Chilli con carne with Shiitake mushrooms

I had grand visions to end 2024 with a flurry of well overdue recipe posts. Unfortunately, the last two weeks were completely written off due to a cold/flu virus. All festive plans and celebrations evaporated. By the time the antibiotics had done their job, 2025 arrived. I didn’t have the energy to write up one of my favourite recipes – Chilli con carne with Shiitake mushrooms.
The weather this January has been so bleak, cold, and miserable. What better way to warm up than indulge in a hearty, filling, and spicy dish to fend off the winter blues? Better still, make a large batch and you’ll be looking forward to the next time you get to devour it. This is one of those dishes which definitely tastes better after a few days in the fridge as flavours infuse.
I’d also like to give a bit shout out to my brother-in-law Hazmir who lives in Melbourne. I had promised to share this recipe (not just a photo!). Hopefully you, Azni and Ameera can enjoy this at home. Being of Malaysian heritage, a dose of chilli should be a walk in the park for your well-tuned taste buds ;o)

My chilli con carne recipe began life as something more conventional. As is always the case, I let myself loose at the cupboard ingredients and fridge to try and enhance it. I introduced Shiitake mushrooms a year ago. Initially unconventional, they have since become a permanent fixture. This recipe has probably set a personal record for the number of separate ingredients used (twenty-five in total). Please don’t be overwhelmed, or feel that you have to go on a shopping spree if you do not have all the store cupboard ingredients, spices or herbs at hand. Adaptation is the spice of life.
For the eagle-eyed grammar police (of which I am a volunteer member), shouldn’t this be ‘Chili’ and not ‘Chilli’ con carne? Simply put, I veer towards the British English spelling of ‘Chilli’, but would rather the focus to be the recipe itself than naming conventions. We cannot eat words….

Origins of chilli con carne

I can make no claim to being a food historian. Although in another life, it could be a viable career path. I have grown increasingly distrustful of information sourced online. Based on the dismantling of fact checking in social media (seems that my contempt for Trump, Musk, Zuckerberg et al has no bounds), I wouldn’t be surprised for more flagrant BS to spread. However, I think it is indisputable (thankfully) that this is a spicy stew of Mexican origin which typically contains chilli peppers, meat, tomatoes and beans. Depending on which source of truth you gravitate towards, this was first written about in 1529 by Franciscan Friar Bernardino de Sahagún who described chilli pepper seasoned stews being eaten in the Aztec capital Tenochtitlan (now Mexico City). It was Spain’s introduction of beef cattle to Mexico which introduced this very versatile protein which is so well suited to stews.
The name ‘con carne’ which simply means in Spanish ‘with meat‘ was first coined over 300 years later during the Mexican-American war, and started to be prepared in northern Mexico and southern Texas. It was 1893’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago which introduced American palettes to Chilli, and the popularity of a Texas-style chilli began to spread. Hundreds of family-run Chili Parlours started to emerge throughout the US, thanks to the commercial version of Chili Powder (something we all take for granted today). Legend has it that each establishment would stake claim to a secret recipe, but when isn’t that always the way ;o)

 Chilli con carne with shiitake mushrooms

The very first time I made chilli con carne (we are talking ‘before Internet’) I was largely underwhelmed. I would have bought a ‘seasoning mix’ from a supermarket, chucked in some mince, tomatoes, and red kidney beans and.. ready in 30 mins. Whilst the seasoning mix contained no nasties in terms of MSGs or artificial ingredients, it contained ingredients I would never cook with or stock at home (Niacin, Thiamin, Maltodextrin, Starch). That was pretty much it. I always found it lacking on many levels, and never made it again for the best part of two decades. My preference (whilst more time-consuming and more expensive at times) is to always use fresh ingredients wherever possible.
As ever, I have Marlini to thank for resurrecting what has now become some of my favourite dishes. As we had some excellent halal Angus beef in the freezer, she hinted that I should make a Chilli con carne as a halal version is hard to find in the UK, even more so where we live in Lincolnshire. I couldn’t face the pre-made seasoning mix approach, and drew inspiration from numerous recipes online (frustratingly I forgot to bookmark them, otherwise I’d be giving kudos here). As we always have fresh garlic, onions. chilli, carrots, Romano peppers – it really was a no-brainer. All the dry ingredients required were already in the cupboard as these are regularly used for other recipe genres.
The reason for adding Shiitake mushrooms was a simple one – I had a punnet in the fridge which has been bought for another dish and I simply forgot to make it! We both love Shiitake mushrooms for their firm, meaty texture, boasting a rich umami flavour. They are perfect for this dish, as they reheat really well without going soggy. Not only do they retain their structure, they are both an excellent emitter and absorber of flavour. Some years ago, these were very much considered an oriental ingredient and needed to be imported… now they are cultivated worldwide-we only buy those from the UK.
We typically serve this with Brown Basmati rice for two reasons:

1. Brown rice is healthier as it contains the whole grain, is nutrient rich, and contains up to 4 x the amount of fibre as its white counterpart.
2. We cook our rice in a rice cooker (almost always without exception) and the brown rice program takes 66 minutes, which is exactly how long it takes to make Chilli con carne from start to finish. I use this as my guide.

