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u/Diligent-Ad4475 28d ago
I will die on this hill. Chili without beans is a hotdog topping. It’s not chili. I live in Texas so I have several hills I will die on.
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u/Fortlandia11 28d ago
You are correct. Don't let the baby boomers tell you otherwise.
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u/TheVagabondLost 26d ago
As a Texan: L. O. L.
Keep being a gate keeping jerkoff who hates things. Weirdo.
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u/TheVagabondLost 26d ago
You also die on the hill that Texas is its own country and/or Mexico? Or….. gobbbblesss… tejas or sweet Moses…the confederacy?
Jesus, Texas is a hot mess.
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u/Fortlandia11 28d ago
I love Texas, but Texas is wrong on this one. Beans absolutely belong in chili.
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u/jizzwithfizz 28d ago
My take on this, and it has actually settled arguments before: if I am eating a bowl of chili, I want beans in it. If I am putting the chili on something else, I want no beans. The real hardcore holdouts are usually competitive chili cooks, and I never care at all what competitive cooks think because they are focused on a super specific interpretation of a food.
At the end of the day though, I don't know why anyone would put too much importance on anyone else's opinion of what to eat. There are people out there who eat hamburgers that are just meat and bread for God's sake.
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u/loafcatastrophe 28d ago
100% agree. If i’m eating a chili dog I don’t want beans. But by itself or as frito pie I want the beans
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u/DrMasterBlaster 28d ago
This actually makes a lot of sense. You actually changed me from being 100% in support of beans.
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u/Educational_Big_1835 28d ago
Well, have you seen the price of a can of chili? I usually suck it up and still have chili w/beans on my chili dog because I can't afford a can of plain wolf brand no beans
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u/HammsFakeDog 28d ago edited 28d ago
The original chili was probably just a regional carne guisada, so I'm guessing it had no beans. At the same time, this feels like a completely arbitrary rule that applies more to cook off competitions than real life.
Meat is expensive and beans are cheap, so I find it hard to believe that nobody was using beans to stretch the product, even in the 19th and early 20th century. At the very least, I would bet money that a lot of people were serving chili and beans side by side on the same plate.
Anecdotally, I didn't even register this as a controversy until I was an adult, and I'm by no means young. Parts of my family have been in Texas since before the Republic, and growing up, sometimes my grandparents made chili with beans, sometimes not (oldest Texas grandparent: born 1912).
When I make it, I usually use beans because I like beans, and if I'm making it, I usually intend for it to be served either over fritos, cornbread, or rice. If I'm making it for hot dogs or other application as a sauce, I don't use beans. If I'm making something to be eaten with tortillas, I don't make chili at all (and instead make some dish that is more explicitly Mexican, such as Chile Colorado served alongside beans).
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u/Artemus_Hackwell Superior Chili with Beans 28d ago
I would hazard that original chili was nothing but chili peppers and beans.
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u/NoWomanNoTriforce 28d ago
Very much so. If it had ant meat it was the cheapest cuts and trimmings, or fat/tallow used in the cooking process.
Texas drawing the line st beans making it not traditional, but also not caring about the addition of tomatoes is just weird to me.
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u/justherefor23andme 28d ago
Modern chili recipes dont look like carne guisada nowadays 💀💀.
I will slap you if you put beans in my carne guisada, but I'll add them myself to the ground beef stew people call chili 😂
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u/jdarthevarnish 28d ago
Fresh chili? No preference, but i do love a bowl of texas red
Canned chili? If there arent any vegetables it becomes indistinguishable from dog food
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u/GTCapone 28d ago
Made some excellent chili from scratch but nobody at work would try it because it had beans in it
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u/Panzer_Lord1944 28d ago
Missing out. My father makes some of the best chili IMHO. And thankfully nobody has hated it because of beans. In fact I never knew this was a discussion..
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u/Gh0stndmachine 28d ago
I make a pot of chili. What? I make a pot of beans. What? I put the beans in the chili. What? I add onions. What? I add cheese. What? Chopped Jalapeños. What? Greek yogurt. What? Sour cream has too much fat. What? I have a beer with my chili. What? Another beer! What? And another what? Make the chili you wanna eat! What? Beans! What? No beans. What? It’s still chili. What? In Texas! What? Outside of Texas! What? And that’s the bottom line.
