BEST EVER Slimming Friendly Chilli Con Carne - an all time classic family friendly recipe. Pure comfort in a bowl!!

Classic Chilli Con Carne or Chili Con Carne
Depending on where you live you might call this Chilli Con Carne or Chili Con Carne. It the UK it tends to be the former, while the other side of the Atlantic the latter.
Chilli con Carne is one of those meals that many go back to again and again to make, it's always popular with families and can be served with pretty much anything.
This recipe is one I have been making for years and which has gone through many changes to get it perfect. I may be biased when I claim it to be the best ever chilli. However to my family it really is - rich, tasty, delicious flavours. Everyone who tries it, always asks for my recipe.
Some of my favourite ways to serve it are with the usual rice or homemade oven chips. But it is also great just with as a layered bowl with various toppings of choice - yum!!
Chilli Toppings
Some of my favourites for chilli are as follows:
- Avocado or homemade guacamole
- Soured Cream or for a free version use fat free yoghurt with lemon juice and pinch of salt
- Chopped Tomatoes
- Chopped Spring onions or regular onion
- Cilantro (Coriander)
- Cheddar
- Few tortilla chips
- Sliced jalapenos - if you like that little bit extra spicy kick
and so many more options!!

Chilli Con Carne Pasta Bake
Yes, you read that right, love chilli con carne? Then if you are lucky enough to have some leftovers this past delicious pasta dish is a must Mexican Pasta Bake.
The whole family will love it pasta, chilli and cheese - what's not to like?
Hidden Vegetable Chilli
What vegetables you add to your chilli to bulk it out, is entirely up to you, I like to use peppers and carrots, and jalapeños. Jalapeños pack a lovely fresh kick to your chilli, which you just won't get with chilli powder alone. Zucchini (courgette) will sometimes go in there too.
Got fussy kids? Use a food processor to chop the veggies really fine, kids won't even notice and it's a win, win for the whole family.

Butternut squash or sweet potato is also a great addition, if you have some to use up, there is no rule to exactly what you put in there apart from the spice blend that gives the flavours of a traditional chilli con carne.
Plus butternut squash or sweet potato adds a lovely natural sweetness against the spices, delicious!!

Favourite Chilli Recipes
Traditionally in chilli con carne, most use ground beef (extra lean being the choice of course for slimming), but don't stop just there, lean stewing beef or beef chunks can produce a really hearty meal or if you want to make a really healthy version use ground chicken or turkey, like this delicious Turkey Chilli.
You can even mix up the beans - instead of kidney beans, try some black beans or even a 6 bean medley, like in this Beef and Six Bean Chilli.
Love Chocolate? Then this Chocolate Chilli is also deliciously rich and flavoursome
I love this with rice and topped with fat free yoghurt (or sour cream for a couple of syns), cheddar as part of my Healthy Extra A choice and fresh chopped cilantro (coriander)
and my absolute favourite for any kind of leftover chilli is these amazing Layered Chilli Cheese Fries - perfect for sharing or not!!

Instant Pot Chilli Con Carne
This Chilli Con Carne can also be cooked in a slow cooker or instant pot (pressure cooker)
Wondering what an Instant Pot is?

It is basically a 7in1 cooker, and it slow cooks, pressure cooks, sautés, has a setting for soup, chilli, rice, porridge and even makes yoghurt (I haven’t tried that yet).
This is one of the best things I have bought and I use it almost daily in one way or another. Hey, I even cook my boiled eggs in this – you should see how effortlessly they peel.
Check out my other: Instant Pot Recipes
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Looking for some more recipes to try? – Previously on Slimming Eats
- Sloppy Joes
- Mini Cottage Pies
- Nasi Goreng – Indonesian Rice
- Pastitsio
- Keema Curry
- Crispy Potato Topped Meat Pie
- Best Ever Bolognese Pasta Bake
- Best Ever Spaghetti Bolognese
- Beef Lasagne
- Mustard Beef with Mushrooms
or if you would like more recipe ideas - head on over to the FULL RECIPE INDEX where you will find over 900 Slimming Friendly delicious recipes all with estimated calories and you can search by ingredients, course, diet and more..

