keep your family safe.
Can you cook this Chilli Con Carne any other way?
Yes, you can! We’ve cooked ours on the hob for around an hour, but if you’re in no rush, you could leave this one to bubble away in your slow cooker for around 4 hours. Click here to try our Slow Cooker Chilli Con Carne method.
How long can you keep Chilli Con Carne in the fridge?
Once you’ve served it, ideally you should eat this dish within 4 hours.
If you allow any left overs to cool, make sure to refrigerate in a container with a lid and chill. You can keep leftovers of Chilli Con Carne in the fridge for approximately 3 days or so.
Can I freeze Chilli Con Carne?
Yes, you can! This recipe can be frozen, but please remember to do the following;
- Freeze it as soon as it is cold enough.
- Use a container or bag that is suitable for freezing.
Don’t forget to add a label telling you the name of the recipe, and the date you’re putting it in the freezer.
How do I reheat Chilli Con Carne?
From chilled: Place in a microwave-proof container with loosely fitting lid and heat for 4-7 minutes until piping hot.
From frozen: Allow to defrost, and heat covered in the microwave for 3-5 minutes then stir. Cook for a further 5-7 minutes until piping hot.
ORDER Our NEW cookbook Air Fryer NOW
Chilli Con Carne
This slimming-friendly version of Chilli Con Carne is the best warming meal if you're counting calories without compromising on flavour.
-
Prep Time
10 MINS
-
Cook Time
1 HR
- KCals 259
- Carbs 22G
Instructions
- Spray a casserole dish with low-calorie cooking spray and set on a medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, chillies, carrots and peppers. Fry for 5 minutes until softening.
- Add the mince and cook for 4 minutes until it starts to brown.
- Stir in the chilli powder, Worcestershire sauce, Italian herbs and cook for another minute or so.
- Add the tomato puree and chopped tomatoes, stir well. Add the mushrooms and courgette.
- Add the stock cubes to the water and mix until dissolved. Pour into the pan.
- Bring to the boil, then turn down the heat, cover and allow to simmer for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- After 45 minutes, add a few drops of hot sauce and beef stock pot. Add the kidney beans and allow to simmer for another 10–15 minutes.
- Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve with your choice of accompaniment.
Looking for Slimming World Syns or Weight Watchers (WW) Points?
With ever-changing plans and point calculations, we have made the decision to remove WW Points from the website - referring to your individual plan or advice from your consultant is always going to give the most accurate results.
—
We agreed with Slimming World to remove their trademarked terms from our website
We love seeing your photos of Chilli Con Carne, don’t forget to tag us in your creations on Instagram or in our Facebook group.
46 comments
See what others have to say
Nicola JohnsonSaturday 7th September 2024
Hi is this recipe in any of your books?
HollyMonday 9th September 2024
Hey Nicola, this recipe is exclusive to our website so isn’t currently in any of our books.We have a handy guide HERE which talks through how to save a recipe to your account so you can find it easily next time, hope that helps!
SueSaturday 27th April 2024
Can you add baby corn and when to.add please
HollyFriday 10th May 2024
Hey Sue, yes you could add baby corn if you’d like add in step 6 with the other veg, hope that helps!
Pauline2326Tuesday 2nd April 2024
Genuinely surprised how tasty this is even with the additional veg. I’ve tried lots of chilli recipes and packet spice mixes over the years and never found one I liked, normally they are bland or are over powered by the chillies. This is spiced just right, will be adding this one to the monthly batch cook rotation
HollyFriday 10th May 2024
Hey Pauline, thanks so much we are so glad to hear you enjoyed this recipe!
[email protected]Tuesday 2nd April 2024
What size tomatoes please
HollyThursday 11th April 2024
Hey Teery, we use two 400g tins of chopped tomatoes, hope that helps!
TamsFriday 25th August 2023
Does this inc rice and how much please?
SharonWednesday 18th October 2023
Hi Tams, our recipe for Chilli Con Carne doesn’t include rice. The calories stated only include all the ingredients in the ingredients list. We would suggest serving a small portion of basmati rice, (50g raw/ 125g cooked), per serving, which will add an additional 173 calories per serving. Hope this helps.
Join the conversation
Comment or ask our advice