What Does Chili con Carne Cost in Switzerland?
Chili con carne is Switzerland's classic feed-a-crowd dinner - and its cost lives or dies on the minced beef. Here's the cost structure, the smartest swaps, and how to see which ingredients are on offer this week for a pot that serves 6-8.
The cost of a big pot of chili con carne is driven almost entirely by one ingredient: the minced beef. Everything else - red kidney beans, canned tomatoes, onions, garlic and a spice mix - is among the cheapest food you can buy in any Swiss supermarket, so the more you lean on the beans and tomatoes, the lower your cost per portion. That is exactly why chili has always been the classic "feed a crowd for little" dinner. To see which ingredients are on offer this week, open the live chili con carne recipe in the Rappn app, where every ingredient carries the current offer across all seven chains.
As of July 2026. This guide routes you to the live chili con carne recipe on Rappn's recipes hub, which shows the current offer for each ingredient at Migros, Coop, Aldi, Lidl, Denner, Aligro and Otto's, and how many of them are on sale - this week's real offers for a pot for 6-8, never a guess.
Rappn is Switzerland's free, neutral grocery price comparison - no retailer agreements, so no chain is ever quietly pushed to the top.
What drives the cost of chili con carne?
Build the shopping list for 6-8 people and it looks like this: roughly 800 g to 1 kg of minced beef, two to three cans of red kidney beans, two cans of chopped tomatoes or pelati, a couple of onions, garlic, one or two bell peppers, a spoon of tomato paste, and the spice trio of chili powder, cumin and paprika (plus oregano and a pinch of salt). Of all of that, the minced beef is the swing factor - it is by far the most expensive line, and it is the one whose price moves most from week to week and chain to chain. The canned beans and tomatoes barely move and cost little, which is the whole trick of the dish: they bulk out the pot so a modest amount of meat feeds eight.
What does chili con carne cost per portion in Switzerland?
Per portion, chili is one of the cheapest hot meals you can put in front of a crowd, because the beans and tomatoes do the heavy lifting while the meat is spread thin. We won't print a franc figure here, because the honest answer changes every week: minced beef goes on Aktion regularly, own-brand cans cost a fraction of branded ones, and the gap between chains is real. What matters is the live picture - the Rappn recipe shows the current best offer for each ingredient, and how many are on sale, so you see what's cheapest for your pot today, rather than a stale estimate.
Where do you save the most on a chili for 6-8?
The biggest lever is always the meat. After that, swapping branded cans for own-brand ones shaves the rest with no real taste loss once everything has simmered with the spices.
| Ingredient | Cheaper alternative | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Minced beef (the swing factor) | Use more beans and less meat, or switch to plant mince | The single biggest saving; discounter own-brand plant mince at Aldi or Lidl typically undercuts branded V-Love and Karma |
| Minced beef (if you keep it) | Buy it on Aktion and freeze | Chili freezes beautifully, so stock up when mince is discounted and batch-cook a double pot |
| Red kidney beans | Own-brand cans (M-Budget, Prix Garantie, Aldi, Lidl) | Branded and own-brand beans are near-identical once spiced; add an extra can to stretch the meat further |
| Chopped tomatoes / pelati | Own-brand pelati | The cheapest tinned tomatoes are indistinguishable after a long simmer |
| Bell peppers | Buy in season, or bulk with extra onion and carrot | Peppers swing with the season; onions and carrots are cheap year-round bulkers |
| Spices | A ready chili spice mix or larger jars | Per-portion spice cost is tiny, and bigger jars are cheaper per gram if you cook chili often |
How to make chili con carne cheaper for a crowd
- Shift the ratio: 500 g of beef plus an extra can of beans still tastes rich and cuts the cost per portion sharply.
- Cook a double batch - chili keeps for days in the fridge and freezes in portions, so one shop feeds several dinners.
- Serve it with rice or bread rather than more meat; both are cheap ways to make the pot go further.
- Time the meat to an Aktion and build the rest of the list from own-brand cans.
Prices for minced beef, beans and tomatoes change every week across all seven Swiss chains, and no single shop wins on all of them - the discounters often lead on canned staples while the meat deal can sit anywhere. That is why a fixed number here would be out of date by next week: Rappn shows the live offers on the recipe itself, ingredient by ingredient.
So what does a crowd-sized chili really cost? It depends on this week's meat price and how far you push the beans - which is precisely what you can check live. Open the chili con carne recipe on Rappn's recipes hub to see the current offer for each ingredient, browse this week's grocery offers to catch the mince on Aktion, or see which shop is leading right now on the cheapest supermarket in Switzerland overview.
Sources checked: .
This is Rappn's shopping-list view: add a recipe's ingredients and see the current offer for each one across Migros, Coop, Aldi, Lidl, Denner, Aligro and Otto’s. Tap around to try it.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is the most expensive ingredient in chili con carne?
The minced beef, by a wide margin. Beans, tomatoes and onions are cheap, so the meat is both the biggest cost and the one whose price swings most - the reason chili gets cheaper the more you lean on beans. Check the live meat and mince offers in Rappn.
How can I make chili con carne cheaper without losing flavour?
Shift the ratio toward beans (for example 500 g of beef plus an extra can), buy the mince on Aktion and freeze it, and use own-brand cans of beans and tomatoes. The spices carry the flavour, so few people notice the swap.
Is plant-based mince cheaper than beef for chili?
It depends on the brand. Discounter own-brand plant mince at Aldi or Lidl is usually cheaper than beef, while branded V-Love or Karma can cost more - compare the live prices in Rappn before you decide.
How many servings does one pot of chili make?
A standard pot built on around 800 g to 1 kg of meat with two to three cans of beans comfortably serves 6-8, and it scales up cleanly - chili is the classic batch dinner and freezes well.
Does chili con carne freeze well for batch cooking?
Yes - it freezes and reheats better than almost any other one-pot dish, and many say it tastes even better the next day, which makes it ideal for cooking once and eating several times.
Where can I see what my chili con carne will cost this week?
On the live recipe in the Rappn app, which shows the current offer for each ingredient at Migros, Coop, Aldi, Lidl, Denner, Aligro and Otto's, and how many are on sale, so you see this week's real offers rather than an estimate.