Keto Chilli Con Carne (No Beans)
This keto chilli con carne has no beans: beef mince, red pepper and finely chopped mushrooms simmer in a smoky tomato sauce with chilli, cumin and a spoonful of cocoa. Each of the 8 servings has 7.3g net carbs, and it freezes well for batch cooking. It takes 15 minutes to prepare and 1 hour 15 minutes to cook.
This keto chilli follows some of the best-loved chilli con carne recipes. The Good Food team's chilli con carne on BBC Good Food, rated 4.8 out of 5 from more than 3,000 ratings, is the British classic: onion, red pepper and garlic softened with chilli powder, paprika and cumin, then lean beef mince browned hard and simmered with tomatoes, stock and a little sugar before the kidney beans go in. Maya Krampf's keto chili on Wholesome Yum, rated 4.8 out of 5 from 458 ratings, leaves the beans out altogether and relies on plenty of beef, tomatoes and spice. On Reddit's r/ketorecipes, a "best keto chili" post makes a quick stovetop chilli with beef, onion, pepper and tomatoes, and a no bean chili post adds mushrooms. Our twist: finely chopped mushrooms and celery take the place of the beans, a spoonful of cocoa replaces the sugar, and you can serve it in our Low Carb Keto Wraps.
It makes 8 generous servings, so it's a good one to batch cook through the winter, and an easy pot to keep warm on the hob for Bonfire Night. A serving of shop-bought chilli con carne has about 17.6g carbohydrate; each serving of this keto chilli con carne has 7.3g net carbs.
What we used: Groovy Keto Low Carb Keto Wraps, for serving the chilli burrito-style. They are made with wheat and contain gluten, so they aren't suitable for coeliacs or anyone with a gluten intolerance. The chilli itself doesn't need any special ingredients.
Low Carb Keto Wraps (pack of 4)
View productKeto chilli con carne vs a shop-bought chilli
A classic chilli con carne gets most of its carbohydrate from the kidney beans and from the rice it is usually served with. The beef has none, and the onion, pepper and tomatoes add only a little. Leaving out the beans and serving the chilli in a wrap or with cauliflower rice is what makes this a low carb chilli.
| Per serving | Carbohydrate | Sugars | Net carbs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shop-bought chilli con carne | 17.6g | 6.7g | 17.6g |
| This keto chilli | 7.3g | 5.2g | 7.3g |
Shop-bought figures are UK CoFID 2021 data for food code 19-208, "Chilli con carne, retail, reheated" (7.1g carbohydrate and 2.7g sugars per 100g), worked out for a 248g serving, about the weight of one of ours once simmered. There are no polyols in either, so net carbs are the same as carbohydrate.
Tips for the best keto chilli
- Brown the mince properly. Fry it over a good heat until it sizzles and browns. Mince that stews in its own juices tastes flat, so brown it in two batches if the pan is crowded.
- Chop the mushrooms small. Bean-sized pieces of mushroom melt into the sauce and give the chilli the body that beans usually add.
- Toast the spices. Two minutes in the hot pan with the tomato purée wakes up the chilli powder, cumin and paprika. Keep stirring so they don't burn.
- Use cocoa instead of sugar. Many chilli recipes add a little sugar or dark chocolate. A spoonful of cocoa powder gives the same deep, rounded flavour with very few carbs.
- Check your labels. Chilli powder blends, stock pots and some tinned tomatoes vary from brand to brand, so the carbs and salt can change a little.
- Slow cooker option. Follow steps 1 to 6 in a pan, using 200ml water instead of 300ml, then cook it in a slow cooker on low for 6 to 8 hours.
