There's something incredibly satisfying about a good bowl of chili. With or without meat, it's something almost everyone can get behind. So, how do you make chili, and is it an easy recipe?

A good warm chili will heat up your soul and pallet at the same time. No doubt the appeal is due to the combination of the savory flavor and the sweetness from the peppers – with a good kick of heat to keep you on your toes.

What is chili con carne, and why has it become such a popular weeknight meal even in places not known for hot food?

Any fan of Mexican food – or food in general – is likely to adore chili, whether it's chili con carne or chili sin carne. It's delicious, easy to make, and can be paired with all sort of things.

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Here's our chili recipe to get you started!

Chili con carne is a very simple recipe with few requirements. It is so straightforward that the equipment you need will likely already be in your kitchen right now. It's simple, delicious, and easy, so what's not to love?

Here's the equipment you'll need to make chili:

• A large, heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven
• Spatula
• Sharp knife
• Chopping board
• Can opener (optional)

When making chili, all you really need is a vessel to cook it in and a couple of basic things to help you prepare the ingredients. It really is that straightforward!

If you have never made chili before, then this is possibly the most important lesson to learn: Apart from the basics and the spice mix, put whatever you want into this bad boy. We are going to present you with a pretty basic-but-delicious version here, but feel free to use chunks of beef instead of mince, some potatoes, pumpkin, or whatever tickles your fancy.

Here are the ingredients for chili con carne:

• Minced beef (or beef-pork mixed), 1.5 pounds
• Red kidney beans, 1 lb
• Canned corn, 6 ounces
• 2 large bell peppers
• 2 medium onions
• 5 cloves garlic
• 2 bird's-eye chilies
• Vegetable stock, 15 oz
• Tomato passata or canned chopped tomatoes, 15 oz
• Tomato paste, 1 tablespoon
• Chili powder, 1 teaspoon
• Paprika, 1 tsp
• Cumin, 1 tsp
• Neutral oil
• Salt
• Pepper
• Coriander / cilantro (for garnishing)

Many people get stressed when they are tasked with cooking for people (or even for themselves), worrying that they'll mess it up and end up making something that tastes awful. When it comes to chili, though, things couldn't be simpler, so it's the perfect place to start your culinary journey: Chop it all up, chuck in the pot in the right order, cook for a while, and serve!

Here's how to make chili con carne

Step 1: Like all good cooking sessions, the first step is to do all of your pre-cooking prep. When it comes to chili, this means making your stock if it isn't already in liquid form, dicing your onions and garlic, chopping your bell peppers, measuring out your spices, and roughly slicing your chilies.

Step 2: Put your pot on a medium-high heat and bring it up to temperature with a little bit of oil at the bottom. Once hot, add your onions and sauté lightly until they start to go translucent (but not brown). Add your garlic and continue for another 2–3 minutes.

Step 3: Mix in your minced beef and brown it thoroughly, getting a little bit of char on the outsides so that it develops a more complex flavor. Season with a pinch of salt and a few cracks of pepper, and add your bell peppers.

Step 4: Once the meat is all cooked and a little bit browned, mix in your red kidney beans. Make sure they are fully combined and add in your various spices, mixing thoroughly and cooking until fragrant.

Step 5: Now it's time to add your liquids. First mix in the tomato paste, allowing it to soak up the juices from the meat and intensify in color. Follow this up with the puréed tomato and half your stock, mixing thoroughly.

Step 6: Lower the temperature to medium and put a lid over the top. Boil for at least an hour, only using the remaining stock if it gets a bit too dry and needs some more liquid. Preferably cook for 3–4 hours.

Step 7: Serve on a bed of rice, garnished with a crack of pepper, a sprinkle of salt, and some beautiful, fresh coriander.

With a little bit of patience, you'll have a gorgeous chili con carne complete with all the trimmings you could ever desire. Just let it boil for as long as you can allow and enjoy those fragrant aromas. Then serve it on some rice with a garnish of coriander.

