Chili con Carne with Beans
The American home classic: ground beef, kidney beans and tomatoes simmered two hours with chili powder, cumin and a little heat.
Once chili left San Antonio it changed fast. Commercial chili powder, first made in Texas in the 1890s (see the 30-Minute Weeknight Chili), let cooks anywhere make it, and by 1904 chili parlors were opening outside Texas (Wikipedia, citing Andrea Broomfield's "Kansas City: A Food Biography":). Beans showed up early: Wikipedia cites a chili con carne recipe in the June 1906 Boston Cooking-School Magazine and notes that beans have been tied to chili "as far back as the early 20th century". Today the International Chili Society has a whole "Homestyle" category in which beans are required. In parts of the Midwest, a bowl of chili even comes with a cinnamon roll (Wikipedia, citing What's Cooking America).
🇺🇸 This one is American
The American home classic: ground beef, kidney beans and tomatoes simmered two hours with chili powder, cumin and a little heat.
🇺🇸 The original
The Texas bowl of red is chunks of beef simmered with dried chiles and spices until tender. No beans, and in the strict version no tomatoes. See the Texas Bowl of Red (San Antonio Chili con Carne) recipe.
Why it works the kitchen science
Spices in the fat first
Cooking the chili powder and cumin with the vegetables for 10 minutes brings out their flavor before any liquid goes in (ATK's method).
Covered, then uncovered
The first hour keeps the liquid in while the beef softens; the second hour lets the sauce reduce and darken.
Step by step
- Step 1
Heat the oil in a heavy Dutch oven over medium heat until shimmering, about 3 minutes. Add the onion, bell pepper, garlic and all the spices and cook, stirring now and then, 10 minutes, until the vegetables are soft and starting to brown.
- Step 2
Turn the heat to medium-high, add the beef and cook, breaking it up with a spoon, 5 to 6 minutes, until no longer pink. Ground beef should reach 160°F.
- Step 3
Add the beans, tomatoes, tomato puree and salt and bring to a boil.
- Step 4
Lower the heat, cover and simmer 1 hour, stirring now and then.
- Step 5
Uncover and simmer 1 hour more, until the chili is dark, rich and slightly thick. If it starts to stick, stir in 1/4 cup water.
- Step 6
Season with salt and serve with lime wedges and your toppings.
Chili con Carne with Beans
Serves 4 (generous bowls) · about 6 cups · 2 hr 35 min total
Aromatics and spices
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 medium onion, chopped fine (about 1 cup)
- 1/2 red bell pepper, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tbsp chili powder
- 1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- 1/4 tsp cayenne
Chili
- 1 lb 85% lean ground beef
- 1 can (15 oz) red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes, with juice
- 1 3/4 cups tomato puree (about 15 oz)
- 1/4 tsp table salt, plus more to taste
To serve
- Lime wedges
- Optional: shredded cheddar, sour cream, chopped onion, saltines
Method
- Heat the oil in a heavy Dutch oven over medium heat until shimmering, about 3 minutes. Add the onion, bell pepper, garlic and all the spices and cook, stirring now and then, 10 minutes, until the vegetables are soft and starting to brown.
- Turn the heat to medium-high, add the beef and cook, breaking it up with a spoon, 5 to 6 minutes, until no longer pink. Ground beef should reach 160°F.
- Add the beans, tomatoes, tomato puree and salt and bring to a boil.
- Lower the heat, cover and simmer 1 hour, stirring now and then.
- Uncover and simmer 1 hour more, until the chili is dark, rich and slightly thick. If it starts to stick, stir in 1/4 cup water.
- Season with salt and serve with lime wedges and your toppings.
Adapted from America's Test Kitchen, "Simple Beef Chili with Kidney Beans", halved from 8 to 10 servings to 4 generous bowls. Times are ATK's; the 160°F check is from FSIS. America's Test Kitchen. Ingredient list follows the source; the method is in our own words.
All sources (3)
Tips
- The lime wedges are ATK's finishing touch; a squeeze brightens two hours of simmering.
- Chili freezes well in portions for up to 2 months; reheat to a simmer.
