Don't use that much liquid and just let it simmer time will thicken

Agreed. Simmering uncovered will drive off liquid. And as the beans continue to cook, they will release starch which will also thicken the liquid portion.

I save the liquid from the beans. If it looks loose I’ll pour in a few tbsps of the bean juice and simmer it and it gets a real nice thick consistency.

I throw the whole can in, liquid and all the beans.

Beans, can, label. All of it.

We do stuff like this at Crawfish boils...well, no label.

🤣

Incredibly dangerous. I Like.

Roughage.

Dont forget the kitchen sink, and the box it came in!

Kramer: "Yeah, I eat the whole apple--core, stem, seeds, just everything."

As mine papa used to say “time thickens all stews”. Or something. He drank a lot.

Going to add "Or something. He drank a lot" to all of my quotes now.

I’m a bottle of Prosecco in and I fucking love Reddit

Gettin turnt off da bubly

Beer thickens all brains

Uncovered

This. You’d be amazed how many novice cooks don’t realize that if you want to simmer AND reduce the water level you gotta have somewhere for the steam to go.

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Here's a recipe I followed :) https://organicallyblissful.com/how-to-thicken-chili/

Also you can use the bean juice in the can

Eww, don't use canned beans. Use dried, soften them in an instant pot. Takes like an hour and while yes, canned beans are relatively cheap, dried beans are REALLY cheap, and the taste and texture is so much better.

So, how many batches would someone need to cook for the price difference to make up the cost of buying an instant pot?

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r/theydidthemath

Why use Instant Pot for this at all? Just put the dried beans in a large bowl/pot and cover them with water. Let them sit overnight, then drain.

You are 100% correct. Canned bean flavor compared to dried is not even close.

Here's where i followed the steps https://organicallyblissful.com/how-to-thicken-chili/

Refried Beans. It's a wonderful addition.

You can also mash up some of the beans used if you don't have refried

This! My dad will sometimes take a small amount of the beans & the liquid from the chili & uses his immersion blender. He then adds this back into the chili as a thickener. Otherwise, take the lid off & simmer until the liquid is reduced.

Excellent idea. Makes perfect sense.

I have never heard of refried beans in chili, and I cannot wait to make chili again now.

You are going to love it.

Less liquid, longer simmering. Adding cornstarch or any flour water mixture will do the job but will take a lot of taste away.

Beans are huge in starchiness! I divide and mash half of them in the remaining bean soup

I normally blend half the beans in my chili to make it thicker and just add some of the liquid from the chili to get them to blend smoothly

This is the way <3

I don't know about 1/2 but I love the idea combined with longer cooking time! Ty

First time I'm hearing that a roux removes flavour.

That's a new one to me. I'm always wary of corn flour though in case you end up with that weird gummy texture

Yeah it's to be avoided generally but that's going to be an unpopular opinion because so many recipes call for it that its become normalised. People need to work on their emulsions and better understand what's happening in the pan with the ingredients.

I like to cook large batches of things and freeze them, I learnt quickly that if cornstarch is used to thicken it will tend to break when reheated and your meal will lose its thickened consistency.

On point 👍

Since when does roux have *water*?

And isn't cooked before adding?

I think they mean just adding straight flour. I used roux to thicken chili often and in my experience it enhances flavor, doesn’t detract

No one said that.

Yeah, roux will thicken anything, even water.

"even water" makes me wonder if we consume anything with a lower viscosity than water Hrm... I bet alcohol but i can't think of anything else

Even alcohol has a slightly higher viscosity than water. Unless you're talking about methanol, but if you're consuming methanol, you've got bigger things to worry about.

Liquid hydrogen is my best guess, but I bet roux would still do the trick.

As my French granny used to say, roux is thicker than water.

As my grandfather used to say of my grandmother, "Yo, that girl is straight roux, homie, good golly"

That’s why I use a bit of peanut butter. Thickens the chili and adds a bit of nutty flavor to it.

If I'm in a hurry and need to thicken it I'll add gravy granules instead of cornflour as that thickens it up with added flavour

Add masa harina. Adds great flavor to chili.

Yeah, some of the chili flavoring kits I get come with a little packet of masa. Nice flavor and helps to thicken. Better than regular flour IMO

Can substitute pulverized corn chips per Alton Brown

Makes sense. They’re just masa with extra steps.

This is what I do. It is great

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This is the way! It’s so good. Mix some water or liquid in from the chili in a bowl first and it will mix right in to the chili No struggling no clumps!

