Cold weather means its time for chili. We make it fresh with Wick Fowler’s 2 Alarm chili kit when we have a few hours to let it simmer. We keep canned chili on hand too. It’s perfect for a quickFrito pie. Sometimes we come in cold and tired from a busy day and want a big bowl of chili. Right Now! Time to grab that can opener.
There’s some good canned chili. Which is you favorite? With Beans or without?
I used Google to find the major brands. Click other if your brand isn’t listed in the poll.
I started eating Wolf Brand Chili (with beans) in Boy Scouts. We always brought it with us on camp outs. Ate a lot of it in college. We always have a few cans in the pantry.
It was advertised heavily in the 70’s and 80’s. Haven’t seen any ads in awhile.
I can’t really say. The stores up here have limited variety. I think there’s Wolf, Hormel, or Stagg. There may also be Campbell’s, but I’ve never had it in my life so I’ve never looked for it. And I think there’s some off-brand at Dollar Store.
None of them are exceptional, so to me they’re interchangeable.
I get Amy’s chili. It’s the only vegan chili that I’ve seen that doesn’t have MSG in it, but I’m always on the look-out for another brand.
There are a bunch of versions of Amy’s chili. The medium and spicy versions taste different but don’t differ that much in heat. They’re both pretty mild. The vegetable version isn’t very filling.
My wife introduced me to Wolf brand Chili. never had it before. It’s our go to for chili cheese dogs or quick nachos. If that’s not available, its Hormel Hot and Spicy. Don’t eat canned chili as chili though, always a lazy topping.
I loathe Nalley’s products, especially their chili. I don’t eat canned chili any longer, but my favorite used to be Denison’s, which actually tasted like chili.
Hormel chili, no beans, on dogs when I don’t feel like doing the work and want to feel like crap all afternoon.
Otherwise, no canned chili please. Home chili can be done so easily with some meat and a few cans of this and that dumped in. It’s better after it sits but even if you eat it right away better than the few canned varieties I’ve tried. I freeze small bowls for using on fries, tots, etc. all winter.
My wife swears by Wolf, but I feel like there’s a little bit too much of that bitter cumin flavor coming through on theirs.
I like making my own chili, really, but it’s so much easier to take a can to work for lunch. No tupperware to take back home with me, and no risk of the lid coming open in my satchel. Plus, I can stash it at my desk for weeks as a backup if I ever forget to bring something.
As for as with beans or without… the full name is “Chile con carne” which means, as far as I’m concerned, that we had to specify the presence of meat to eliminate any uncertainty, but that the beans were just assumed because they’re not optional. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
At home, I’ll take a baked potato, half a can of chile, and a mountain of cheese. Pile it all up and put it back into the oven until the cheese is crispy. Mmmmm.
One of the things I miss most from Colorado is Stokes Chili. It may not really count because they make it for saucing, rather than for a bowl, but it is by far the best from the chili genre in a can.
I really don’t like canned chili, not because I’m some sort of rabid purist, but I just don’t trust it, for no good reason. I prefer eating what I’ve made myself, because I know what gone in the pot. An attitude which pretty much does not extend to other foodstuffs; mainly just chili. It don’t make a whole lot of sense, I know, but there it is.
Clyde’s, a DC-based chain of bar/restaurants* (fancier than Ruby Tuesday’s but not quite as fancy as McCormick & Schmick) had a well-regarded chili recipe and sold chili in jars through local grocery stores for a while in the 80s. Excluding that, I like Hormel just fine and wish I could buy it in Asia.
*As far as I know; The first one I ever saw was in Georgetown and the only other one I ever saw was in Alexandria.
Of course, it’s called “chile con carne” not because beans are assumed, but because “chile” on its own means chile peppers. Hence, “chile peppers with meat,” and not “chili (the dish) with meat.”
As for canned chili, I don’t know them well enough to have a preference, but I seem to remember Hormel being fine, especially if you pour it over a Tom-Tom tamale.
Stagg Laredo is my favorite canned chili, because they use green peppers in it and it tastes the closest to my homemade chili recipe (though not nearly as good, of course.) A pity that so few stores carry the Laredo flavor.
I always swore I’d never eat chili out of a can. My dad used to eat it all the time and to me it looked and smelled like dog food. I learned to make it from scratch many years ago and don’t really like anyone else’s chili, much less from a can.
Then I tried Campbell’s Firehouse (as opposed to Roadhouse) because it said it was spicy and full of meat and, what the heck. It’s pretty darned yummy, especially if you jazz it up with a little extra chili powder, cumin and hot sauce.
That’s pretty much my thinking as well. We’re big fans of Wolf Brand (lean beef type), but not as a straight-up meal, but rather as a topping or ingredient in things like queso, Frito pies, on top of cheap tamales, hot dogs, etc…
For whatever reason, homemade chili works better for straight eating, but not so much as a topping.
