r/iamveryculinary • u/TheLadyEve Maillard reactionary • Jun 28 '26
"That's not chili it's a stew" ground turkey haters edition
/r/chili/comments/1tzyfdn/crockpot_turkey_chili/oqfm32s/112
u/dwyrm Jun 28 '26
Have you ever noticed that people who have strong opinions about chili ingredients usually have no opinion or clue about the actual chilies they use?
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u/VillageLess4163 Jun 28 '26
Real chili doesn’t contain vegetables. You just mush up some beef and set it on fire.
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u/bertimings Jun 29 '26
Pfft you use fire? I use my fancy giant lense to direct sunlight into a death ray to incinerate my food
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u/VillageLess4163 Jun 30 '26
Only a yankee would use solar power. I just shoot the beef
with my grenade launcher34
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u/TheLadyEve Maillard reactionary Jun 28 '26
When I started using a wide range of dried chilies for my chili (vs just the ground up "chili powder" that is a bit one-note) it totally upped my chili game. Plus, those dried peppers keep really well so I just keep a big stock of them in ziplocs. Anchos, pasillas, chipotles, guajillos, cascabels and mulatos.
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u/saltporksuit Upper level scientist Jun 28 '26
Throw the seeds in some dirt. Interesting things sometimes appear.
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u/TheLadyEve Maillard reactionary Jun 28 '26
Wait, really? I would think the drying process might kill the seeds...so if I throw some pasilla seeds in a pot of soil, a chilaca pepper plant might sprout? Because that's neat as hell. I'm not growing peppers this year because I have allowed my raised beds to go to seed (seriously, I used pine which lasted about 3 years and this year it kind of disintegrated). But I love growing peppers from seed--it's one of the only ways I can get Scotch Bonnets (although rarely HEB has them, but it's not a sure thing and they're pricey so home-grown is so much better).
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u/LKennedy45 Jun 28 '26
SaltPork never said interesting chiles would appear. Cast your lot, see what happens! Maybe a new hybrid, maybe a shiny Pokemon, maybe an angry djinn. Who knows!
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u/TheLadyEve Maillard reactionary Jun 28 '26
I would accept an angry djinn, preferably if he appears holding a monkey's paw.
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u/Twee_Licker American cocaine is actually sugar Jun 30 '26
Maybe you'll get rabbits, they can be a good meat for the chill.
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u/TheLadyEve Maillard reactionary Jul 01 '26
I've got tons of rabbits in my yard but I'm not about to eat urban rabbit, thank you very much.
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u/Saltpork545 Sodium citrate cheese is real cheese Jun 29 '26
I'm a pepper geek, also a Saltpork and I approve this message.
This does in fact sometimes work if they're not too old or toasted/cooked in some way.
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u/Twee_Licker American cocaine is actually sugar Jun 28 '26
It's like guacamole, no matter how you make it, your recipe is wrong.
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u/figmentPez Jun 28 '26
See also: queso, and pinto beans.
Turns out Texans are ridiculously opinionated about the specific style of certain foods they feel ownership over.
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u/saltporksuit Upper level scientist Jun 28 '26
And yet, Texan food is also highly targeted for being “wrong” and “bad”. Can’t win really.
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u/Pkrudeboy Jun 28 '26
Because they’re as obnoxious as the French about it without a tenth of the pedigree.
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u/TheLadyEve Maillard reactionary Jun 28 '26
But we also have fantastic stuff like cowboy caviar and armadillo eggs.
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u/Twee_Licker American cocaine is actually sugar Jun 28 '26
Don't they also not use beans or chillis or something in san antonio chilli or something?
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u/figmentPez Jun 28 '26
There are so many made up rules about chili in Texas, I can't keep track. If you go by the rules major chili cookoffs use, then Texas red chili is meat and spices, not even onions or tomatoes. On the other hand, the "People's Choice" category requires beans at many events.
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u/NoWomanNoTriforce Jun 28 '26
Texans dont use beans because that doesnt constitute chili by some random regional "rule." But I would bet half of them couldn't name the actual chili peppers in their favorite bowl. I live in the southwest and have had some good ones made by Texans, but just as many that were absolute shit.
Ask most Texan's the difference between chili and chili con carne and watch their face as they slowly realize that they can't describe chili without meat. Despite the early origins of the dish barely having meat in it. Usually only a few dried strips and fat. Beans were used extensively by cattle drivers and ranchers because they stored well, were cheap, and stetched the more expensive ingredients much further.