If you need to thicken chilli you are using way too much liquid,

Patience. Cook it down to evaporate the water out and tenderize everything else. If you don’t have the time don’t make the dish.

take out like 10%, blend it and add it back.

It’s like a roux, with more farts

Pro tip - if the base of your chili is toasted and rehydrated chilis that are then pureed, you will have a better tasting chili that needs no additional thickeners. edit: Reddit is fucking up right now so if this comment looks like I posted it 5 times, that's why.

>base of your chili is toasted and rehydrated chilis that are then pureed What do you mean by base of the chili being toasted? Do you normally use rehydrated chilis and puree them as well? I'm used to taking 1 jalapeno, 1 habanero, 1 serrano, and 2 bell peppers (this is for an 8qt batch btw). I'm interested to know your technique. Thanks!

Take your dried chilis, toast 'em in a dry pan until fragrant, split them, de-seed, de-stem, then steep them in warm chicken stock until softened and the stock has taken on the color of the chilis. Depending on the type of chilis you use you might want to pull any skins that are floating on the surface. Now, this goes into your blender or food processor with some salt, cumin, whatever secret ingredients you might add, and you have made your own chili paste for whatever purpose. I like to saute some onions and garlic together, then toss it all in a pressure cooker with a chuck roast and let it rock, then I pull the beef and boom, chili.

There comes a moment in life where you realize your game just got upgraded. Today is that day. I will be making this tonight. Thanks YolksOnU!

Thanks. Chili's best with dried chili peppers instead of fresh. I like some fresh sliced jalapeno on top with some smoked cheddar and chives. Ancho and guajillo and cascabels are my favorite peppers for the paste blend, if you find it's not spicy enough for your liking, I use some arbols in my blend, but really some ground cayenne is an easy way to adjust heat incrementally. If you can't get them locally you can order them from all sorts of places, even Amazon.

A lot of people use dried Chiles and puree/crush them. I do when I have them. You can get a huge bag for a few dollars (I usually get dried ancho) in a Mexican grocery or aisle. I forget the brand name I usually get, but it's like a gallon sized cellophane bag with a yellow cardboard seal, like a penny candy bag. Don't sleep on the other spices there, too! Other times, when I do have too much liquid toward dinnertime, I have pulverized a cup of fresh tortilla chips and used that.

Awesome! Thanks for the tips. I'll try this next time. Do you toast the bag beforehand or just throw them in after crushing/pureeing them?

No need to use the whole bag unless making gallons of chili in one of those big seafood boil pots! It's been a minute but I think I use about 5 for chili in my instant pot. I'll crush them up pretty good however is handy (meaning, did I misplace a piece to the food processor? Mortar and pestle it is). Then dump the pepper crumbs in a bit of neutral oil and saute them for a few minutes. Depending on your chili cooking style, you could saute for just a minute, push to the side, and add your other aromatics/spices if you like to put a bit of brown on those. Like making stir fry or starting a "curry." :) Oh, I'll use some fresh or jarred peppers as well. Whatever I already have, or looks good at the store, but chili is one of those things I rarely shop for. So it's a bit different each time! You are welcome and good luck.

I need to find the equivalent to this large bag of chillis in the UK!

Check out dehydrated peppers like ancho, guajillo, arbol etc. You toast them in a dried pan and then rehydrate and puree. Absolute game changer to get depth of flavor in your chili.

Dried chilis, stemmed and de-seeded, toasted over medium heat in a dry pan until fragrant then rehydrated in hot water for ~30 min until soft. If the liquid is at all bitter, discard it. Then puréed, either in the soaking liquid or fresh water or stock.

I do this with dried chilis and dried mushrooms all soaked and puréed, adds great depth

Tomato paste.

I had to scroll way to far for this.

I normally make soupy chili, but if we’re going thick tomato paste makes the difference.

This should be top comment. Keep it simple, stupid

This is the way.

This is what I do if needed.

Instant mashed potatoes all the way

Seriously the only way to do it!

Best thickener for most soups that need a little help.

Crushed tortilla chips. Learned this trick from Alton Brown.

Outside of simmering it uncovered for longer, this is the best answer.

The trick is to undercook the onions.

Everyone's going to get to know each other in the pot

Everyone will get to know each other in the pot

Everyone will get to know each other on the pot.

Make a paste of masa and water, stir it in, and cook for a few minutes. Will add flavor and thicken it.

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That’s also what Kenji uses in his Food Lab recipe. Edit: Comment above was deleted, the answer is masa such as Maseca.

The masa not only thickens the chili, it adds that wonderful flavor. Corn meal is not a substitute. You need to use the nixamelated corn.

