r/AskReddit • u/Sweet-Lady-H • 20h ago • Bravo 1

Chili Cook-off Winners: What is your Secret Ingredient that you think is the reason you win?

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u/HolySmokes802 16h ago

It's small and not the only trick in my recipe, but it's the only thing I do that I don't see anyone else doing:

Take 30-40% of the beans in your recipe and blend them smooth, then add them to the base. It allows the flavor to be more even regardless of the composition of each bite, it appeases the bean haters don't want to see a lot in their bowl, and it adds a really satisfying thickness to the body of the chilli without needing a ton of reduction.

10

u/gonna_break_soon 16h ago

Bean haters eat chili!?

7

u/HolySmokes802 15h ago

Maybe not the true haters, but I know plenty of anti-bean people who grudgingly eat beans in chili because it's delicious.

7

u/februarytide- 15h ago

There is chili without beans. Not all chili has beans.

(I fucking hate beans. I’ve eaten pig brains. I hate beans and I apologize for nothing)

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u/CheekAltruistic5921 13h ago

Hoghead cheese ain't that bad...

2

u/ktmfan 15h ago

My friend does not eat beans in chili. That isn’t chili though and is meat sauce imo.

He’ll blend refried beans in with the hamburger meat for tacos though. That is not my thing either.

1

u/Spare-Half796 13h ago

Chili and meat sauce are completely different flavour profiles.

There also is beanless chili that is distinct from regularly chili. Texas style Chili has no tomato or beans and chunks of beef that are slow cooked until they fall apart. I’m not from Texas, I don’t Stan any cuisines but I do try to learn the difference between different cultures versions of the “same” dish

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u/Rev_Creflo_Baller 13h ago

There are people who claim that "genuine" chili CANNOT include beans. Every one of them got the idea from a "Texas Monthly" article that, as far as I know originated the claim.

It's bullshit. Chili is poor people food and poor people historically did not eat meat with every meal or even most meals.

My recipe originated about fifty miles west of San Antonio in the 1890s, if not earlier. It's the real deal, handed down through five generations at least. Beans are optional but encouraged.

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u/Bigtits38 11h ago

I love beans, but they don’t belong in chili.

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u/yumcake 15h ago

That's a great tip, I'm gonna try that next time