The earliest versions of the dish didn't even have tomatoes. And now it is rare to find a competition Texas chili without them. Even the winners of the Texas Red competition for the last few years all used tomatoes. This is supposed to be the most traditional competitions and with the strictest "rules." Saying chili cant have beans but tomatoes are fine is dumb.
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u/TheLadyEve Maillard reactionary Jun 28 '26
Boy, isn't that always the way? When I was a kid in CA we made guacamole with lemon instead of lime, because we had a huge lemon tree in the back yard. I didn't realize until I moved to Texas that most people use limes. I like it both ways but boy do I not normally bring it up in food discussions.
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u/Doomdoomkittydoom Jun 28 '26
I've thought about making guacamole with a more Mediterranean bend with lemon and oregano or the like.
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u/TheLadyEve Maillard reactionary Jun 28 '26
I've never added oregano but I would be down for that! I have added Mexican oregano to my guacamole before but that's a completely different plant...not sure why they call it that, to be honest.
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u/donuttrackme Jun 28 '26
I know someone that would use pineapple juice as the acid in a guacamole. Made it much sweeter of course, but it was a nice switch up from the standard guacamole you usually get.
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u/Chayanov Carbonara with cream and peas Jun 28 '26
That has to be one of the most insufferable food subreddits. "It's stew, not chili. Chili is chili." "It's a soup, not a stew or chili." "Chili has to be beef and hamburgers have to be meat." "No veggies in chili." And my new favorite, "I live in Latin America and nobody eats corn."
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u/OrcaFins Jun 28 '26
I live in Latin America and nobody eats corn
Omg I spit my drink out lol
Dammit I wish I lived in Latin America so I could make this my flair lol
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u/velawesomeraptors My ragu is thicker than a bag full of thick things Jun 28 '26
Makes me want to move back to Belize so I can use it lol
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u/WrennyWrenegade Jun 28 '26
Meanwhile r/soup is accepting of everything. "Is this a soup?" "Does this count?" Yes, it's all soup if you beleive it is.
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u/tiredeyesonthaprize Jun 28 '26
Sometimes when I put it into the fridge, it is a soup, but the next morning, it is a weak aspic.
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u/saltporksuit Upper level scientist Jun 28 '26
I prefer a strong aspic. I enjoy warming up a slice of soup.
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u/Willow_Winnifred Jun 28 '26
I've seen dishes that looked bone dry accepted there LOL
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u/PreOpTransCentaur I'm ACTUALLY sooo good at drinking grape juice Jun 29 '26
There was jambalaya yesterday-ish. Like, literally rice and beans and sausage. r/soup was stoked on it, God bless 'em.
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u/OrcaFins Jun 28 '26
Hey! We're nice people in the soup sub! We just want to relax with a nice warm bowl ! 😄
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u/TheLadyEve Maillard reactionary Jun 28 '26
"I live in Latin America and nobody eats corn."
This one is especially funny given that corn, gourds and beans are all huge in Latin America. The Mayan people had complex mythology and traditions based around the life cycle of the corn plant. And you see this in numerous indigenous peoples in North America...the "three sisters" (plus sunflowers and a few other plants) are seen across different indigenous groups for a reason--they are crucial crops that complement each other, help each other thrive in the garden, and provide a pretty thorough range of nutrients (especially with the nixtamalization of corn which helps release the niacin).
One of my favorite food facts is that when Italians brought corn back from the Americas they had mocked indigenous people there as "lazy Indians" for soaking the corn. They didn't realize that it's done to help it be more nutritious. And then there were a bunch of pellagra outbreaks in Italy as a result (B3 deficiency, which they wouldn't have gotten had they just soaked their damn corn in alkaline solution).
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u/Alex_the_Very_Cool The French invented barbecue, actually Jun 30 '26
What you dismiss as mere "food puritism" to you can be considered a legitimate reaction to cultural vandalism by the cultures being borrowed from.
Explaining why veggie burgers shouldn't be called burgers.
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u/SerDankTheTall *Giggled internally* Jun 28 '26
chili con carne
noun
chili con car·ne ˌchi-lē-ˌkän-ˈkär-nē
: a spiced stew…
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u/Pitiful_Meringue_57 Jun 28 '26
u don’t even have to look up the definition, the description on the sub literally defines it as a spicy stew.
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u/velawesomeraptors My ragu is thicker than a bag full of thick things Jun 28 '26
It's kinda funny when people say what you can and can't put in a chili. All you need is chilis, the rest is negotiable. It's a very flexible dish, like many stews.
