Jacket Potatoes with Easy Chili Filling Recipe

As well as being great served on a bed of rice, the classic American (Mexican) style chili also makes a wonderful filing for a jacket potato.

Here I've simplified the chili recipe slightly to make it easier to prepare (and so that you just have enough for filling 4 potatoes). Regardless, you still have a good base chili here if you want and you could scale this up to serve with rice rather than the potatoes.

Jacket Potatoes with Easy Chili Filling

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

4 large baking potatoes
1 tbsp sunflower oil
1 small onion, chopped
340g (12 oz) lean minced (ground) beef
1 tsp hot chilli powder
1/4 tsp ground cumin
140ml (1/2 cup + 1 tbsp) beef stock
200g (7 oz) tin of red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
4 tomatoes, blanched, peeled, and coarsely chopped
1 tbsp tomato purée

Method:

For perfect jacket potatoes you need potatoes of even size (about 275g [10 oz] each is ideal). Scrub the potatoes clean and prick all over with the tines of a fork. Brush with a little butter or oil then sit on a baking tray and transfer to an oven pre-heated to 200ºC (400ºF, Gas Mark 6) and bake for about 60 to 75 minutes, or until the potatoes are soft when gently squeezed.

In the meantime, prepare the chili filling. Heat the oil in a saucepan and use to fry the onion for about 4 minutes, or until just soft but not coloured. Add the minced beef and continue to cook until nicely and evenly browned (stir with a wooden spoon during this time to break up any large lumps of meat). Sprinkle over the chilli powder and ground cumin and stir to combine.

Add the stock, beans, tomatoes and tomato purée to the pan and bring the mixture just to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, cover and cook for 20 minutes, or until the meat is tender and the sauce has thickened.

When the potatoes are cooked, cut the top off each one and scoop out a little hollow.

Pour the chilli over the top and serve.