Classic Chili con Carne

This Classic Chili con Carne is made with ground beef, smoked bacon and tomatoes, and flavored with onion, chili powder, cumin and chili peppers. It's a warming bowl of comfort. 

This is the chili con carne I cook to make Frito pies or to serve on chili dogs. It's easy but rich with the addition of the smoked bacon. 

Classic Chili con Carne

The dark chili powder I use is the McCormick brand and is a mix of spices, including salt. Read your label and adjust the salt if your brand doesn't include any.  

Ingredients
1lb or 450g ground beef
2-3 slices thick smoked bacon, chopped
1 medium onion, minced
4 tablespoon dark chili powder 
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 can (14 oz or 400g) finely chopped tomatoes plus half a can water
1 teaspoon sugar
1-3 red chili peppers
Salt to taste – depends on your chili powder (see note above)

Method
Brown your ground beef over a medium high heat. Add in the chopped bacon and fry until the bacon is a bit crispy.

Add in the minced onion and cook with the bacon and beef until it gets soft and translucent.

Spoon in the dark chili powder, along with the extra teaspoon of ground cumin.

Pour in the can of chopped tomatoes plus half a can of water and one teaspoon of sugar.

Add fresh red chili peppers to taste, removing the stems first.

Simmer the mixture, lid on, for at least half an hour or longer if you have the time. Salt to taste. Some chili powders are heavier on the salt content than others so, as mentioned previously, depending on your brand, you may not need much more. Or any!

This is great served over Fritos for a classic Frito pie or on top of Mexican Cornbread Waffles like these guys: 

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