The Best Weeknight Chili Con Carne. Now that football season is in full swing, all those cravings for football food are back! The first is chili.
A perfect weeknight dinner during football time is my weeknight chili con carne. It’s super easy to make, and you can either eat it right away, let it simmer for an hour or so, or make it in advance and heat it a day or two later. The stars of this recipe are ground beef, kidney beans, and of course, chili powder. The recipe feeds 4, so if you have a bigger crowd, just double or even triple the recipe.
This weeknight chili con carne recipe goes great with cornbread. Chop up about ½ cup onion and ½ cup bell pepper. Tradition calls for green bell peppers, but I’m okay with whatever is in the fridge. For me, this week, it was a red bell pepper. Mince a clove of garlic.
Heat olive oil on medium in a large saucepan or dutch oven. Add onion, bell pepper, and garlic. Saute until vegetables are tender and onion begins to become translucent about 2-4 minutes.
Now add the ground beef, breaking it up into small pieces as it cooks. Once the meat is cooked through, drain the fat.
To the pot, add water, diced tomatoes, chili powder, ground cumin, red wine vinegar, salt, and pepper.
Bring the weeknight chili con carne mixture to a boil. Once boiling, then turn it down to a simmer. Add kidney beans and simmer the mixture for 30 minutes.
The Best Weeknight Chili Con Carne
Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil
½ cup white onion - chopped- ½ cup green bell pepper - chopped
1 clove garlic - minced
1 pound ground beef (minced beef)
½ cup water
1 can tomatoes - diced (14-ounce can)
¼ cup chili powder (chilli powder in British English)
½ teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon red wine vinegar
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
1 can red kidney beans - (15-ounce can) drained and rinsed
Instructions
- Heat olive oil on medium in a large saucepan or Dutch oven on medium.
- Add onions, peppers, and garlic.
- Saute until tender, about 2-4 minutes.
- Add ground beef, breaking it into bits as it cooks through.
- Drain fat from the mixture.
- Add water, diced tomatoes, chili powder, ground cumin, red wine vinegar, salt, and pepper.
- Bring mixture to a boil and then reduce heat to a simmer.
- Add kidney beans, and simmer for 30 minutes.