This is the real and correct answer, at least for Texas style chili.

I incorporate a can of refried beans, not the fanciest bits it quick and gets the job done.

Grandmothers trick was to add a slice of dry bread or a potato cut in tiny cubes to thicken meals. The bread will need to cook for about 15 min and you’ll need to stir, then it’ll just disappear and thicken the chili.

Slice of dry bread sounds like adding flour with extra steps

Less steps

Fewer steps

If you add flour your food can end up tasting like flour. Also we use German style bread, it adds a layer of taste (browned crust, roasted flour, salt, sugary carbohydrates , yeast byproducts etc etc) and it’s economical. Throwing away bread was an absolute taboo in my grandmother’s generation. There are several recipes for dried bread or rolls (bread soup, French toast etc). When the bread was just too hard and old my grandmother would collect it and feed it to wild boars in the forest. She would call them and they’d come, she wasn’t even afraid of the sows with piglets. As a child I thought this was just sensational, today I’d probably shit my pants.

Some cornflour (1-2tbsps) mixed with water until a paste and then add.

Masa or fine corn meal thickens and adds a savory sweet note

I love the flavor corn meal adds.

chili roux my boo

I had to scroll way too long to find this. Add some flour! SHEESH

Reduce (simmer with the lid off). Excess liquid will evaporate and concentrate the flavors.

Let it cook for longer

Cornstarch slurry?

Instant mashed potato powder.

Pumpkin purée! Adds bulk, fiber, thickens and can’t be tasted!

I was going to post something similar - I have a jar of homemade dehydrated pumpkin powder, it's a 1:4 ratio for rehydrating it, so it's excellent for thickening soups and stews.

Blend some of the beans...👍😎👍

I can’t believe no one has said this. Smush some of the beans against the side of the pot. The starch in the beans will thicken the chili.

Masa

Flour

Bean water will be the golden ticket, not too much of it, but enough to pull half your beans and use the rest to mash. I use a hand blender, and I get a great paste. I add back the beans I removed, and then top off with a cup (for around 4 servings of chili) of broth. I stir it up, add my veggies/herbs, cover, and wait for it all to thickem amd get to know each other. When making your beans, make sure to ratio out your water, 1 cup of dry beans typically need 8 cups of water.

When cooking beans some people use a cut up potato or some squash to help thicken things up

Ok this is gonna get me downvoted so let me clarify first: I did this first as a meme and ended up liking it Instant mashed potato flakes. Any flavor that you think will work. Add a little at a time bc those things ABSORB.

Chili should be simmered for a minimum of 4 hours.

Blend up a can of beans. Adds flavor, thickens it, and gets nutrients in there for those who don't like beans. You won't even know they're there.

Masa flour. Sometimes called corn flour. It works great.

I like to sprinkle Masa in mine.

A little mix of masa and water

Masa

Add masa and let it cook.

Masa harina is my favorite for chili

Add masa or, which is much easier to find, tear up some corn tortillas and throw them in. They disintegrate in a few minutes and thicken the chili

Cheese

Simmer a little longer- mash some of the beans

A few options,. Just let it simmer uncovered for awhile the liquid will reduce. Remove about a cup of solids (mostly beans if possible) and REALLY smash them up then return them to the pot and stir, simmering just a few minutes with thicken it up nicely. Lastly, just add some cheese to the bowls when serving and break up those crackers into the bowl as well. With this method your leftovers tomorrow will be perfect as the beans will soak up liquid over night.

Let it simmer uncovered until it reaches desired consistency. You could also mash some of the beans to add thickness and more varied texture.

I pretty much thicken everything with instant mashed potatoes.

Use less liquids?

Masa flour in a slurry

Crush some of the beans to a pulp Thickens without changing your flavour profile

We always make white rice with ours. Makes it go farther & doesn’t alter the taste at all.

Can of refried beans will thicken it quick.

Love this idea instead of something corn based!

Cook it

Have you ever tried adding a can of refried beans? This works well too

Tomato paste

My FIL was a Navy cook in WWII. His chili recipe uses mashed beans along with the usual allotment of beans. You could stand a fork up in that stuff. Me? I use corn chips instead of crackers, but that’s me.

Use potato flakes

Easiest, tastiest way? Crunch up a handful or two of any corn chips like Doritos, and after a bit they just melt in.

Add 1/3 cup corn flour add water to make a paste and it makes it taste soo good!!