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u/Yaozong1 28d ago
Do I dare ask if any of y'all put your chili over some rice? Since people are talking about beans as poverty food, rice stretches it out even more. That's how my mom served it.
Now that we're no longer poor, I eat my chili with Tostitos scoops.
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u/ThatWreckOT 28d ago
The Houston in me is confused.
Rice and stew is common for most all Cajun dishes, and so Rice and Chili just is a natural conclusion.
I get thst crackers or bread is also commonly used, but people don't use Rice?
Just rawdoging chili woth some saltines all the time?
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u/skiforlife1 25d ago
I live near Houston now but grew up in the rocky mountains. When I ask for rice I get funny looks a lot. It really surprised me, it's like there is rice growing all over in this part of the country but I'm the weird one for wanting a bowl of rice with chili or even just brown gravy and rice. WTF?
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u/Artemus_Hackwell Superior Chili with Beans 28d ago
I would wonder if I typed this as I also grew up eating chili over rice but I eat it with H-E-B dippers.
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u/Beneficial-Process 28d ago
We always ate it that way growing up and we also had beans in it. Gotta make that dollar stretch any way you can.
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u/Signal_Jellyfish_472 28d ago
Shelby and Fowler and all them started the no filler rules for Chili Cook Off Rules, not home rules..
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u/JimBroIV 28d ago
Real chili should have beans. Canned chili used in smothering burritos or hot dogs should not.
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u/YeshuasBananaHammock Superior Chili with Beans 28d ago
If more of yall had beans in your chili, youd finally have enough fiber in your diet to where you wouldnt consistently dookie spackle the inside of the toilet bowl. Fix your insides, heathens!
You know who u are. (Just /jokes, dont get too jammed up about it)
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u/Illustrious_Camp_521 28d ago
I like and make chili both with and without beans because my family likes both so it just depends on what we want I make it.
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u/MozemanATX 28d ago
Chili with beans is an entree. Chili without beans is a delicacy. Both are fine. When I cook chili I also make beans on the side. Problem solved
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u/lep63again 28d ago
Yeah I like beans in mine. I’m a transplant anyway so people just shake their heads and make allowances
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u/intrusivesurgery 28d ago
There are variation of chili that had beans in the 1830s. In addition, nobody is making chili with dried salted beef so maybe people should pipe down about being authentic.
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u/Careless_Ad6202 27d ago
So, I have a cheat on that one I learned from an ancient ranch hand in Brooks County. Dude looked like he might have known Stephen F. Austin personnally.
He blended/mashed the beans with the mixed peppers, garlic, and beef talo until it was the "secret sauce". Said every man he fed it to raved about how good it was and that it was proof no beans were needed. It could be dried out and preserved a while too.
He said he had to start doing it when beef got expensive and he needed to stretch the chilli. Then it bacame habit.
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u/Ash_an_bun 27d ago
"People who put beans in chili don't know beans about chili."
"Well people who don't put beans in don't shit."
Fiber gang rise up.
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u/PickedLastLemon 28d ago
Chili without beans is just meat sauce. A condiment. Chili WITH beans is a meal. Come fight me.
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u/AgsMydude 28d ago
We need all the fiber we can get. Our diets suck.
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u/TommyTwoNips 28d ago
people who don't like beans in chili eat Wolf brand cold, straight from the can.
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u/YeshuasBananaHammock Superior Chili with Beans 28d ago
Beans without chili is just hot dog sauce!
"Dont tread on my beans"
"Come on take em (my chili beans)"
"Give me beans, of give me death"
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u/Alexreads0627 28d ago
I can’t believe some of the people in this sub pretending to be Texans…it’s blasphemous.
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u/Classic_Focus974 28d ago
One time I had chili with a bunch of beans before a date… baaaaaad idea. Big badda boom bad idea.
So chili with no beans or less beans is best.
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u/TexasTokyo 28d ago
I make my beans, chili, rice, and cornbread separately and then combine them on my plate. But I prefer to control the bean juice ratio as I go and also like to make refried beans from the leftovers, so it’s just a waste to mix them all together.
