Last Updated on December 12, 2025
Spicing it up with a low-calorie Chilli Con Carne recipe:
The reason for this low-calorie chilli con carne is that I’m trying my best to lose a bit of weight again, and am back to doing the 5:2 diet. Being sent a pack of meats from West Coast Foods, which are part of their Skinni range and are very low fat, is quite a help. I’ve used their 1% fat mince for this chilli con carne recipe – something I haven’t seen in a supermarket. It is just 105 calories per 100g – that’s a 20-cal saving per 100g on the leanest beef from Waitrose (5%). But, I’ve done the nutritional calculations based on what I normally buy – the 5% fat mince.
There are three tricks with this recipe that help to keep the calories down. Firstly, there’s a much higher ratio of beans and vegetables to meat than a conventional chilli – in fact, I’ve allowed just 50g of meat per portion. Secondly, I’ve dry-fried everything where necessary. So, there’s no added fat to push the calories up.
Thirdly, I’ve served it with cauliflower rice, in my case from a packet but you could just as easily use home made cauliflower rice – it’s easy as you can see from my earlier recipe. A decent 100g portion of cauliflower rice is just 32 calories. The equivalent white rice would be 129 calories. So, I’ve allowed myself a dollop of low-fat creme fraiche!
I actually rather like the higher proportion of veg in my chilli. With vegetarian friends, I know they are happy enough to eat chilli sans carne – but I prefer to have a little meat. And, while I sometimes find cauliflower rice unpalatable, used with a spicy dish such as chilli con carne it works very well.
Low Calorie Chilli con Carne
Ingredients
- 250 grams low fat beef mince
- 3 bell peppers I used one red, one yellow and one green
- 1 large onion
- 1 small carrot
- 1 stick celery
- 175 ml dry red wine
- 175 ml beef stock or water
- 1 200g can of tomatoes
- 1 400g can of red kidney beans drained
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2-3 tsp chilli powder
- salt and black pepper
Instructions
- Chop the onion and garlic cloves finely. Peel and dice the carrot and celery
- Brown the meat in a heavy based casserole pan, stirring to break up any clumps
- Remove the meat from the pan, leaving any fat behind. Brown the onion mixture for 4-5minutes then add the garlic, carrot, celery and chilli powder and continue to cook for 2-3 minutes.
- Add the meat back into the pan, stir through the wine and stock and the canned tomatoes. Cook over a low heat for about an hour, stirring occasionally, or cover and pop in the oven at 170c
- Add the peppers and kidney beans and check the seasoning. Add more chilli powder and salt and pepper to taste. Cook for a further 30-40 minutes till the mixture is reduced down and all the vegetables are done. Adjust seasoning to taste
- Serve with your choice of rice, cauliflower rice or noodles and with a dollop of sour cream or low fat creme fraiche
Video
Notes
Nutrition
This time round, I’m mixing up my 5:2 diet a bit by trying to do it based on a defined eating window. On both fast days and non-fast days, I am trying to eat within an 8-hour maximum window. So, that means no breakfast and no snacking until I ‘open my window’. I’m actually following the ‘clean fast’ advice of Gin Stephens and drinking black coffee, tea or water until around 1 pm, enjoying a light lunch and supper on a fast day and more on a non-fast day – and then stopping eating at 9 pm. I’m still doing two fast days of around 500 calories though because I do want to lose weight.
It suits me well as an eating plan – I’ve found that my cravings for sweet things have lessened and that I simply don’t snack in the same way during the morning. And, I’m losing weight at a sensible rate – about a kilo a week at the moment. With a lifestyle like mine that involves a lot of travel and eating out, I need all the help I can get. The theory is that if you ‘clean fast’ you will feel less hungry because your insulin won’t be spiked by (for example) a sugary drink.
It’s too soon to say for sure, but right now I’m more than happy with the results I’m getting by following a clean fast and ‘delay don’t deny’ techniques.
Thinking of trying this recipe yourself? Why not pin it for later
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