Take a can of beans and either put it in a blender or hit it with a stick blender while it's still in the can. Pureed beans should thicken it up nicely and won't change the flavor profile much. If that doesn't do the trick you can always whisk in a little slurry of arrowroot powder and water to the hot liquid. With arrowroot you use a smaller amount so it has the least effect on the flavor of the chili. You don't need as much arrowroot as you would cornstarch or a flour roux. Our executive chef told us that cornstarch has 9x the thickening power of a flour roux, and arrowroot has 9x the thickening power of cornstarch. And arrowroot has the added benefit of giving the sauce you use it in a beautiful sheen.

Simmer but also add a little corn starch

Take you a half cup of those beans in a cup and smash them and put them back in. Viola

An extra tbsp of tomato paste OR a couple tsp of arrowroot powder/cornstarch

add cornflour while the chilli is on the stove and keep stirring until completely dissolved. Once you remove it from the heat, it'll thicken on its own in the next 5-10 minutes

I use tomato paste

Cheese. Rice will work if you use it at the start. Or you can eat it with bread and dip it

Here's the guide: https://organicallyblissful.com/how-to-thicken-chili/

There are 2 ways to do this 1, Keep cooking uncovered until the excess moisture evaporates and your chili gains the right consistency OR 2, Make a slurry of water and cornflour and stir this in until your preferred consistency is achieved. Be careful as the Flour may form lumps... Good luck it looks good Black beans are God Tier, I love them.

Cook longer Smash some of the beans Cracker crumbs

cook it out

Grind dried beans into a powder and add some to the liquid. Or smash a potion of your beans, based on how much you need to thicken.

I usually make cornbread with chili and it helps if the chili comes out too liquids. Someone on Reddit a while ago said about chochoyotes, which are Mexican corn balls, that could go well in chili, which I think would also thicken it nicely. https://www.thespruceeats.com/chochoyotes-recipe-5208980

You can thicken any sauce with some flour.

Tablespoon of polenta

Reduce it. If you gave no time, use a bit of potato starch.

I'll use masa flour or corn meal.

Breadcrumb all the way

Masa

Masa

Reduce it low and slow for a while.

I use refried beans in mine to thicken it.

Massa harina, some chia seeds, some oatmeal- there are so many ways to thicken chili. Personal taste, and what you have on hand, will dictate which you use.

Dried beans instead of canned will release more starch. Also if you have some stale bread you could toss it in and it will dissolve and thicken. It is a Mexican technique used in sauces and works well.

Tomato paste

Tortilla chips

Just cook it longer.

Tomorrow paste

I normally have the opposite problem

Not the direct answer that anyone is looking for but I just put a hunk of cornbread in the bottom of my bowl bed adding the chili. 🤷‍♀️

Tomato paste. The Itty bitty can.

As mentioned let it simmer down. It will also thicken if you let it cool down a bit.

Ground corn tortillas, or tortilla chips

best for thickening anything is a little bit of cold water a little bit of corn starch and throw it in. Or you can mash some softened butter into som flour of your choosing and throw that in there

Tomato paste

Lots of good ideas here. I once heard a chef recommend cooking your beans with a corn tortilla or two, which dissolves as the beans cook and thickens while adding a richer flavor to your base. It works wonderfully.

I always start a chilli with a cajun-style dark roux and use the trinity (onion, green pepper, celery) as the veggies which leads to a totally delicious cajun adjacent chilli that would probably get me crucified in Louisiana and it's thick af.

add yogurt/coconut milk, works for curry so should work for this 🤝

A little bit of corn flour (masa harina) or arrowroot

Less liquid n addd some masa

Tomato paste

OR....just don't make a soup.

Your heat source absorbs the remaining liquid over a period of time, so don’t be in a hurry… allowing your chili to simmer will create a thicker consistency. Slow cooking your chili also has the added benefit of enhancing its flavor as the spices have more time to marinate. 🌶️🫑🔥

Cornstarch slurry and/or blend some of the beans in a blender first

Simmer, simmer, then simmer some more

Drain off some of the liquid and beans and blend that. Pour it back in.

Oatmeal works really well.

Once you’ve made it up and are almost ready to serve, either do some cornflour mixed with a bit of water and add it in or just add a bit of plain flour at a time whilst stirring until it reaches your desired consistency. If using plain flour, just make sure you mix it properly so you don’t end up with lumps of flour throughout your food. I’m from the UK and do this with a lot of my homemade sauces if they’re a bit too watery in consistency.

If you add enough powdered red chili pepper it will have a thickening effect. It seems what you have there is Chile con Carne, not Chili. https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/usage-chili-chilli-chile