- Swap in pinto beans if you like; the method doesn't change.
The rules people argue about
What the sources agree on, what they don't, and what is just a good story.
- Beans belong in chili. Disputed: CASI's rules and the ICS Traditional Red category ban them, while the ICS Homestyle and People's Choice categories require them (ICS rules). Recipes with beans go back to at least 1906 (Wikipedia).
- Kidney beans, not pinto. Folklore: a house preference. ATK uses kidney; the Wendy's-inspired copycat uses both.
- Tomatoes. Disputed (see Texas Bowl of Red). Home chili almost always has them.
- Ground beef, not cubes. Folklore: the ICS gives no preference to ground or cubed meat.
- Chili with a cinnamon roll. Documented as a regional habit in Nebraska, Iowa and Kansas (Wikipedia, citing What's Cooking America).
Every other chili
Texas Bowl of Red (San Antonio Chili con Carne)
Big cubes of beef chuck braised for three hours in a purée of toasted whole dried chiles, with no beans and no tomatoes.
Chile Colorado (Northern Mexican Red Chile Beef)
Beef and potatoes stewed in a smooth guajillo chile sauce thickened with a little flour, the Chihuahua way, and spooned into warm flour tortillas.
Cincinnati Chili (Three-Way to Five-Way)
A thin, cinnamon-and-allspice-scented meat sauce ladled over buttered spaghetti and built up in "ways" with beans, onion and a mound of finely shredded cheddar.
New Mexico Green Chile Stew
Pork, potatoes and plenty of roasted New Mexico green chile simmered in broth, the comfort-food bowl behind New Mexico's official question, "Red or green?".
Chile Verde with Pork
Pork shoulder braised for hours in a chunky purée of charred poblanos, tomatillos, garlic and jalapeño until it falls apart.
White Chicken Chili
Shredded chicken and creamy white beans in a light, green-chile broth of poblano, Anaheim and jalapeño, finished with lime, cilantro and scallions.
Frito Pie
Homemade beef chili ladled straight into a split-open bag of corn chips and topped with cheddar and chopped onion; eat it with a fork, right out of the bag.
Three-Bean Vegetarian Chili
Pinto, black and kidney beans simmered with crushed tomatoes, toasted cumin seeds, red pepper and corn, finished with lime and cilantro.
30-Minute Weeknight Beef and Bean Chili
Ground beef, kidney beans and lightly blitzed tomatoes with chili powder, cumin and a little chipotle, on the table in about 30 minutes.
Fast-Food Style Chili, Inspired by Wendy's
A mild, beefy, tomato-heavy chili with kidney and pinto beans, onion, celery and green pepper, simmered low and slow like the drive-thru favorite. Inspired by, not official.
Meatballs of the World
Italian-American Meatballs
Big, tender meatballs braised for an hour in red sauce over spaghetti. The one most Americans grew up with.
Pallottine (Abruzzo Meatballs)
Tiny meatballs, smaller than a marble, tossed right through square spaghetti alla chitarra. No bread at all.
Swedish Meatballs (Köttbullar)
Small, soft meatballs browned in butter, in a cream sauce made from the same pan, with lingonberry jam on the plate.
Danish Frikadeller
Pork meatballs shaped with a spoon and fried slowly in butter, crusty outside and soft in the middle.
Königsberger Klopse
German meatballs that are never fried: poached, then served in a creamy white sauce with capers.
Spanish Albóndigas in Almond Saffron Sauce
The tapas bar classic: small meatballs in a golden sauce thickened with fried almonds and bread.
Mexican Albóndigas with Chipotle and Mint
Soft meatballs with rice and fresh mint inside, simmered in a smoky tomato and chipotle broth.
Izgara Köfte (Turkish Grilled Meatballs)
Small, flat meatballs kneaded hard, rested cold, and charred on a hot grill pan.
Lion's Head Meatballs
Big, soft pork meatballs, stirred into a sticky paste, fried to set, then braised in a savory sauce.
Chicken Tsukune
Japan's chicken meatball: kneaded sticky, grilled on skewers, glazed with sweet soy tare, dipped in egg yolk.