How To Thicken Chili?

What’s better than a steaming bowl of chili? Nothing, right! It’s our ultimate comfort food! Each bite of chili is packed with flavors, the tanginess from the tomatoes, the heat from the different peppers, and the different exotic tastes from the beans. There is no reason to dislike chili. But sometimes, chili disappoints us as it becomes thin, soupy, or runny. But worry not if you want to thicken chili because we have some amazing yet convenient methods and tricks to thicken your chili!

Easy Methods To Thicken Chili

There are countless easy ways to thicken chili with easily available and basic kitchen ingredients. If your chili is soupy or thin, try one of these methods to turn your runny chili into a thicken and flavorful dish:

Simmer the Chili Longer

One of the easiest ways to thicken the chili is to cook the remaining liquid longer. Settle pit on the stove on low heat, remove its lid, and let the chili simmer for 8-10 minutes, depending on how much liquid is left. Cook the chili until it reaches your desired thickness, turn the stove, let it cool, and convert it into a crystal bowl and enjoy!

Add Vegetables With Chili

Adding vegetables is one of the best methods to thicken chili, as when vegetables cook, they release starch, which works as a thickener; additionally, it also absorbs the liquid. Therefore, adding small chunks of veggies such as potatoes, onions, celery or carrots, to your base thickens the liquid and amazingly enhances the delicious flavor of your chili!

Add Beans With Chili

Adding beans in chili is an excellent way of absorbing excessive liquid. Mash the beans because mashing the beans helps release natural starches and absorb liquid. Beans like black beans, kidney beans, or pinto beans are best for thickening chili to release more starch. When you add beans, don’t forget to adjust the seasoning to ensure that the flavor of the chili remains balanced!

Thicken chili with oats

Here’s another amazing trick to thicken chili- add oats in chili. While you cook chili, add a teaspoon of oats in it and stir it well. Cook the chili and pat together, until you get your desired thickened chili. It is one of the easiest ways to thicken chili, and oats are almost present almost all the time in your pantry- so do give this trick a try!

Add Cornflour or All-Purpose Flour

As we know that cornflour and flour are normal thickening agents; adding them in chili will help to thicken them. Above all, cornflour or all-purpose flour is always available in the pantry. To avoid lumps, dissolve the cornflour or flour in cold water first, then add it in chili. Stir in the flour slurry smoothly, evenly distributing it throughout the chili. Simmer the mixture for at least 8-10 minutes.

Thicken Chili With Tomato Paste

Another way to thicken chili is to use tomato paste while cooking it. All you need is, add an adequate amount of tomato paste into the chili and cool until the chili thickens. As some tomato paste is bitter, you can add sugar to balance the taste. At the same time, the best thing is to make fresh tomato paste and add it to the chili.

There were just a few methods to thicken chili, and there are many easy ways to thicken the chili. Use any method to thicken the chili and per the availability of ingredients in your pantry- each method is surely fail-proof yet amazing!

Causes of Thin Chili And How To Avoid Them

We have already learned some tricks and methods on thickening chili, but now we will be sharing the causes of thin chili and how you can thicken them to get your desired thick chili!

• Using too many fresh tomatoes: Using too many fresh tomatoes is not a good option because when tomatoes are heated, they release liquid which can thin your chili. So use tomatoes to add flavor and texture to your chili – avoid adding too much!
• Less cooking time: To get your chili’s desired aroma and thickness, cook it low and slow. Don’t give less cooking time to your chili, as more cooking time will allow it to simmer long enough, and you will get the desired thickness!
• Usage of too much stock: We know that beef and chicken stock enhances the flavor of chili, but using it too much can make it li. So you can use veggies instead of the stock and add adequate seasoning to get the original flavor of the chili.

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