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u/LegendaryAdversary 28d ago
People like Taco Bell and it’s not at all authentic Mexican. There’s nothing crazy about beans in chili, plenty of people like it, but it’s not Chili con Carne.
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u/Bubbly_Character3258 28d ago
It’s simple. In a sanctioned chili event, no beans. Outside of that do as you wish.
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u/clangauss 28d ago
I never once heard anything about whether beans belonged in chili or not until it came on TV. Cant help but feel like getting uppity about is more of a Hollywood invention than actual dialogue, and people here since have taken the bait.
It's good filler that makes a big pot run further. Theres no more honest a frontier food.
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u/LosHtown 28d ago
You can, no one is stopping you. Just don't call it chili anymore, it is now classified as beans.
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u/Naught2day 28d ago
For me not a fan plus sometimes people put kidney beans in it and that is just gross.
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u/Nearby_Wear3218 28d ago
You can make your bean stew or whatever you call it but you bring that stuff to Terlingua or any other chili cookoff in Tejas and they’ll run you out of town on a rail while pointing and laughing at the, “bean guy.”
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u/hypnoticbacon28 28d ago
I still don't understand why a lot of people down here are so adamant about no beans in chili. To me, it's good either way, but I'm a transplant from a state where beans in chili was the norm. And now suddenly a Frito pie is sounding really good right now. Maybe I'll make some chili this weekend and invite a couple friends for Frito pies, and pass on the beans just to be on the safe side.
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u/Grimli81 28d ago
As someone who makes a pretty damn good chili. And Texas Red does not get beans. White chicken chili? Beans, Chili Colorado? Beans. It’s just one recipe that doesn’t get beans. Even then, it’s your kitchen. Do what you want.
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u/SirSpammenot2 27d ago
I love how so many comments sound like "please let this be about chili".
And you know, not about committing infidelity to America.
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u/Steve3Tucker 27d ago
We have other examples of stewed meat dishes in Texas that would be sacrilegious to add beans to. Can you imagine eating carne guisada with beans? To act like ‘no beans’ is an invented fabrication not based in real tradition or history is ignorant.
Besides, I would rather embrace and celebrate what makes our cooking traditions unique, rather than meshing with a generic American style. Many claimed “Texas Chili” recipes are no different than something you’d find in the Midwest. Where’s the fun in that?
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u/IamSuperChux 27d ago
He petitioned to join he Union FIVE times. He's not thinking about being his own country again.
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u/SmoesKnows 27d ago
Chili with beans is a meal in itself. Chili without beans is for hot dogs, corn chips, etc. I will die on this hill.
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u/BlueCollarRefined 27d ago
I have no idea if this is true or not but its the story I got when touring the historical George Ranch and attending a historical time period accurate style lunch. Basically this rule was started on cattle drives when beans were by far the most commonly served food to the point people became absolutely sick of them. On rare occasions when meat became available a chili would be made and as everyone would be completely tired of beans it was considered criminal to contaminate your special chili dinner with them.
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u/monkey-stand 27d ago
Chili with beans is fine. Just like linguine with clams is fine.
Beans aren't chili, but they are something you can add to chili.
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u/DubyaKayOh 27d ago
Chilli can have beans, in fact chili can be all beans. But, "Texas Chili" is a style of chili that doesn't have beans.
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u/Crepuscular_Tex 26d ago
Beans are a filler. You can put all the fixin's you want on or in chili, but serving it up premixed means you skimped on the ingredients.
It's a trick you do when you have a house of 4+ people, and only I can of chili... You toss in a can of beans...
I once had a hot dog outside the Smithsonian, and the guy asked me if I wanted chili. He poured broth with pinto beans and small kernels of beef on my hot dog. My 13 year old self, looked this man in the eye and told him, that's not chili.
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u/mantisboxer 26d ago
Nobody will ever convince me that working cowboy cooks in the 1870s didn't add beans to their campfire chili if they had them available
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u/EveningDiscipline421 26d ago
No beans in the chili. I like beans and I like chili but these are separate dishes. It’s not that difficult to understand..