If you want to eat chili but don't eat meat (or are vegan and don't want to eat any animal products), fear not! It is extremely easy to make chili with no meat at all – in fact, "chili sin carne" or "chili without meat" is a dish in itself. Ultimately, it's just about replacing the meat with something else.

We would recommend as an option simply substituting the beef with more kidney beans. You can also feel free to add alternatives like carrots, pumpkin, potato or sweet potato, tofu, or whatever you want. Just make sure the quantities are equal to what they would have been with the beef so the ratios aren't off.

Chili sin carne is a beautiful dish in itself, and we'd particularly recommend crowning it with half an avocado. This will combat the spiciness with a bit of creaminess to sooth the pallet. The meat often has a habit of subduing the spices, making them more mild or even invisible, so with beans and veggies instead of beef, you're in for a more interesting time flavor-wise.

It's important to recognize that there are plenty of dishes out there that can be just as good, if not better, when made without meat. Chili sin carne is a legendary example, and one you should certainly try.

Chili con carne is a spicy stew characterized by its use of kidney or pinto beans and a particular spice mix which must include cumin. It originates from northern Mexico, and can be made using a variety of different meats. It also serves as a component in many other dishes, often as a flavorful topping.

It seems that chili dates back to at least as far as the early 1500s, when Franciscan friar Bernardino de Sahagun first described it in his writings. At the time it was consumed in the Aztec capital, Tenochtitlan, where present-day Mexico City now stands. It took on a similar form to today, being a stew that was seasoned with chili peppers.

Nowadays, chili con carne is primarily consumed in northern Mexico and southern Texas. That being said, it is now one of the most global foods in the world and is consumed in countries in Asia, Africa, Europe, and elsewhere.

Chili con carne is a Spanish term for the dish that was first recorded in an 1857 book about the Mexican-American War. It consists of "chili," referring to the pepper used to season the dish, and "con carne," which simply means "with meat." It's a pretty direct name which describes almost exactly what you're going to get when you order or make it.

Nowadays, most people in the English-speaking world simply refer to it as "chili," despite the word simply referring to one of its many ingredients. In addition, when you refer to "chili sin carne," you are saying "chili without meat." Again, what you hear is what you get.

There are many great side dishes to include with your chili, either to take an edge off the heat or to turn your meal into something truly special. Whether you take the chili you have made and transform it into something new, or just sit down with a nice flatbread and eat it straight out of the pot, you're in for one hell of a time with this delicious chili con carne recipe.

Here are some side dishes to serve with chili:

• Potatoes: Slice your potatoes thinly and bake them in the oven, seasoned with olive oil and salt.
• Avocados: Either slice some avocados and put them on top, or make a beautiful guacamole.
• Nachos: Make yourself some deliciously cheesy nachos, with some crunchy corn chips, guacamole, sour cream, and a lot of melted cheese.
• Tacos: Do exactly what you would do with nachos, but with tacos instead.
• Sour cream: Top your chili with some sour cream. It'll help take the edge off the heat.
• Rice: Steam or boil yourself some fluffy rice. If you have trouble cooking rice, check out our guide on how to make rice.
• Tortillas: Serve with some tortillas to help you scoop up the chili and eat it with your hands. Chuck them in the oven for a bit beforehand to warm them up and make them more fluffy.

It doesn't take much to make the whole house happy, and a good chili will certainly do it for you. Make it delicious, serve it with something additional, and have a jolly ol' time while doing so.

While chili con carne is one of the most common home meals out there, that doesn't mean everyone feels comfortable chucking it together. It's very normal to feel overwhelmed by the cooking process as it involves many complex skills, but if there's any dish that you can figure out even as an amateur home chef, it's the glory of chili con/sin carne.

So grab your beans (and beef, if you choose), a couple bell peppers, some beautiful onions, and a good handful of garlic cloves, and set out on a journey to make a delicious week night meal that the whole family will enjoy. Maybe you could even turn the leftovers into nachos!