The Perfect Chili Recipe: Smoky Beef + Black Bean Chili (2024)

FAQs

What gives chili a smoky flavor? ›

The seasoned peppers, onions, garlic, and ground beef smoke for 1 hour to infuse them all with nice, smoky flavor. Once the meat and vegetables are smoked, the chili is prepared like to would any other chili. Combine the beef broth, tomatoes, beans, meat, and veggies in a large pat and cook over medium heat.

Only Add Flavorful Liquids

Instead of adding water to your chili, add some more flavor with chicken or beef broth, red wine vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, or even beet or wine. Each one of these options brings out different notes and levels of sweetness that will enhance your culinary creation.

If you are trying to cook the beans until they fall apart and mash them as a thickener, as black beans are smaller than standard red kidney beans, you typically need a little less time. And yes, they work fine in chili. When I'm making a vegetarian chili, I often use both types so there's more variety of texture.

The best beans for chili are pinto, kidney, and black beans, like in this easy and tasty recipe. This 3-bean chili freezes great for meals later in the week. If you prefer thinner chili, add an extra can of tomato sauce. The green chiles are not hot and add a wonderful flavor, so don't be afraid to use them.

The brown sugar gave it a sweet/tangy flavor that reminded me of BBQ-sauce! Th chili was so good - it was hard to stop eating it! I did had some extra veggies (1 cl. garlic, 1 celery stalk, 1 carrot, 1 bell pepper, 1 hot pepper) and used a can of diced tomatoes rather than tomato juice.

Beans and non-vegetable fillers such as rice and pasta are not allowed." If that sounds a bit uptight, the ICS's Homestyle Chili competition defines chili as: "any kind of meat, or combination of meats, and/or vegetables cooked with beans, chili peppers, various spices, and other ingredients.

Most Common Chili Spices. Cumin, Chile Powders, and Paprika are the most common spices in chili followed by garlic, onion, coriander, Mexican oregano, and bay leaves. These ingredients can be combined to create a savory and well-balanced pot of top notch comfort food.

According to Taste of Home, you should typically drain canned beans before adding them to your pot of chili. All that liquid can seriously water the chili down, diluting all its flavors.

Commercial chili prepared without beans is usually called "chili no beans" in the United States.

What happens if you don't drain kidney beans for chili? ›

However, canned beans are soaked in a canning liquid that can throw off your dish's seasoning and texture, so it's best to drain and rinse your beans before pouring them into your pot of chili. Canning liquid can also water down and dilute the flavors of your chili.

Chili: Canned, diced, fire-roasted tomatoes. The tomatoes will cook without disintegrating into the sauce so it will be chunky and have that lovely flavor of smoke from the char. Burgers or sandwiches: A really big heirloom tomato.

The most common things I put in my chili are onions, and a variety of spices (cumin, coriander, garlic, oregano, red pepper flake . . .). I also like to use a variety of chili peppers: Habanero, Jalapeno, Chipotle, Ancho, Thai . . ..

Alton Brown's smoky homemade chili powder blends 3 types of dried chiles with smoked paprika to add a smoky kick to your favorite chili.

2,500-8,000 Scoville Heat Units.

Chipotles offer up an earthy, smoky flavor and lend that spicy smokiness to any dish you're cooking.

Cocoa powder, bacon, cinnamon, ground coffee and tomato paste will all add a rich sweet & salty flavors that are sure to surprise and delight. Warming spice blends, like Garam Masala, Ras el Hanout or Baharat are another simple and delicious way to add layered flavors to this simple one-pot meal.

Recently I picked up some liquid smoke (it's water with woodsmoke bubbled through it, infusing it with intense smoke flavour). I figured it'd add a bit of smoky depth to a chili, and DID IT EVER. This stuff elevated the heck out of that chili, made some of the best chili I've ever had (and prior chili was no slouch).