Comments on: Texas Chili – No Beans!

By: Some Texas

Some Texas — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 13:53:32 +0000

Way I was raised, and the way I like things, beans are used as a side dish to a bowl of chili, same as rice and cornbread are. Beans don’t go IN the chili. My recipe’s pretty close to Wick Fowler’s and I often make barbecue beans to go as a side dish.

The way I look at it, sticking beans in chili because you planned to eat both in the same meal makes about as much sense as putting your meatloaf and mashed potatoes in a blender because you were having meatloaf and mashed potatoes for dinner.

By: JC

JC — Sat, 02 Jul 2011 18:22:20 +0000

This is an outdated response of course, but since I came across it, I couldn’t help but chime in that I am ALSO a Texan through and through, and the word chili con carne is being abused here. When you eat a hamburger, is it defined only by the condiments you put on it? Is a hamburger without pickles a “breaded meat patty”? Chili, is yes, chili con carne, loosely translated as spicy meat. But no one eats it as spicy meat only. They put stuff into it, and therefore it is best thought of as a concoction; like a hamburger. WHATEVER you want to add to your stewed spicy meat, beans or not, is fair game. My personal brand of Texas chili that EVERYONE loves and I’m asked to make it on a monthly basis for someone, has both red and black beans cooked into it. I won’t give away all my recipe, but try putting a tablespoon of mustard in the pot. Gives the flavor an extra dimension.

By: John Blom

John Blom — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 05:30:20 +0000

MSG in Chili??? Are you crazy? MSG is a poison! Check out what it does to people. If you suffer from migraines, there’s a good chance it comes form eating MSG, not to mention what it does to your insides!!

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sat, 27 Nov 2010 15:39:11 +0000

I have a really easy recipe. What you do is get a can of chili that is bean-free and the needed crackers. Put the contents of the can into a bowl and add chili powder to torch your taste buds. Nuke it in a microwave, and once done, add in busted up crackers. Enjoy. It’s a nice case of “keep it simple, stupid”.

By: DeepintheHeartofTexas

DeepintheHeartofTexas — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 19:54:09 +0000

Sorry again Don, my response should have been to Ammber.

By: DeepintheHeartofTexas

DeepintheHeartofTexas — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 19:52:49 +0000

A big Howdy and a Big I’m Sorry Don, I’m a Texan through & through and if your Mother made Chili with Beans then it was Chili Beans and not Chili Con Carne.

Silly or not that’s just the way it is. Chili con Carne roughly translated is Chili with Meat. I’m positive your Mother’s pot was wonderful as most of our Mother’s renditions were but my fellow Texan, it was Chili Beans. Don’t take my word alone, Google Chili Beans and see the amount of recipes you get for that search!

By: Ammber

Ammber — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 02:25:58 +0000

If “Texas Chili” can have MSG in it, it certainly can have beans in it!
Give me a break people.
If you dont like beans in it fine, but to add an ingredient and say it’s therefore NOT something because of one ingredient is beyond silly.

Apparently this chili was made because it was cheap and they had it on hand, didnt they have beans on hand?

Oh well I grew up IN Texas w/my mother making chili WITH beans in it.

It’s ironic because typically I will not eat beans, I simply do not like the taste of them on their own.
But mix them w/chili and all they yumminess of the chili makes it the bean combo just right.
I enjoy a mix of textures, w/o the beans something seems less than, something missing.
Also they are a healthy food group.

You say no to beans and I say yes to beans and I still call it chili.
Oh I also like eating them w/frito’s corn chips, it use to be saltine crackers but I like frito’s much more.

By: Don Crowder

Don Crowder — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 00:58:44 +0000

If it has beans, it's soup. I'll even go so far as to call it 'spicy bean soup' but that's the best I can do. Texas chili doesn't contain legumes, that's how it is. Too many people are sensitive to MSG so it's best left out. I think it's ok to use sea salt (not the expensive variety, the stuff they sell at bobsredmill.com is just fine) but hide the bag cuz if anyone sees it they'll think yer a goldang city slicker. Don Crowder’s last blog post..Can someone loan me a (reg)fly swatter?

By: Carrie

Carrie — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 13:50:57 +0000

John would love this chili recipe of yours. You guys need to get together and collaborate on some chili. He made a chili a couple of weeks ago and used dark chocolate as an ingredient, it went well with the peppers.

By: Katherine

Katherine — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 19:42:10 +0000

Lots of products use msg, but it really isn’t such a bad thing if you aren’t sensitive to it. Still, I think it worked out just fine without.