Chili beans. An oxymoron?
Chili...beans, or no beans?
Don't get me wrong, it doesn't really matter what's in it...if it is labeled chili, I will throw cheese on top and eat several bowls full. When I am making it, however, the first person to mention beans is banned from the kitchen until the leftover chili is gone.
How 'bout you? Everyone has a chili recipe.
Beans, or no beans?
Add a comment:
Previewing your comment:
HTML Hints
Some HTML is OK: <a href="URL">link</a>, <strong>strong</strong>, <em>em</em>
Comment Guidelines
Post whatever you want, just keep it seriously about eats, seriously. We reserve the right to delete off-topic or inflammatory comments. Learn more at our Comment Policy page.
If you see something not so nice, please, report an inappropriate comment.
Start Talking!
Need a question answered? Have advice to share? Start a Talk topic now!
Sign up to get your questions answered and share advice.
27 Comments:
As a vegetarian there are always beans in my chili! However, I often use a combination of them. Mostly black beans, white "great northern" beans, pinto beans and kidney beans... or some combination of those beans. 95% of the time I serve my chili with rice (brown or white), avocado, and sour cream. I love to add a 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon for a surprise flavor!
watchforbears at 9:24PM on 10/16/07
As a native Texan, I am obligated to vehemently proclaim no beans.
But my mom always threw in a can of kidneys and I liked it that way. Not fond of any other sort of bean in chili, though, the texture is not right to me.
Also not crazy about rice with chili. For me, it's corn bead only. Garnishes? A little cheese, maybe some diced white onion or sour cream.
Now I want some. Today was the first arguably fall-like day herei n Austin,and chili would have been great.
ren at 1:41AM on 10/17/07
I posted this question before leaving work last night, and when I got home, there was a big pot of chili cooking on the stove!
My wife is psychic.
Or maybe she reads Serious Eats.
ajeys at 8:48AM on 10/17/07
Another vegetarian, so of course my chili is mostly beans - which fact I had to hide when asking a Texan acquaintance for his "famous" recipe, since it had been made clear to me that he would refuse out of principle to tell it to me if he knew I was making vegetarian chili. Usually I do kidney beans, black beans, and pinto beans, with some TVP standing in for ground beef. I usually serve it with cheddar cheese or sour cream, and flour tortillas (the standard when I was a kid) or cornbread. Chili might be the one good thing about winter!
producestories at 9:05AM on 10/17/07
If you're making Texas Red, there should be no beans. Heck, the mere mention of the legume would get you thrown out of Terlingua. That said, plenty of people add beans to their chili, which if that's how they like it, I won't argue with their choice. I will at least recommend Ranch Style Beans as the preferred filler. But for me--no beans, ever!
homesicktexan at 9:36AM on 10/17/07
I do both. My boyfriend hates beans so I make the chili without, split it and and beans to my half. black beans or pinto beans.
VerasTastyFreeze at 11:08AM on 10/17/07
I love chili, beans or no beans. I don't understand why beans are hated so violently by "true" chili buffs. If it tastes good, why not eat it?
1stmakearoux at 12:22PM on 10/17/07
All I know is that, with or w/o beans, I'd like another bowl, please. And cornbread is definitely a required accompaniment. However, growing up, we always had peanut butter sandwiches with our bowls of chili. Crazy? Maybe, but it works.
blog in my soup at 12:39PM on 10/17/07
When you say "chili", am assuming it's the Cincinnati or Texas variety. For me, "chile" is a dish made with either green or red chile. Pinto beans and tortillas are traditional accompaniments. If you've never had a bowl of beans and red chile, try one next time you're in New Mexico. If it makes your nose run, it's doing it's job!
hatlady at 12:53PM on 10/17/07
Not only should there not be beans, think about what beans add to chili: nothing. The dish is already, hopefully, super-flavored. Any flavor the beans add is colored over by their being infused with chili broth flavor. In the end, you end up having one less chili portion with your tastier protein choice (beef tips, ground beef, ground turkey, whatev) because your earlier portions featured filling, carb-like beans. Wouldn't you rather eat more sirloin tips? Chili is Texas, and Texans don't add beans.
Sandro at 2:04PM on 10/17/07
I know that International Chili standards are hands-down, no beans, and I've read about the history of chili -- no beans. (I attended an ICS chili cookoff and saw chili being made with every at least five different kinds of meat, and it all smelled heavenly!)
However, my mom always made chili with beans and ground beef, and that's the way I like it. It's my favorite cold-weather food, and even with fiber-filled beans, I still eat two bowls full. I like to use black and pinto beans, peppers and onions, and it's gotta be spicy!
misseditor at 2:43PM on 10/17/07
I understand that authentic texas chili doen not contain beans, However, I am not a big fan of red meat and I love alternative chilis. I make a three bean chili with kidney, cannelini and garbanzo beans. Its grea on top of a baked potato with meltd cheddar, scallions and sour cream.
