I won’t badmouth RR’s GGGG granny’s chili recipe. No sir! Curious though. What kinda beans did she use?

I am a 7th generation Texan, ancestors going back to some of the first German immigrants. Growing up some chili had beans and some chili had no beans. I never heard the argument about no beans until the 1960's, and that was when the chili cookoffs started to really get attention. Most chili cookoffs have rules that state no beans. I don't give a flip about rules that are not at least as old as I am. so I will continue to cook my chili however I want it.

Well... them rules are older than I am, but I agree, don't give a darn that some hippie in the 60's decided what constitutes "TEXAS" chili.

One thing about Texans is that we will do pretty much as we please. I’ve been cooking chili for many many years and until a couple decades ago, I used tomatoes and occasionally, beans. Now I cook a true Texas chili using a minimum number of ingredients and it’s very good stuff.

But the old stuff was good too, so I skirted the Texas chili rules by rolling out my Wendy’s chili recipe. And it’s dang good too. The recipe is below. Note the disclaimer.


Wendy’s Chili made with lean ground beef/venison, kidney beans and pinto beans, onions, garlic, jalapeño chilis, celery, bell pepper and tomato seasoned with a mild chili powder and cumin.

This recipe makes a LOT of chili! It fills my large Dutch Oven to the brim. Adjust accordingly to fit your needs.

This is NOT Texas chili! It is a really good facsimile of Wendy’s Chili, which is, by Texas standards, a delicious beefy, mild chili tomato soup with beans. It is safe to serve to crowds, perfect for pot luck dinners.

Prep Time 30 minutes (longer w dried beans)
Cook Time 2 hours
Total Time 2 hours 30 minutes (longer w dried beans)
Servings 24 servings (+\-)

Ingredients
* 2 lbs lean ground beef/venison
* 28 ounce can of tomato sauce
* 28 ounce can of kidney beans not drained (1/2 lb of dried beans simmered until almost done w juice)
* 28 ounce can of pinto beans not drained (1/2 lb of dried beans simmered until almost done w juice)
* 28 ounce can of whole tomatoes (hand squashed w juice)
* 1 large yellow onion diced
* 1 tablespoon minced garlic (8-10 cloves)
* 2 diced jalapeños (no seeds or veins)
* 2-3 stalks celery chopped
* 1 green bell pepper chopped
* 1 tablespoon cumin powder
* 1/4 cup mild chili powder
* 1 teaspoon black pepper
* 2 teaspoons salt
* 1 cup water

Instructions
1. In a heavy bottomed stockpot brown the ground meat and onions in bacon fat. Add garlic when almost done.
3. Add in the rest of the ingredients and bring to a slow boil.
4. Lower to a simmer and cook uncovered for 2 hours stirring occasionally.
5. Serve with Asian Hot Chili Oil (same as Wendy’s Hot Sauce), coarse shredded cheddar cheese, chopped onion, and jalapeño. Saltine crackers and/or Fritos optional.

well, I am a 5th generation Texan on my mother's side dating back to the 1830s, rich German migrants settling central Texas. My mother and my grandmother (born in the 1800s in Burnet county) made chili from a guesstamation of spices passed down many generations and none ever had beans cooked in with the chili. They both would usually have a separate pot of beans going along side the chili and a couple pans of cornbread in the oven ... most of the time the three were mixed AFTER they were all cooked separately, but never cooked together.

Fair enough. I wasn't trying to close the door. If you see my recipe at the front end of the thread it contains tomatoes which isn't typical of texas red chili either. My only point was to your statement you haven't seen an official decree of no beans in chili. There is a very wide spread agreed upon notion that it does not include beans.

I won't even start on my ancestry and Texas, or how my family has made chili long before Terlinqua or any other chili cookoffs...

Texas Chili DOES NOT have beans in it, period. I do like chili with beans though.

Putting beans in chili and calling it Texas Chili, is the equivalent of putting tomatoes in a gumbo and calling it a Cajun gumbo LOL.

C'mon man, everybody knows that....

what about a can of refried beans...?

Arkansas Chili.

My guess is there are as many Louisianans that make gumbo with tomatoes as there are Texans that make Texas chili with beans in it

FIFY

Creole Gumbo, yes/ Cajun Gumbo, noooo. Difference!

My favorite chili recipe right now is:
1.5 lbs chili meat
1 lb Owens regular breakfast sausage
1 cans Rotel (sometimes 2 cans)
1 onion diced
1 bell pepper diced
1 jalapeno diced
1 tbsp minced garlic
5-6 tbsp Adkins texas style chili seasoning
1 tbsp Fiesta fajita seasoning
2 beers (surprised nobody here has mentioned using beer in their chili)
maybe a little water if i think it needs it.

Brown meat
add everything else
let boil for an hour or so (more is better)

Or can brown meat and add all to a crock pot cook on low 6-8 hours

I use beer when I make chili. It just doesn't go in the pot.

I've made this with beef, venison, nilgai, buffalo & wild hog. Nilgai was the best! Follow directions carefully.

It's Texas chili so beans are a big "NO-NO" but if I only have a little chili left in the frig, add red kidney beans to stretch it for one more meal.