How to cook Chili Beans

Chili beans are the beans prepared in a sauce in the Latin American region. Usually, chili beans are cooked in meat, but you can make them vegetarian if you want. The dish is eaten alone, served over rice or bread and can also be used instead of sauce in hotdogs and nachos. This dish is mostly popular in Southwest America where you can find some people who have strong opinion on what belongs and does not belongs in a chili dish.

This dish is very much similar to the chili con carne, which is a dish in the Latin American region which is made by cooking the meat in spicy sauce. The Chili con carne dish is generally made with pork or beef and the seasonings differ based on the place. Some ingredients like onions, garlic, cumin, peppers and tomatoes are added to this dish. Because of the very slow cooking process of this dish, the meat is broke down and it is given the flavor of the spices.

Chili beans are usually chili con carne, but they use beans instead of meat. Many varieties of beans like black beans, white beans, kidney beans and pinto beans are used in this dish. Some cooks use some varieties of beans to improve the flavor and to make it more delicious.

In preparing Chili beans, the beans are first washed and then soaked. Many people soak the beans overnight but the beans should be soaked for a minimum of 8 hours. Soaking beans helps in maintaining the shape of the beans and also helps to cook properly reducing the gastrointestinal problems associated with consuming beans.

After soaking the beans and draining the water, onions, garlic and peppers are fried in the oil in a pot. Tomatoes, carrots and bell peppers can also be used .After these vegetables are fried, spices like peppers, cumin, coriander and salt is added or chili mix can also be used. Then the beans are added, the dish is filled with water and the dish is cooked for one to three hours. This process makes the beans soft and the time taken to make the dish varies according to the type of beans.

Cooks can use their imagination and use various ingredients and make several interesting recipes. If meat is used in this dish it is usually sautéed before adding the beans. If you are a vegetarian, you can replace meat with tofu, tempeh or seitan. Seitan is highly recommended because of the nice texture. Sour cream and grated cheese are also used as garnish for Chili Beans.

S&W Beans have been producing beans packed with nutrition, protein and fiber since 1896. For more information and recipes visit www.swbeans.com