My wife hated my chili for 10 years before she finally told me what was wrong

I've been making chili the same way since college. Brown the meat, dump in canned tomatoes and beans, add chili powder and cumin, let it simmer. Simple stuff. Last month my wife sits down with a bowl and says 'you know, this is good but it's always a little watery.' I never even thought about it. She said I needed to drain the cans. Drain the beans AND the tomatoes. I tried it next time and the texture was completely different. Way thicker, more like a stew. Now I'm wondering what else I've been doing wrong for years without knowing it. Anyone else get a piece of feedback that made you totally change a recipe you thought was fine?

2 comments

2 Comments

lee_gibson18d ago

Draining the canned beans changed my chili game too, made all the difference.

joelp8118d ago

That "drain the cans" thing hit me like a ton of bricks when I first heard it. @lee_gibson is right, it really does change everything. I used to wonder why my chili was always more like soup even after simmering it forever. I felt so dumb when I realized I was basically pouring bean juice into the pot for no reason. It's funny how we just do the same thing for years without thinking about it once.