Honey Chilli

Our honey chilli recipe is a delicious sweet and spicy chilli that you can serve in so many ways, with rice, jacket potatoes, or some nice chunky bread. It's also perfect for making 'chilli dogs' using it as a topping for hot dogs. It's a simple 'one pot' recipe made in a large saucepan or wok. We've intentionally made this fairly mild on the heat scale, for one we find it's the better way to experience all the flavour from the wonderful spices and secondly we want the recipe to be enjoyed by everyone. However if you would like it hotter, then simply use hot chilli powder rather than mild. For extra topping suggestions see the notes at the end.

To make Just Bee Honey Chilli you will need:

• 500g of Lean Minced Beef
• 1 Tbsp of Olive Oil
• 1 Red Pepper
• 1 Red Onion
• 2 Cloves of Garlic
• 1 Tin of Chopped Tomatoes
• 1 Tin of Mixed Beans in Taco Sauce
• 2 Tbsps of Just Bee Honey
• 1 Beef Stock Cube
• 4 Tbsps of Tomato Puree
• 1 Tsp of Mild Chilli Powder
• 1 Tsp of Cayenne Pepper
• 1 Tsp of Smoked Paprika
• 1 Tsp of Ground Cumin
• 1 Tsp of Salt
• ½ Tsp of Ground Cinnamon
• ½ Tsp of Ground Black Pepper

• A Large Pan
• A Wooden Spatula
• A Small Measuring Jug

Step One: A Little Prep!

De-seed and chop the red pepper into small chunks, then chop the red onion. It's really up to you how fine you dice the pepper and onion. Some people prefer things a little more chunky, while others prefer much smaller pieces. I like to do my pepper a bit chunky with a finer chopped onion. Either way is perfectly fine. Then either grate, crush or finely chop your garlic.

Dissolve the stock cube in 250ml of hot water from the kettle, then add 4 tablespoons of tomato puree and stir that into the jug too.

Finally I like to spoon out all my spices onto a small dish ready to add later all in one go.

Step Two: Sauté Away!

Over a medium-low heat add a table spoon of olive oil to your pan and add the chopped pepper and onion. Cook gently for around 3 minutes until both are starting to soften, then add the garlic and cook for a couple more minutes.

Step Three: Add The Beef.

Turn the hob up to a medium-high heat then crumble the ground beef into the pan and cook until browned. You'll need to keep poking it around with the wooden spatula until fully broken up and cook through until there is no pink visible. This should take around 6-7 minutes

Step Four: Time to Get Spicy!

Add all the salt and spices we measured earlier to the pan and give it a good mix into the beef. Continue cooking for another couple of minutes while you enjoy all the wonderful aromas!

Step Five: Add Tins and Liquid.

Add the tin of chopped tomatoes, the tin of mixed beans and the stock and tomato mix from the jug. Bring to the boil stirring often.

Step Seven: Simmer Down!

Reduce the heat to a low simmer, then stir through 2 tablespoons of Just Bee Honey and allow to simmer gently for around 25 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Notes and extra toppings.

There's a wide range of choice for extra toppings that we left out of the recipe. They are all completely optional and what you choose might depend on how you are serving your chilli but our favourites include a blob of sour cream, a sprinkling of cheese, jalapenos (for those who crave even more heat!) crunchy tortilla chips, spring onions, or any combination of these!

If you have any chilli left over (or want to pre-make some) you can keep it in the fridge in an airtight container for a few days without worry. Just heat it through in a saucepan when you want to eat it, if it seems a little dry just add a little water to loosen it back up. I've been told that it tastes even better the next day!

If you want to keep it for longer you can freeze the chilli, if you have freezer bags you could even portion it up and use as needed.

If you'd rather use a green, yellow or orange pepper then feel free to do so. I like red peppers because they taste the sweetest but the sharper flavour from a green pepper works great too if that's your preference. It's also perfectly fine to use a regular white onion if that's what you already have.