Some chili styles call for the use of beans, but traditionalists don't believe they belong in the dish.
Few things stir passions and ignite debate among food lovers more than chili. Chili preferences are intensely personal: mild or hot? Ground meat or cubed? Chili powder or freshly ground peppers? Beans spark perhaps the most contentious debate. Disagreements flare not just over the kind of beans to use in chili, but also whether they should be there at all. It's simply a matter of personal taste.
Beans or No Beans
Original Texas chili used hot peppers but no tomatoes or onions.
Although many recipes for "authentic Texas chili" include tomatoes, onions and beans, chili traditionalists adamantly believe beans have no place in authentic chili. Frank X. Tolbert, founder of the Terlingua International Chili Championship, noted in his iconic book on chili, "A Bowl of Red," that "original Texas chili" consisted of lean beef, hot chili peppers, masa, cumin, cayenne, garlic and other spices. Note the absence of tomatoes, onions, beans and any other vegetables.
Despite the protests of chili purists, tomatoes, tomato paste and onions are here to stay. Using beans is still a matter of choice. Proponents maintain beans add texture, flavor and balance to a bowl of chili.
Kidney Beans
Red kidney beans appear in many chili recipes.
Cooks began adding beans to chili as a way to stretch the dish. Adding beans also allowed the cook to use less meat. The size, color and flavor of commonly used red kidney beans complements the chili. Kidney beans now appear in excellent chili recipes from coast to coast.
Kidney beans add nutritional value to chili. They are a good source of dietary fiber, protein, vitamin B-1, manganese and the trace mineral molybdenum.
Pinto Beans
Pinto beans, with their red-brown splotches, are popular in Mexican cooking and chili.
A favorite in Mexican and Southwestern cooking, pale pink pinto beans are typically served as a side dish or over rice, but they have also become a popular addition to chili recipes, particularly in the American Southwest. They often mingle with kidney beans in chili.
Pinto beans, like kidney beans, add nutritional punch to a bowl of chili. They are high in fiber and a good source of vitamin A, iron and molybdenum. Canned pinto beans are convenient, but dried beans contain far less sodium.
Black Beans
Black beans are a newcomer to the chili bowl.
A relative newcomer to the traditional chili bowl, black beans pack a nutritional punch and distinctive flavor that makes them a nearly obligatory addition to vegetarian chili. Black beans are a source of dietary fiber, thiamin, folic acid, manganese, phosphorus, protein, iron and calcium.
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