As the nights draw in there’s nothing better than making a ‘proper’ warming dinner. Cooking is one of my favourite things to do to unwind, especially on a Sunday when I have the time. Schwartz food seasoning challenged me to create a recipe using their chilli con carne spice mix which is one of our favourite dishes to make especially when you put all of the sides and dips with it!
The Schwartz chilli con carne mix allows you to create the authentic chilli taste with your choice of meat (or even veggies). I’ve used Schwartz in the past to get those classic dishes spot on and whilst I have a spice cupboard full of herbs and spices, I can guarantee there will always be something missing for each recipe so these are a cheap and easy way to make your favourite dishes.
In our household, I can handle a bit of heat but Dan loves his spice – he has multiple sauces in the cupboard to top up his heat levels! Whilst the chilli con carne mix says it is hot – this one is quite mild in my opinion so if you’ve got a fussy family of heat levels, you should be able to keep the family happy with this mix.
Chilli Con Carne with Schwartz
A family classic and winter warmer that works well for any mealtime with all your favourite mexican side dishes.
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 450 g mince beef (Under 10% fat ideally)
- 1 mug brown rice (Covers two people)
- 1 tin red kidney beans
- 2 tins chopped tomatoes (The best quality you can)
- 1 red pepper
- 1 yellow pepper
- 1 half red onion
- 1 tub sour cream
- 1 chilli sauce (optional)
- 1 bag tortilla chips
- 1 lime
Instructions
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Chop all of your vegetables finely and place to one side
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Add a drop of olive oil to a large saucepan and add your mince, brown
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Ensure to break up your mince finely whilst it cooks
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Once browned - remove juices and add in your vegetables to the pan
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Add in your Chilli Con Carne Schwartz seasoning and mix with your meat until combine
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Heat and soften the vegetables for a few minutes then mix and combine all of the ingredients
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Drain and rinse your kidney beans and add to the pan
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Add in your two cartons of chopped tomatoes and combine all of the ingredients
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Leave to simmer for as long as you can - an hour is reccomended, the longer the deeper the flavours develop, ensure to keep mixing the ingredients every 5-10 minutes
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Once most of the liquid has evaporated and the water layer has gone, boil a kettle of water for your rice. Turn off your chilli from the heat and leave with the lid on to keep hot.
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Cook your rice as per the instructions - foolproof brown rice is one mug for two people, one full kettle in a pan, get up to boil and add in the rice once boiling. Mix the rice once, leave for 20-25 minutes without a lid and take off the layer of 'startch' on top with a spoon. Test at 20 minutes and drain to serve.
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Whilst your rice is cooking, chop some chilli, put sour cream in a dish, tortillas in a bowl and any extra sauces you may wish to add on the side. Chop a lime in quarters to garnish.
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Serve by placing rice down first, then chilli. Serve with dips on the side and garnish with a lime wedge.
This was such a delicious meal to enjoy on a Sunday evening as it made a change from a roast. This recipe does cover a large family but even for two of us covered seconds the next evening and two lunches which I do not complain about as it’s tasty in various other dishes on it’s own too.
The Schwartz mix was so easy to use as it coats the meat perfectly and the mix was just the right measurement for the amount of meat. I liked that it gave the meal the brown colour and the inclusion of cocoa powder definitely gives it that smooth finish which worked very well. You can pick up this mix from all good supermarkets including Tesco. You can see the mix and it’s full ingredients list on the Schwartz Website too.
Disclaimer: Schwartz have gifted me the product but all views are my own.