Keto Chilli Con Carne (No Beans)
- Prep time15 min
- Cook time1 hour 15 min
- Total time1 hour 40 min, including resting
- Serves8
- Net carbs7.3g per serving
Ingredients
For the chilli
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 large onion (about 180g), finely chopped
- 2 celery sticks (about 80g), finely chopped
- 1 red pepper (about 160g once deseeded), diced
- 250g chestnut mushrooms, finely chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1kg beef mince (15 to 20% fat)
- 1 tbsp mild chilli powder, or 2 tsp hot chilli powder
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 2 tbsp tomato purée
- 400g can chopped tomatoes
- 1 beef stock pot (28g) and 300ml boiling water
- 1 tbsp cocoa powder
- ½ tsp fine sea salt, plus black pepper to taste
To serve
- Soured cream
- Grated mature Cheddar
- Fresh coriander leaves
- Lime wedges
- Groovy Keto Low Carb Keto Wraps, warmed (optional)
You will also need a large lidded casserole or heavy-based pan, a wooden spoon and a measuring jug.
Allergens: the chilli contains celery. The toppings add milk, and the wraps contain gluten (wheat). See the allergen notes under Nutrition.
Method
- Prepare the vegetables. Finely chop the onion and celery and dice the red pepper. Chop the mushrooms into small pieces, about the size of a kidney bean, by hand or with a few pulses in a food processor. Crush the garlic.
- Soften the vegetables. Heat the olive oil in a large casserole or heavy-based pan over a medium heat. Add the onion, celery and red pepper and cook for 8 minutes, stirring now and then, until soft.
- Cook the mushrooms. Add the mushrooms and garlic and cook for 5 minutes, until the mushrooms have released their liquid and most of it has bubbled away.
- Brown the mince. Turn the heat up, add the beef mince and break it up with a wooden spoon. Fry it for 10 minutes, stirring, until there are no pink bits left and the mince sizzles and browns rather than stews. Brown it in two batches if your pan is small.
- Add the spices. Stir in the chilli powder, cumin, smoked paprika, oregano and tomato purée and cook for 2 minutes, stirring, so the spices toast without burning.
- Add the liquid. Stir the stock pot into the 300ml boiling water. Pour it into the pan with the chopped tomatoes, cocoa powder, salt and a good grind of black pepper, stir well and bring it to the boil.
- Simmer. Put the lid on, turn the heat down low and simmer gently for 40 minutes. Stir it every 10 minutes or so to stop it catching, and add a splash of water if it looks dry.
- Thicken. Take off the lid and simmer for 10 minutes more, until the sauce is thick and glossy. Taste it and add more salt, pepper or chilli powder if you like.
- Rest and serve. Turn off the heat, put the lid back on and leave the chilli to stand for 10 minutes. Serve it in bowls with soured cream, grated Cheddar, coriander and lime wedges, or spoon it into warm Low Carb Keto Wraps.
What to serve with keto chilli
- In a wrap: warm a Low Carb Keto Wrap in a dry frying pan for 20 seconds a side, then fill it with chilli, soured cream, Cheddar and a little shredded lettuce, and roll it up burrito-style. One wrap adds 4.4g carbohydrate, so a serving of chilli in a wrap has 11.7g net carbs.
- With homemade bread: our keto flatbread is good for scooping, and our keto tortillas are an almond flour wrap you can make at home.
- In a bowl: serve it over cauliflower rice, or with a crisp green salad, sliced avocado or little gem lettuce cups.
- As a topping: spoon it over a burger patty or fried eggs, or bake it in a dish under grated Cheddar until bubbling.
Ways to change your low carb chilli
- Beef and pork: swap half the beef mince for pork mince for a softer, richer chilli.
- Smoky chipotle: add 1 to 2 tsp chipotle paste with the tomato purée, and check its label for carbs.
- Extra veg: add a diced courgette or a small aubergine with the mushrooms.
- Hotter: add a finely chopped fresh red chilli with the garlic, or a pinch of cayenne with the spices.
Any of these changes will alter the nutrition figures.
More low carb ideas
- Tomatoes on keto: our guide to carbs in tomatoes compares fresh and tinned tomatoes, passata and purée.
- Leftovers for lunch: our keto lunch ideas include plenty of ways to use a batch of chilli during the week.
- Wraps and flatbreads: make our keto tortillas or keto flatbread to go with it.
Storage
- Fridge: cool the chilli, cover it and put it in the fridge within 1 to 2 hours, then eat it within 2 days. Splitting it into smaller containers helps it cool quicker.
