Perfect Beef Chilli Recipe

About a year ago, I became obsessed with mastering the perfect chilli. After trying almost every chilli recipe I could find online, I eventually created my own master chilli recipe. 

I would make a big put of chilli every weekend so that I would have something filling to eat throughout the week (plus we all know chilli gets better the day after you cook it!). Each week I would try something different, making small tweaks to the ingredients, cooking time, or method, until I settled on this recipe.

I call this my Perfect Beef Chilli, but it’s important to remember that it’s “MY” perfect chilli. Your perfect chilli might well be a bit different. I encourage everyone to experiment with their recipe and create their own “Perfect Chilli” 

Which Chilli Paste Should I Use? 

This recipe calls for chilli paste. There are hundreds of different brands out there. Most of them will be fine, but if you have the time and a ready supply of dried chillies, you should try making your own. It takes about 20 minutes and will really elevate your chilli. I have a recipe for my own chilli paste here. 

While there are some great chilli pastes out there in supermarkets (TESCO’s chipotle paste is a good one), I’ve never had any that have even came close to the flavour of a homemade one. 

If you do buy supermarket chilli paste, make sure you are buying PASTE and not PURÉE. Chilli purée is usually made from fresh chilli while paste is usually made from dried chillies. The dried chillies will have a completely different flavour and will add a “warm” heat to your final dish compared to the “bite” that you get from fresh chilli. 

Which Hot Sauce Should I Use?

This recipe also calls for hot sauce. Hot sauce can help to get some chilli flavour into the meat at an early stage and can be used at the end of the recipe to add to extra heat and fresh chilli bite. 

You can use any hot sauce you like, although I recommend that you use a Mexican-style hot sauce to keep the flavours authentic. Avoid using a Caribbean-style hot sauce (such as a scotch bonnet sauce). Caribbean hot sauces have fantastic flavours, but they aren’t suitable for this dish. 

If you want the best hot sauce (and you already know what I’m going to say), you should make your own chilli hot sauce from scratch. It takes about 20 minutes and I have a recipe for hot sauce right here.

Where To Find Authentic Mexican Ingredients

Some ingredients in this recipe (epazote, Mexican chocolate, and Mexican oregano) can be difficult to source. If you have a Mexican grocers nearby, they are sure to stock them, or you could order them online from somewhere like https://www.mexgrocer.co.uk/. But if you can’t find them, you can use the following substitutions… 

• If you can’t find Mexican oregano, you can use regular oregano. 
• If you can’t find Mexican chocolate, you can use dark chocolate and a pinch of cinnamon. 
• If you can’t find epazote, you can use parsley. 

What Should You Serve With Chilli?

Rice is a popular choice to serve with chilli, but I like to serve mine with tortilla chips, sour cream, and pomegranate seeds for a little sweetness. I often have a salsa verde side dish of avocado and tomatillos, you can find the salsa verde recipe here.