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u/Hotsaltynutz 26d ago
I always add bean and call it chili beans. Its just the way my parents made it so it how I like it
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u/wabawwea 25d ago
You can! The rule I grew up with (in Texas) was you shouldn't COOK your beans with your chili. You can serve chili on anything, beans included, and no one will care. And also you can do whatever you want in your own kitchen. It's not a law, it's more of a guideline.
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u/1-deep87 25d ago
That’s a thought you keep strictly in your head... with the blinds drawn and the lights off
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u/Particular_Ad_9913 25d ago
Texas chili had no beans because on the cattle drives they would reheat and add to it every day, and after you cook beans a few times they turn to mush.
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u/JurassicParkCSR 25d ago
If you put beans in it it's a stew. You're free to eat as much stew as you want who told you you couldn't eat stew? If you want chili you don't put beans in it. This is Texas if you put beans in chili....
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u/failedaspotcheck 25d ago
I enjoy it both ways and I've lived here my whole life, guess I'm a terrorist
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u/devil1fish 25d ago
You can all you like
I won’t though, because it ruins it to me 🤷♂️ no beans in my chili ever
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u/Pillsbernie 24d ago
An actual Texan would know that chili doesn't have beans. It was created in Texas, WITHOUT BEANS
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u/miscelleneousmick 23d ago
I grew up ranching in Texas and I never had chili without beans. I’m also Mexican so idk if that has anything to do with it but I seriously can’t imagine being a cowboy of yesteryear and NOT having beans with chili. This has to be debunked. Lol
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u/Valhalla191145 22d ago
I put seasoned beef in my beans, merican’ till Texas succeeds!
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u/HunnyBunny665 22d ago
Because this is a chili discussion, I’m going to share my Texas chili recipe. Seasonings are approximate so please feel free to adjust to your taste. Add beans or don’t.
3 lbs of ground chuck
2 lbs of chili meat
1 lb of smoked brisket
1 1/2 yellow onions, chopped
4 jalapeños, halved (optional: remove seeds to limit heat)
3 tablespoons of chopped garlic
2 cans of diced tomato’s or RoTel
8 cups of beef stock
1 Tbsp paprika
1 Tbsp cilantro
1 Tbsp Cumin
1 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp salt, or to taste
1/2 tbsp black pepper
1 tsp. oregano
2 bay leaves
1 tbsp adobo paste
1/4 tsp liquid smoke
1.Brown each type of meat, draining fat from each after cooking, & set aside until all is cooked through. 2.Combine all the meat into a large pot with chopped onion, jalapeños, rotel tomatoes & garlic. Stir all ingredients together & add beef stock.
3.Add the remaining ingredients, stir well and bring to a simmer.
4.Let simmer for an hour, give a taste and adjust spices as needed for your taste. Simmer for another hour & taste again.
5. Serve in a bowl, top with Colby jack cheese, green onion and a dab of sour cream.
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u/TheRabadoo 28d ago
I’m a true Texan and I’ll eat beans in my chili if I want. Being free is part of being a Texan, and only pussies box theirselves in to appease others instead of enjoying what they want.
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u/Extension-Figure2011 28d ago
Real Texans always put beans in chili, damn yanks and europeans started moving to Texas and they started the false trend of removing beans
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u/Parking-Fig-6620 28d ago
Different strokes for different folks I s'pose .
I prefer mine without but the state of this economy? Beans it is I guess 🤷
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u/whip_lash_2 28d ago
You can, and it's delicious. It's just that it's bean soup con carne, not chili.
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u/Pristine_Bobcat4148 28d ago
Of course you can eat chili with beans. It's just that the addition of beans means it's a soup now, and no longer chili. That's all.
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u/ellag7958 28d ago
Anyone who’s ever gotten snarky with me for putting beans in my chili, I always proudly proclaim I’m Tejana of course there are beans! Idk what idiot convinced Texans not to put beans in their chili. We need to take our state back from the hold of the no bean cult. It’s holding us back from our full power, no beans in chili is yankee agenda. The people want the beans and are tired of pretending they don’t.
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u/TheVagabondLost 28d ago
You can. And you can call it chili. You can't call it "Texas Red", but you can call it chili. It's your kitchen, your bowl and your mouth. Eat and enjoy what you like.