This is a gateway dish to an excellent opportunity – Mexican night, and then endless delicious leftovers! Buy tortillas, guacamole, soured cream, salsa, and have endless additional flavour in your meals in days, even weeks to come (Aldi squeezy bottles last foreveerrrr in the fridge)!
The great thing about a chilli con carne is that the longer it’s left, the more its flavours develop. So no worries if you can’t eat it right away – leaving overnight always makes it taste better (remember to store well).
Ingredients:
- 1lb beef mince
- 1 onion
- 400g tin tomato
- 200g tin kidney beans
- 1-2 stock cubes
- 1 tin chopped mushrooms
- ½ green pepper, chopped
- 2 tsp chilli powder (or more if desired)
- 2 tsp cumin powder
- gravy browning
- salt and pepper
Method:
- Brown the mince in a frying pan first, to give it a nice colour.
- Add the chopped onions and soften.
- Add the pepper, mushrooms, kidney beans, spices and stock cube. Cook for a little bit.
- Stir in the tin of tomatoes (you may need another), and add gravy browning until the mixture is a rich brown colour.
- Leave to simmer away, seasoning as desired. After 20mins it should be ready.
- Serve with rice, and any other side dishes – grated cheese, avocado, tortilla chips are all nice.
This recipe freezes really well, and is definitely always a tasty meal to come back to at the end of a long day. Also great in the slow cooker.
Costs: from Tesco, £6.43. A really good value meal, considering this makes around 4 portions and can be frozen for later. Also easily doubled!
The Night-Time Scribbler 