Clean Eating Chili Con Carne (Perfect Mid Week Meal)

This Clean Eating Chili Con Carne is a classic homemade meal. It's so easy to put together, perfect if you have to feed a crowd on those cold nights when you need something bubbling on the cooker top, this is one of the meals you definitely want on rotation!

It's also a good budget meal: Make two batches at the same time and freeze one. Then you always have a decent home cooked Clean Eating meal waiting for those nights when time runs away from you :)

Chili Con Carne : Clean and Simple

Minus the ground beef, Chili Con Carne is a good mix of fresh and store cupboard ingredients. And let's be honest, who doesn't have some ground beef in the freezer. The packets bought with good intentions and recipe ideas that never quite made it to the table and ended up in the freezer. Just me? Good. In that case you've got a classic, healthy, real food dinner waiting for you!

*If you're using ground beef from the freezer, you can't re-freeze this recipe!

Chili Con Carne feels like a winter meal. It's warming, filling and when it's really cold outside (and where I live we spend quite a lot of time in the cold!) this really hits the spot.

If your kids are a little fussy about spices and heat in a meal, simply turn the heat down. I'll give you the spice mixes I use, and show you where you can adjust the spiciness. I like a spicy Chili but two of my kids do not, and so I make this with the minimum heat I can get away with and then add chili flakes to those of us who prefer it hotter. The sacrifices we make as parents, huh!! :)

Anyway, this is probably one of the most popular ways I know of to use ground beef. Not that there's a shortage of very kid friendly ground beef recipes.

Ingredients for Chili Con Carne

Although this is a simple classic recipe, it's not short on flavor. Canned tomatoes and kidney beans - both canned, both pantry staples and both super good for you. Whilst the majority if our weekly meals are made worth fresh foods there's a whole load of pantry canned foods that are full of goodness, whilst happening to have a long shelf life. So it's a win win :)

Ground Beef

Ground beef is an old favorite and most of us are familar with it. You can buy good quality minced beef at reasonable prices and this makes it a good option if you're watching your budget.

I keep ground beef in the freezer for those last minute throw together meals, although remember If you're using ground beef from the freezer, you can't re-freeze this recipe!

Kidney Beans

We love a can of canned beans in this house and kidney beans feature heavily! Kidney beans are one of the healthiest types of beans to use as a protein source, and have a little less saturated fat than other varieties of bean but with comparable amounts of fiber and protein. However, we love all beans here!

Canned Tomatoes

Tomatoes are the foundation of many of our pantries and I certainly buy them in bulk. I tend to buy the organic cans when they're on sale. Organic tomatoes can be about 50% more expensive than non-organic which is why I buy them in bulk and store them. It's worth stocking up if you see them.

Herbs & Spices

The herb and spice mix in this Clean eating Chili Con Carne make the whole recipe. But...you can play around with this mix and make it hotter or milder etc...

I use dried herbs and spices. These often sit around in my kitchen for an unspecified amount of time (we're talking years in some cases!). If you're the same, check the dates before you use them as they can lose their flavor.

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Make Ahead For A Crowd

If you have to make a meal for a crowd, this is it. Really. Not only is it easy, the prep is minimal and the quantity of the chili you can cook in one go is limited only the the size of your biggest cooker top pot! Being a classic kinda meal I've not come across many people who don't love a good chili, and so if we've got people over, a chili is often the way I go.

One thing you can do is bulk this out for very little extra cost. A really good idea if you're budget conscious and want this to stretch to two (or three) meals is to add more kidney beans. You don't need to add extra ground beef to make a double batch of this and if you're trying to cut back but not cut out meat, bulking out with beans is a great way to do it.

Storing Your Chili Con Carne

So, if you've used fresh ground beef to make this recipe you can freeze it and keep it in the freezer for up to 4 weeks after cooking. I like to divide it into batches and freeze it in smaller 'lots' so I can defrost only what I need and not waste any. To defrost this recipe take it out of the freezer the night before you're going to reheat it and leave it to defrost on a plate in the fridge. Once it's defrosted, reheat it in a pan on the cooker top until it's piping hot throughout.

If you've used defrosted ground beef to make this you can save any leftovers in the fridge, covered, for up to 2 days. To reheat, out it into a pan and reheat until it's piping hot throughout.

What To Serve With A Chili

We have this chili con carne with whole grain rice. We also add to that sometimes:

• Garlic bread
• Sour cream
• Clean eating charred corn

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More Ground Beef Recipes

• Clean eating ground beef curry
• Sweet and sticky Teriyaki meatballs (from The Movement Menu)
• One pan Spaghetti Bolognese
• Clean eating family sized meatloaf
• Baked meatballs in tomato sauce

Clean Eating Chili Con Carne Recipe