Shredded Beef Chilli

Bonfire nachos with shredded beef chilli. Photo by Natasha Bhogal on Unsplash

This recipe is my new NEW favourite chilli! Not that I’m a chilli obsessive … 😬

Perfect for Bonfires Night and a great way to use Balsar Glen beef joints for those of thus that aren’t that keen on roasts. 🙈🙋🏻‍♀️

Why else do I love it?

It makes LOADS, 12-15 portions and easy to bulk out to more by adding extra beans or even lentils.

It freezes beautifully and, for me, it’s the perfect fakeaway - defrosts quickly and is tempting enough to stop my fingers from inching towards those menus ...

Browning the beef makes a big difference to the flavour but can take a bit of time so I tend to do the prep (steps 1-5) the night before and then bung it all in the slow cooker in the morning.

Shredding all that beef can be a bit of a chore, but it’s worth it to have all those tasty meals in the freezer.

Enjoy! Hx

Ingredients (12-15 portions):

Browning Beef

2 x 1kg Balsar Glen beef rolled joints - topside, silverside or brisket all work well.

2 tbsp olive oil or butter

1 tsp EACH salt and pepper

Flavour Base

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 brown onions, diced

2 bell peppers, seeds removed and diced

125ml water - or stock, if not using our super flavoursome beef! 😉

Chilli

800g kidney or black beans - I leave these out for a low carb version.

800g crushed tomatoes

3 tbsp tomato paste

250 ml water, or stock. (I rinse the tomato cans and use that)

Chilli Spice Mix*

2 tbsp cumin

2 tbsp garlic, or onion, powder

2 tbsp smoked, or plain, paprika

1 tbsp oregano

1-2 tsp cayenne pepper (to taste)

Method

1. Cut the beef into 4-6 equal portions. Season with salt and pepper.

2. Heat ½ the oil in a heavy bottomed pan over high heat. Put one or two pieces in the pan (avoid crowding) and brown beef well all over - about 1 ½ min per side. Remove to a plate. Repeat until all the beef is nicely browned.

3. Add a touch more oil to pan if needed.

4. Add the garlic, onion and bell peppers. Sauté for 2-3 mins, until softening and starting to caramelise.

5. Add ½ cup water/stock. Bring to a simmer, scrape the bottom of the pan to dissolve all those deliciously flavourful brown bits in to the liquid. Simmer for about 30 secs and then scrape it all into the slow cooker.

6. To the slow cooker add the tomatoes, beans, tomato paste, water/stock and the Chilli Spice Mix. Stir and then add the beef. The beef won’t be fully submerged - the beef juices will raise the liquid level.

7. Cook on low for 8 hours.

8. Remove beef from slow cooker and shred with two forks. This is the most painful part of the process. If you have children you can delegate this to, then I would! 😉

9. Delicious over rice or a baked potato or in a tortilla/wrap. For a super lazy meal I just add corn chips and make nachos! And of course ALL the garnishes … sour cream, guacamole, grated cheese, salsa, coriander.

Adapted from this recipe by Nagi - one of my foodie heroes! I’ve made a few changes esp to the spice mixture as I like my flavours really punchy! The link also has options for stove top or oven cooking if you don’t have a slow cooker.

I’d highly recommend her Pico de Gallo recipe to accompany the chill. It’s perfection.