How much Chilli pepper can you handle?

Finally, I wanted to dedicate a little time on the overall heat of this dish. Heat is introduced by fresh chilli peppers (not always possible to predict how much heat will be distributed) combined with sweet smoked paprika. Whilst the dry ingredient is more controllable, the fresh version can be a lottery. I purchase weekly a bag of fresh chilli peppers – sometimes they are very lacklustre in the heat output scale, others (and when the same variety) can be a mini-inferno on the tongue. Marlini has certainly training me to be more heat tolerant, but…even so! Please also consider that the longer this is left and reheated, the hotter it can become. I really want you to enjoy this dish, not regret it!
My recommendation is to start with two large chilli peppers (seeds and all) then take it from there. Similar to putting too much salt in a dish, it is very hard to remove excess heat once there. I have made with between two and four whole chillies, and find that three is consistently the right quantity for our tastes.

I really hope you get as much pleasure out of making and eating this Chilli con carne with Shiitake mushrooms as we do. As ever, I really appreciate any comments, corrections, and feedback (below).

Chilli con carne with shiitake mushrooms

Richard Bewley

5 from 2 votes

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Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr 5 minutes mins

Course Main

Cuisine Mexican

Servings 6 people

Equipment

• large casserole pan with lid

Ingredients

  

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 medium brown or white onions finely diced
• 500 grams Aberdeen Angus beef mince ideally 5% fat
• 3 large chilli peppers (red/green/or mixed) finely diced
• 2 large garlic cloves peeled and finely diced
• 1 cube beef or chicken stock
• 3 tbsp tomato paste concentrated
• 2 quills Cinnamon
• 2 400g Cans of finely chopped tomatoes
• 1 large organic carrot peeled and finely diced
• 1 medium Romano pepper deseeded and finely diced
• 1 lime juiced
• 1 400g can red kidney beans drained and rinsed
• 50g bunch fresh coriander stems and leaves separated
• 150 g Shiitake mushrooms washed and sliced

Spice blend

• 3 tsp sweet smoked paprika heaped
• 1 tsp ground garlic heaped
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp ground coriander heaped
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp dried oregano heaped
• 1 tsp dried thyme heaped
• 2 tsp smoked sea salt flakes

Instructions

 

• Raid the store cupboard and make the spice blend (this will really save time). Mix it all together in a ramekin and set aside.
• Finely dice the onions (if you have red onions, they work really well too), and put in a small bowl.
• Finely dice the chilli peppers and either grate or dice the garlic
• Dice the carrot and Romano pepper into small cubes
• Heat large casserole on medium heat and add the olive oil.
• Sweat onions for 5 mins or util soft/translucent.
• Increase the heat, and add the Aberdeen Angus beef mince, and mix in the onions thoroughly using a turner. Keep turning for approximately 5 mins, or until there are no clumps of mince and mean is lightly browned.
• Stir in the garlic and chilli, and stir continuously for a minute or two. Then, crumble in the stock cube and mix again.
• Sprinkle in the spice blend, and the cinnamon quills, and mix thoroughly. Add the concentrated tomato paste, and mix again.
• Next, turn in the diced carrots and Romano pepper, and cook for a further 2 minutes. Then, add the fresh coriander stems and mix again.
• Pour in the two cans of chopped tomato, the juice of a lime, and bring to the boil. Add a little salt and generous grind of black pepper. Bring to the boil, stir again, reduce heat and cover. Simmer for approximately 15-20 minutes.
• Add the strained red kidney beans, sliced Shiitake mushrooms and mix thoroughly. Then, add the coriander leaves (reserving a few for garnish), stir, cover and simmer for a further 20-25 mins.
• Service with a generous helping of Brown basmati rice with a wedge of lime. Enjoy!

Notes

Please note: like many stews, casseroles and curries the flavour is enhanced over time. We do our best not to devour the lot, and transfer what is left to a vacuum sealed glass container. We often leave this for 3-4 days in the fridge.

Whilst we love this dish with rice, it is equally good with pasta. Our chilli con carne has been added to spaghetti, linguine, radiatore and penne – all work really well.

If you cannot find Shiitake mushrooms, substitute with Chestnut, however I would cook for a few minutes less.