Give Your Next Pot Of Chili A Touch Of Tangy Sweetness With Ketchup

Chili is one of those classic, hearty meals that transcends seasonal eating and even breaches regional culinary traditions. Sure, Texas red is fairly distinct from Cincinnati style or chili verde, but everyone who loves chili can agree that its appeal lies mainly in the deep layers of flavor. Chili is well-known for including a variety of seasonings that merge and marry with the earthy richness of meat, the delicate sweetness of beans (if you use them), and the caramelized astringence of veggies like onions, bell peppers, and tomatoes. Cooked correctly, these ingredients come together to create a dish that's balanced, savory, and comforting.

Of course, every home cook has had the experience of taste-testing their latest batch of chili only to find that it's overly acidic, too spicy, or — worst of all — a little bland. Fortunately, the solution to each of these problems is likely sitting in your fridge right now: ketchup. Those who swear ketchup is the key to flavorful chilis and stews know that it adds a hit of tangy sweetness and thick texture to take your chili from average to outstanding.

For instance, if your chorizo and beef chili con carne is much hotter than you expected, the sugars in ketchup will soften the spice without sacrificing flavor. Its vinegary undertones can also enhance the flavors of your seasonings without overpowering them. Additionally, ketchup is a lovely thickener, adding a velvety texture to chili that might be slightly loose. Just add a squeeze and simmer to let things reduce.

One of the biggest downsides of adding ketchup to your chili is that it could overpower the other flavors, leaving your spicy slow cooker beef chili tasting tinny and weirdly sweet. There are two reasons this might happen: Either you got overzealous and added too much ketchup to the mix, or your chili was underseasoned and there were no flavors to counteract it. Luckily, chili is a fairly forgiving dish, so fixing these issues is typically fairly simple.

In the case of adding too much ketchup to your chili, you may want to turn up the heat a bit to turn that cloying sweetness into a mellow barbeque sauce flavor. Hot sauce is great for this, as it'll quickly give your chili a kick without adding too much volume. You can also throw in a generous pinch of hot smoked paprika, which will enhance the vegetal earthiness of the tomatoes in the ketchup. If your chili was originally underseasoned, however, the solution is very simple: Add light sprinkles of each of your spices and taste until you've achieved your desired flavor.

Of course, when adding ketchup to your chili, the type of chili you're enhancing also matters. This hack works best for red, tomato-based chilis, as adding it to a tomatillo-based chili verde or creamy white chili will change the color and muddle the flavor. If these chilis need a bright pop of flavor, apple cider vinegar or lime juice are better choices.