I also love white bean and chicken green chili with tortilla chips. Now, I'm hungry.
KtMc24 at 3:35PM on 10/17/07
I love beans, so of course my chili has beans in it. I do a three bean, three meat chili. Pintos, kidney, and black beans, ground pork, beef and beef chuck. I make my own chili powder. I also always add a good dark beer to it. I've turned non-chili eatting people into chili loving people with my chili. Even people who refuse to eat beans in their chili loved my combination.
malenky at 4:32PM on 10/17/07
I love beans so there must be beans in my chili. If the traditionalists insist, I won't call my beany recipe "chili"...that's fine with me, as long as I have my black beans and pintos! I also recently discovered that soybeans taste amazing when cooked chili or bean soup style. Sooo good.
stumbler02 at 5:14PM on 10/17/07
I'm in the all beans no meat camp--make it thick, too.
JEP at 5:34PM on 10/17/07
My favorite, hands down, is without beans. That said, when I cook chili it almost always contains pintos, partly to make it a much healthier "complete" one-dish meal that includes vegetable matter, and partly to make a lot more of it for very little money. Sometimes I make it with chicken breast or purely vegetarian, just for the variety and health benefits (major added appeal -- it's extremely economical).
My big no-no is ground meat. I much, much, much prefer it made with chunks of beef. Tri-tip works really well -- it's fairly reasonably priced, will hold up to a good bit of cooking, but doesn't require hours for tenderness. I use it when I'm pinched for time, which is more often than not. (But the the ultra-cheap cuts are great when I've got all day!)
I don't care for lots of tomato, either, especially big chunks. Just a hint of minced or crushed will do. When making a hurry-up version, I add a small can of Herdez salsa.
LoCo at 6:45PM on 10/17/07
There was an interesting, well-researched article in _Gastronomica_ a while back about the beans- no beans debate. Seems it wasn't an issue until the Terlingua chili cookoff began, various recipes up til that time included varying amounts of beans.
himynameischuck at 6:46PM on 10/17/07
I like my chili with beans, that's for sure! In fact, beans are the first ingredient I think of when it comes to chili.
Hillary
Chew on That
Chew on That at 7:04PM on 10/17/07
I'm a Texan through and through, but I confess to loving beans in my chili, though in Austin that might get me accidentally gored by the nearest longhorn. I just love the extra flavors and texture, especially if you add beer and a little cinnamon and cocoa powder.
Christina at 7:10PM on 10/17/07
No beans
No tomatoes
No chocolate
No cinnamon
No rice
No pasta
No ground meat.
I use steak for my chili. I smoke it for a couple hours and cut it into cubes, then cook the chili for a few more hours. It's very tasty.
PhotoKirk at 10:53PM on 10/17/07
Native Texan here and I put kidney beans in my chili. They taste good and work great for my recipe. And I hate those tedious arguments as to what constitutes the "proper" form of what is essentially folk cooking.
Tellicherry at 10:36AM on 10/18/07
Black beans.....no kidney beans....to big & obnoxius......not tradition chili....but still tastes good anyway!
mepolo at 1:15PM on 10/19/07
I use thick ground chuck, at least 3 ground chili powders, ground and chunky tomatoes and no beans. I serve my chili with rice on the bottom, chopped scallion and sour cream on top, shredded cheddar if you want it.
My chili recipe is my own and I have never seen anyone thumb their nose at it.
JerzeeTomato at 2:45PM on 10/19/07
I have two different chili recipes that I love and - gasp - they're both vegetarian chilis. One is a three-bean chili (kidney, black bean and refried, to thicken the chili), the other is almost more of a stew, with tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, kidney beans, and garbanzos.
macknitter at 11:49PM on 10/20/07
I wouldn't even know where to start to make chili without beans!
I even live in Texas, and I've never had any complainers. I use ground beef, chili beans, kidney beans, and lots of tomatoes and onions. It's spicy and delicious.
You know what I don't understand? People who like the chili from Wendy's. That stuff isn't flavorful or anything.
hubble59 at 9:29AM on 10/22/07
I've always used beans, they stretch the chili a little farther, I think. I definitely am not a fan of chili made with things like chocolate or sugar or cinnamon. The chili my family loves is pretty much like the chili you would find in a school cafeteria: ground beef, minced garlic, chopped onions, diced tomatoes, tomato paste, kidney beans, chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, sea salt, fresh pepper, dash of oregano and a dash of cayenne pepper. I know....it horrifies chili aficionados! But it tastes good and makes some really frito pies the next day!
elderberry44 at 9:07PM on 10/23/07
As a Houstonian, no beans was started by CASI and is for competition so that judges don't fill up on fillers. Any hearty, home-cooked, "just like mom made" chili has beans and the pretentious cook-off crowd can get over it.
TXRugger at 12:56PM on 01/28/08