Friend called my chili "tomato soup with beans" and I had to rethink everything

Last month I served my go-to canned chili at a potluck and a buddy flat out said it needed more body. I'd just been dumping two cans of diced tomatoes, one can of kidney beans, and a packet of chili powder into a pot. He told me to drain the tomatoes and use a can of tomato paste instead. I tried it with a can of black beans, a can of corn, and a drained can of fire-roasted tomatoes plus some cumin and garlic powder. It thickened right up and actually tasted like chili after I let it simmer for 15 minutes. Has anyone else gotten a reality check on a recipe you thought was solid?

4 comments

4 Comments

reese_lee97d agoOG Member

Okay, is chili the ultimate humblebrag dish or what? I had the exact same wake-up call when someone told me my "gourmet" chili was just spicy tomato water. I switched to fire-roasted tomatoes and started browning the meat first WITH the spices, total game changer.

leo_black767d ago

Gotta disagree here, @reese_lee9. I think chili is pretty honest, you know? It's not trying to be fancy, it's just a pot of stuff you throw together on a Tuesday. The humblebrag comes more from people acting like their specific tweak (like anchovy paste or beer) makes them a genius, not from the dish itself. For me, the wake-up call was realizing my chili was just beef and beans soup because I wasn't letting it simmer long enough to get that thick, sticky texture. Browning the meat with cumin and chili powder first was a good lesson, but the real trick was just being patient and letting it reduce down (like, a full two hours at least).

the_jamie7d ago

Dried pintos from a bag, soaked overnight, that's where it's at for me. I gotta push back on this, chili is about the least humblebrag thing you can make, it's basically prisoner food that got popular. Adding fire roasted tomatoes isn't some secret handshake, it's just using better tomatoes, same as using cheap beer is still beer. @reese_lee9, the real humblebrag is when you spend two hours browning meat in batches like you're on a cooking show, not just dumping it in and stirring.

claire_young767d ago

Right there with you. That first time someone calls your comfort food "soup" it stings. But it sounds like you fixed it way faster than most people do.