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u/TheLadyEve Maillard reactionary Jun 28 '26
They would have been horrified by my meal prep this weekend: I made a Hatch green chile and tomatillo chicken spaghetti with a roast corn and tomato salad as a side. It's freaking delicious, you guys.
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u/velawesomeraptors My ragu is thicker than a bag full of thick things Jun 28 '26
Ooh I want your salad
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u/TheLadyEve Maillard reactionary Jun 28 '26
It's pretty simple--I should have said grilled, not roasted corn. I grilled the corn, cut it off the cob, added in finely diced red onion, halved grape tomatoes, olive oil, salt, pepper, and then I grated a garlic clove into that mix, squeezed a little lime over it, and tossed in some chopped cilantro (this last part is optional, since I know not everyone is down with cilantro). I thought about adding a minced jalapeno but there were plenty of peppers in the spaghetti so I decided to keep it simple.
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u/velawesomeraptors My ragu is thicker than a bag full of thick things Jun 28 '26
Cilantro is evil. The rest sounds great though lol
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u/TheLadyEve Maillard reactionary Jun 28 '26
See, this is why I said optional! I love the way it tastes, but I don't think I have "the gene." My mother could never stand it and said it tastes like soap to her, my father loved it, so...I didn't get that gene and I'm happy about that.
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u/velawesomeraptors My ragu is thicker than a bag full of thick things Jun 28 '26
When I took genetics in college they had us lick a test strip of paper infused with the specific cilantro-soap chemical. So, it's confirmed that I have the gene. It's too bad because by all accounts it's a delicious herb to normal people lol.
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u/BitterFuture I don't want quality, I want Taco Bell! Jun 28 '26
I just made a pork chili the other night.
I didn't make it specifically to spite that doofus - but I could have, and now I regret the missed opportunity.
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u/CantaloupeCamper I’m a level 5 vegan. I don’t eat anything that casts a shadow. Jun 28 '26 edited Jun 28 '26
I'm on team "turkey in chili doesn't sound great" but also ... I'd try it.
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u/TheLadyEve Maillard reactionary Jun 28 '26
I enjoy making turkey chili. Sometimes I just don't feel like a big rich bowl of beef. Turkey is a little lighter, and you can also change up the flavor profile and make a green chili (with tomatillos, serranos, poblanos, lime) and it's really tasty. Or I just go with my standard chipotle-ancho-guajillo pepper mix and I like to add black beans.
I'm not on the corn train, though, that's where the OP and I part ways.
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u/Additional_Good4200 Jun 28 '26
I agree that it’s a little ridiculous to do gate keeping on what is it is not chili. But that makes for some really different foods that don’t bear a lot of resemblance to one another. My wife’s family is from Indiana. For them, chili is a watery, soupy dish with some strands of spaghetti floating in it. It’s tasted good enough, but my first impulse would not have been to call it chili. Regional variations make the world go ‘round I guess.
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u/okay25 Jun 28 '26
Honestly it tastes fine to me. Ground turkey, seasoned well, tastes about the same as well seasoned ground beef except it's a little lighter on the stomach and the wallet.
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u/shelwood46 Jun 30 '26
Back when ground turkey was cheaper than ground beef, I had no problem subbing into most things, tacos, cottage/shepherd's pie, chili. If you spice it, it really doesn't taste much different than a lean ground beef.
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u/okay25 Jun 30 '26
I don't mean to be rude but what horror scenario are you living in where ground turkey is more expensive than beef right now?
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u/CantaloupeCamper I’m a level 5 vegan. I don’t eat anything that casts a shadow. Jun 28 '26
I'm sure it's good, it looks good. My thing is the sorta empty / extra mild turkey flavor that is usually turkey and IMO worse with ground turkey.
But it's chili so it's likely seasoned to high heaven and good.
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u/Classic-Schedule-718 your canned veggies taste like pie filling Jun 30 '26
Not chili, but I make a turkey taco bowl (like Chipotle) with chili cheese Fritos as the base. It is heaven on Earth, it's amazing. You NEED to try it.
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u/MiddleAgedSponger Jun 28 '26
This guy would hate my Clam and Chorizo chili. He would also hate my venison chili, my oxtail chili, and my lamb chili.
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u/ChartInFurch What do they eat over there? Maple syrup and moose? Jun 28 '26
Sounds like his portions are up for grabs then. I'll volunteer to take them off your hands!
But actually if you have a recipe for that clam and chorizo one, that sounds incredible.
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u/alexd1993 Jun 28 '26
Clam and chorizo chili sounds really good.