- Freezer: freeze it in portions for up to 3 months. Defrost it in the fridge overnight, then eat it within 24 hours, reheating it only once until it is steaming hot all the way through.
- Wraps: once the pack is open, keep the wraps in the fridge and use them within 2 days, as the pack says.
Nutrition
Per serving (1/8 of the pot), without the toppings, and with one Low Carb Keto Wrap:
| Nutrient | Chilli | With a wrap |
|---|---|---|
| Energy | 342 kcal | 465 kcal |
| Fat | 22.8g | 28.4g |
| of which saturates | 9.2g | 11.6g |
| Carbohydrate | 7.3g | 11.7g |
| of which sugars | 5.2g | 5.5g |
| Net carbs | 7.3g | 11.7g |
| Fibre | 2.7g | 13.1g |
| Protein | 26.9g | 35.7g |
| Salt | 1.32g | 2.00g |
There are no polyols in this recipe, so net carbs are the same as the carbohydrate figure. On UK labels, fibre is already listed separately from carbohydrate, so it isn't subtracted again. Figures are calculated from UK (McCance and Widdowson's CoFID) data for olive oil (17-038), onion (13-499), celery (13-636), red pepper (13-524), mushrooms (13-505), garlic (13-244), raw beef mince (18-469, counting all of its fat), chilli powder (13-873), cumin (13-889), paprika (13-879), dried oregano (13-878), tomato purée (13-531), canned tomatoes (13-530), stock pot (17-680, stock gel), cocoa powder (12-545) and salt (17-367). CoFID has no carbohydrate figure for the ground spices, so we used its figure for cayenne pepper (13-847). The black pepper and toppings aren't counted. The wrap column adds one 40g wrap, using the per 100g figures on the Low Carb Keto Wraps pack. Figures will vary with the brands you use, especially the mince and stock pot.
Allergens: the chilli contains celery. The soured cream and Cheddar toppings contain milk. The Low Carb Keto Wraps pack says they contain gluten from wheat flour and may contain traces of soy and mustard, so they aren't suitable for coeliacs or anyone with a gluten intolerance. Stock pots and chilli powder blends can contain celery, mustard or other allergens, so check those labels too. Always check the current labels before cooking for anyone with an allergy.
FAQ
Are kidney beans keto?
Kidney beans are hard to fit into keto. UK CoFID data gives canned red kidney beans, drained, 15.1g carbohydrate per 100g, plus 6.8g fibre. A typical 400g can holds about 240g of drained beans, which would add about 36g carbohydrate to a pot of chilli, so this keto chilli con carne leaves them out.
What can I use instead of beans in chilli?
Finely chopped mushrooms are our favourite. 250g gives the chilli the bulk and soft bite that beans usually add, with very few carbs. Diced courgette or aubergine, extra red pepper or more celery work too. Some keto cooks use black soya beans instead, so check the label on the can for the carbs if you try them.
Can you freeze chilli con carne?
Yes. Cool the chilli quickly, then freeze it in portions in airtight containers or freezer bags for up to 3 months. Defrost it in the fridge overnight, eat it within 24 hours and reheat it once in a pan with a splash of water until it is steaming hot all the way through. Add toppings after reheating, not before freezing.
What do you serve with keto chilli?
Spoon it into a warm Groovy Keto Low Carb Keto Wrap with soured cream and cheese, or serve it with our keto flatbread or keto tortillas. Cauliflower rice, a crisp green salad, sliced avocado or lettuce cups are good low carb sides. One wrap adds 4.4g carbohydrate, according to the pack.
How many carbs are in keto chilli con carne?
Each of the 8 servings of this keto chilli con carne has 7.3g carbohydrate and 342 kcal. There are no polyols, so that is also 7.3g net carbs. Most of the carbs come from the tomatoes, onion and stock pot. Using UK CoFID figures, a shop-bought chilli con carne serving of a similar weight has about 17.6g carbohydrate.
Can you make chilli con carne ahead?
Yes, and it often tastes better the next day. Cool it, cover it and put it in the fridge within 1 to 2 hours, then eat it within 2 days. Reheat it once, with a splash of water, until it is steaming hot all the way through. Freeze any portions you won't eat in time.
