Spicy Black Bean and Sweet Potato Chili Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Can you use black beans instead of red kidney beans and chili? ›

Black beans, garbanzo beans, and cannellini beans will work best in chili and soups where you want the firm texture of a bean. If you do not mind the beans breaking down a bit, pinto beans will also work well.

"In Mexico, chili is made from vegetables, including various chili peppers, and seasonings. Chili con carne (with meat) has meat added, and chili beans have beans. We in the U.S. have generalized chili to mean almost anything with chili powder in it.

Traditionally, chili combines ground or coarse-chopped beef (or other meat), dried red chili powder, onion, garlic, some liquid, and sometimes comino, oregano, beef suet, tomato, and masa (finely ground corn meal) to thicken. Texas-style chili has no beans. Southerners and Midwesterners generally add beans.

Every cattle drive had chili as a chuck wagon staple, since the native peppers and onions were abundant along the trails. But stories are spread that the beef was too valuable and was limited to be used as food on the cattle drive, so extra protein came from a pot of beans along side the chili pot.

Some news stories have picked up on preliminary studies showingblack beans among the highest in certain antioxidants. However,other research shows kidney beans slightly higher in totalantioxidant power. Different types of analysis and cooking methodsare enough to blur nutritional differences among these healthyoptions.

The best beans for chili are pinto, kidney, and black beans, like in this easy and tasty recipe. This 3-bean chili freezes great for meals later in the week. If you prefer thinner chili, add an extra can of tomato sauce. The green chiles are not hot and add a wonderful flavor, so don't be afraid to use them.

What primarily distinguishes Texas chili from other chili recipes you might find is a lack of beans, but it also doesn't feature any tomatoes. It is, largely, a ground beef dish that's seasoned with a spicy chili paste made of dried peppers.

Chili without beans is known as Texas-style chili or chili con carne. According to many Texans, beans and other added vegetables have no place in chili. In a true Texas chili or chili con carne, the emphasis is on the meat and chili peppers.

Beans in chili? Not if you're from Texas! While some people claim that chili can be made with a variety of ingredients—including beef and bean chili, chipotle chicken chili, or dare we say veggie chili—anyone from the Lone Star State would argue that traditional chili simply does not contain beans.

Further east in Ohio, Cincinnati-style chili has many of the same ingredients as traditional red chili, such as cayenne, cumin and paprika. But it also skews sweeter with the addition of warm baking spices like allspice, nutmeg — and cinnamon.

Does Gordon Ramsay put beans in chili? ›

Gordon Ramsay's recipe for chili con carne includes onion, a red chili pepper, fresh tomatoes, and kidney beans. Ramsay's chili recipe is lengthy — it includes everything from ground cumin and sweet paprika to a cinnamon stick, ground beef or beef mince, and garlic.

Since chili is already budget-friendly, it has long been a favorite big-batch meal, especially when trying to save money. Adding spaghetti noodles was seen as a way to bulk up chili without costing much more or changing the taste.

If you go pretty much anywhere in Texas you will find chili ingredients simple and rarely differing: meat, sauce, peppers and spices. Carol Hanco*ck, President and CEO of the International Chili Society, told Texas Living there is a specific reason why Texas chili contains no beans: it's tradition.

Chili with beans could be called chili frijoles or chili con carne con frijoles. I've not seen any other name than “chili with beans.”

In all likelihood, beans have long been a part of chili, even in Texas. And while purists will argue the point until they're red in the face, that fight doesn't hold sway with historians like Guerra. Cowboys mixed chili and beans on their tin plates according to the Chili Appreciation Society International.

Kidney beans are meaty in texture and on the dense side- unlike pinto beans but quite similar to the texture of black beans which makes them the perfect substitute. They hold their shape and don't break down as easily. They are mild in flavor and taste different than black beans but will work well as an alternative!

Though red beans and rice is the best-known version of this dish, it is frequently made with other types of beans, and you can do the same if you'd like. Pink beans, white cannellini beans, even black beans will all taste great with the same basic technique.

However, swapping one for the other isn't advised since one considerable difference between them is their required cooking time. To enjoy the full benefits of both black and kidney beans, it's best to know how one is distinct from the other.

If you were doing this on the stovetop or in a pressure cooker, you'd be fine ... but not a slow cooker. Any kind of beans can be cooked together.