Chilli con carne for kids recipe | Cooking with my kids (2024)

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This delicious chilli con carne for kids will become a firm favourite with your family. It’s full of flavour without being too spicy and has lots of hidden vegetables in it.

This delicious chilli con carne for kids will become a firm favourite with our family I think. It’s full of flavour without being too spicy and has lots of vegetables in it, including some hidden ones.

I’ve always thought that everyone should have a good chilli recipe in their repertoire but up until now it wasn’t something we had. I’m always wary of making dishes with spice because I want the kids to enjoy it too. This child friendly recipe seems to fit the bill though: it’s not too spicy (if you want more of a kick add some more chilli) and it’s packed full of vegetables. Some of the kid’s favourite veggies I left in pieces for colour, but I grated the carrot and celery. I’ve never really bothered hiding veg in dishes in the past as we luckily don’t have any problems getting Hannah to eat them. Lewis is a different matter though, so I thought it was worth a try.

Difficulty: Easy

Time: 30 minutes

Serves: 6-8

How can children help make this chilli con carne for kids?

There are also lots of ways children can get involved in making the dish: from preparing the vegetables, measuring the spices or stirring the sauce. This is an all around great family dish.

Ingredients

1 onion
2 cloves garlic
2 sticks of celery, grated
1 carrot, grated
2 tsp paprika
2 tsp coriander
2 tsp cumin
½ tsp chilli powder
500g beef mince
400g tin chopped tomatoes
300ml beef stock
2 tbsp tomato puree
1 tsp sugar
240g tin of kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 pepper
100g sweetcorn (frozen or tinned)

How to make chilli con carne for kids

Prepare the vegetables

Peel and chop the onion, crush the garlic, and grate the carrot and celery. Dice the pepper into small pieces (we used half a red and half a green one for added colour) and set aside for later. My kids always want to help grate things, and this is a great opportunity to let them try.

Heat oil in a pan and cook the onion for a few minutes until it has softened. Add the garlic, carrot and celery and cook for a few more minutes.

Add the chilli spices

Measure the spices out and add to the pan. If you are making this yourself add them straight in, but if your kids are helping, get them to measure them all out in to a small dish first in case they are a bit heavy handed.

Add the meat

Put the beef mince in your pan and fry for 5 minutes, stirring until it has all browned.

Add the tomatoes, stock, puree and sugar

Pour the tomatoes, and stock into your pan and add the puree and a tsp of sugar. Give everything a good stir or if your child is a bit older and your trust them let them do it. Turn the heat down a little and simmer for around 15 minutes.

Add the remaining ingredients

Drain the kidney beans and rinse them in cold water then add them to your pan. Add the peppers and sweetcorn. Cook for around 5 minutes until the beans and veg has softened.

Serve with rice and tortilla chips.

Chilli con carne for kids

cookingwithmykids

This delicious chilli recipe will become a firm favourite with your family. It’s full of flavour without being too spicy and has lots of vegetables in it, including some hidden ones.

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Ingredients

1 onion
2 cloves garlic
1 carrot grated
2 sticks of celery grated
2 tsp paprika
2 tsp coriander
2 tsp cumin
½ tsp chilli powder
500 g beef mince
400 g tin chopped tomatoes
300 ml beef stock
2 tbsp tomato puree
1 tsp sugar
240 g tin of kidney beans drained and rinsed
1 pepper
100 g sweetcorn frozen or tinned