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Best Ever Slimming Friendly Chilli Con Carne
Best Ever Chilli Con Carne!!! – an all time classic family friendly recipe. Pure comfort in a bowl!!
Ingredients
- 500g (17.5oz) of extra lean beef mince
- 1 large onion, finely chopped
- 3 cloves of garlic, crushed
- 1 large carrot, finely chopped
- 1 red bell pepper, finely chopped
- 2 jalapeno’s, deseeded and chopped (if your jalapenos are small you may want to use a few more)
- 400g can of kidney beans, drained
- 800g (28oz) of chopped tomatoes, canned
- 10.5 tablespoons (156ml) of tomato paste (puree)
- 3 cups (720ml) of beef stock
- 2 teaspoons of paprika
- 2 teaspoons of cumin
- ½ teaspoon of cayenne pepper - optional (omit if you don't like too spicy)
- 1 teaspoon of oregano
- 1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar
- olive oil spray
Instructions
- Spray a large casserole dish over a medium high heat with some olive oil spray.
- Add the mince, onion and garlic and fry until browned.
- Add the carrots and fry for a further few mins
- Add the spices, chopped tomatoes, tomato paste, red pepper, jalapenos, balsamic vinegar and stock and bring to a boil.
- Reduce heat to about medium low add in kidney beans, cover and cook for 45 mins -1 hour until sauce has reduced and thickened. (you still want it to lightly bubble so that the sauce reduces, so don't have the heat too low)
- Serve topped with a little fat free Greek yoghurt, cheddar.
- Enjoy!!
Notes
Please see below for recipe values:
This recipe is gluten free, dairy free friendly (see notes for details)
Please see below for full nutritional info and additional details about recipe:
- Calories - scroll down to nutritional info box
- WW Points and other Slimming or Weight Loss programs - due to plans regularly changing and updating, we recommend calculating with the official tools you get as a member to those plans to ensure accuracy of values.
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Nutrition Information
Yield 6 Serving Size 1 SERVINGAmount Per Serving Calories 288Total Fat 5.7gSaturated Fat 1.9gCholesterol 0mgSodium 1105mgCarbohydrates 37gFiber 9.8gSugar 12.7gProtein 27.1g
Nutritional information is an estimate and is to be used for informational purposes only. Ingredients can vary greatly from brand to brand and therefore it would be impossible to give accurate information.
Mrs B says
Perfect dish for a dieter and her non dieting hubby
Louise McGetrick says
Hi Siobhan, I've only recently discovered your wonderful blog. I've tried lots of slimming world inspired chilli recipes and this beats them all by a mile! Quote from my partner last night - "I've only had 3 mouthfuls and already I give it a 10 out of 10!".
Thanks for all the inspiring posts.
Louise x
wendy says
This Chilli Con Carne recipe is so delicious, and easy to make!
Siobhan your a pure genius, thanks for all your wonderful recipes 🙂
May says
Another big hit! Simply yummy!!
Emma says
I absolutely love your recipes, not had a bad one yet and has made doing slimming world so much easier. Thank you
Shevy (Slimming Eats) says
Thank you so much for your support Emma.
Bridget says
Made this for 2nd time today and it was just as nice as the 1st time, Devine!!!
I left out the pepper so it wouldn't be spicy as my almost 2 year old loves your recipes too.
Julia wilks says
Needed a chilli con carne recipe and found your site. Made the chilli' it is lovely. Did a bit of brown rice with it, husband loved it too, and he's not on a diet. Thank you
Maha says
Tried this recipe tonight!! Absolutely delicious!! Thanks for sharing it with us.
Shevy (Slimming Eats) says
so pleased to hear that, it definitely is a staple in my house.
Jane says
Hi is it a tin of chopped tomatoes? Or fresh, and is it tomato purée?
Shevy (Slimming Eats) says
yes canned chopped tomatoes and paste (puree)
Audrey Crowe says
Hi, what size/ weight in a serving of the chilli?
Thanks
Shevy (Slimming Eats) says
the recipe serves 6 people, so divide into 6 portions and one portion is a serving 🙂
Irene says
The best ever!!!!!!
Vivienne Pennington says
My grandchildren say this is better than their mums. My go too Recipe aways some in Frezer
Winner.
Matt says
Looks great! If I was to make a smaller portion, would I just half the ingredients?
Siobhan (Slimming Eats) says
yep just half all ingredients.
Hayley Watson says
Hi,
If I wanted to make this for 30 people, would I just multiply all ingredients by 6?
Siobhan (Slimming Eats) says
Hi Hayley, the recipe serves 6, but those are quite decent servings, so yes you could either multiply by 6 or if you are serving with sides and toppings, multiplying by 4 may be enough for 30 people. Hope that helps.
Debbie says
The title of this dish is no lie. I made this for the family but left out the kidney beans as my boys don't like them. As it was cooking the smell was amazing. I made it with home made chips(fries) and it was really tasty. I will be making this again and again.
Eileen says
The best chilli I have ever made. Makes me cringe at my 1990 efforts! Smells magnificent when it’s cooking and doesn’t fail to deliver on the plate.
Now make it every couple of weeks.
Thanks so much.
Génesis says
The best chilli con Carne, is so good!!❤️
Laura says
I’ve made this many times and it always goes down well. However I can’t locate the slow cooker bit, it now seems to have disappeared. Can you help please?