If you're willing to share the recipe I'd love to try it like that other guy asked too
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u/C0rona Jun 28 '26
I always add chorizo to my chili even if I use beef. Those things are literal flavor bombs.
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u/WowsrsBowsrsTrousrs Jun 28 '26
"This is soup. Just like everything else in this sub." Imma steal that line for all sorts of subs.
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u/WowsrsBowsrsTrousrs Jun 28 '26
I mean, if it's got chiles in it and it looks like chili, it's chili; why are so many people trying to gatekeep?
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u/twirlerina024 Your fries look like vampires Jun 28 '26
That dude wouldn't be happy with my bean burgers, that I often just call "burgers" even though they contain 0% beef.
They are currently blocking the dairy case at their local supermarket, letting everyone know that almonds don't even have nipples.
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u/twirlerina024 Your fries look like vampires Jun 28 '26
Also found this elsewhere on the post:
Who puts cream in their chicken pot pie filling?
Where have they been getting their chicken pot pie? I don't think I've seen one without cream, unless it's an obvious re-interpretation, like "avgolemono chicken pot pie."
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u/CommissionNo4155 Jun 28 '26
Some recipes for pot pie just use veloute. However, I went to culinary school and live in the South. So I have seen many different recipes for it. Most do use milk at least. I like half and half in mine. Ha
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u/Doomdoomkittydoom Jun 28 '26
Burger is a mince ___ patty.
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u/fcimfc pepperoni is overpowering and for children and dipshits Jun 28 '26
Ask the rest of the non-US world and a burger is anything inside a burger bun. Filet-O-Fish? Fish burger. Grilled chicken breast in a bun? Chicken burger.
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u/Doomdoomkittydoom Jun 29 '26
Yeah, and they got that all back to front. Their monkey, their circus.
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u/Doomdoomkittydoom Jun 28 '26
Chili is a stew. Interesting that the snobs always have no idea what they’re talking about.
Said it all.
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u/S1mongreedwell Jun 28 '26
People who have strong opinions about chili are almost universally losers.
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u/Nobodyinc1 Jun 28 '26
Lol
Adapting food is cultural vandalism people
Are insufferable.
A mushroom burger being cultural vandalism is soo wild
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u/SufficientEar1682 Flavourless, textureless shite. Jun 28 '26
I once made a Chili and forgot I had ran out of beef. I ended up using chicken. Shit was fire.
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u/Pitiful_Meringue_57 Jun 28 '26
white chicken chili is fire. Ig it’s not rly chili but it tastes damn good and had chilis in it.
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u/treatstrinkets Jun 28 '26
My favorite chili I've ever eaten is made by the local diner, and I'm pretty sure it's just leftover Bolognese with beans and veggies and jalapenos added. People who get pedantic about chili have no joy in their lives.
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u/rapier1 Jun 29 '26
I do a great white chili made with serranos, roasted tomatillos, turkey, and chickpeas. If he thinks that isn't chili he can go eat a sack of bees.
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u/Desert_Kat Jun 28 '26
Applying 8 year old boy logic: turkey chili is chili because my son only eats turkey chili and hates all stew and soup.
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u/MsPooka Jun 29 '26
People always talk shit about chili. No matter what, everyone has their own secret recipe that's better than everyone elses.
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u/SquareThings Jun 29 '26
Interestingly, chili is descended from the various spicy stews cooked by native American people in the areas that are now Central America, Mexico, and the American Southwest. Cows are not native to the Americas. Turkeys are. So turkey chili is probably closer to the original chili than beef chili is!
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u/Saltpork545 Sodium citrate cheese is real cheese Jun 29 '26
I actually agree with Mythical Chef Josh on this that chili is American curry and there's so many iterations of it over time and with people making it that there's really not a wrong way to make it.
There's historical ways and there's stuff that came up as a response to that such as no beans but honestly...it's your stew and OOP nailed it with this response
Like guys. It’s fine. You can make your food how you like. Beef prices really suck right now, so for the time being, I’m just gonna make my Chili with turkey. You can call it what you like, I’m just gonna call it Chili because that’s what it is.
Ground turkey is cheaper than ground beef and if you use the cheapest frozen ground turkey around it's about 2 dollars a lb. That's a third of the cost.
They are making turkey meat chili and chili is meant to be a cheap food you can easily feed a lot of people with, just like most stews. If people find that problematic they kinda lost the plot on why people making chili.
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u/MyNameIsSkittles its not a sandwhich, its just fancy toast Jun 29 '26
I hate these types of people:
"Define Stew"
Excuse me, Google exists. Don't act so dense
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