5 Tips for Award-Worthy Chili
There are some secrets George would never give away (just like the Secret Family Recipe for Bush’s Baked Beans), but we convinced him to pull back the curtain on some of his favorite tips just for us!
 | TIP 1SEAR THE MEATLightly brown your meat to build texture and flavor. If you’re cooking with beef, make sure to drain off most of the fat before adding the rest of the ingredients to keep your chili from being oily. |
 | TIP 2ROAST YOUR PEPPERSFrom jalapeños to poblanos to serranos, your chilis will add an extra dimension of smoky flavor if you give them a quick char before they go in the pot. You can do this a few ways: over a gas range, using your oven broiler or by throwing them on the grill. |
 | TIP 3SAVE THE BEST FOR LASTYou know the saying, “save the best for last?” To keep your beans nice and plump, add them about 20 minutes before you finish cooking. This will give them plenty of time to impart that perfectly seasoned chili flavor to your recipe without overcooking.BONUS TIP!Use Bush's® Chili Beans to take your chili up a notch – George Rives did in his winning chili recipe in 2018! |
 | TIP 4TWEAK YOUR TEXTUREIf your chili’s a bit too liquidy, you can thicken it up with a little arrowroot powder. Mix a tablespoon of arrowroot with two tablespoons of water to make a slurry and slowly add it to your chili until the thickness is juuuust right. Arrowroot has almost no taste so don’t worry about it changing those rich chili flavors you worked so hard to develop. |
 | TIP 5DASH OF SWEET5 minutes before serving, add a tablespoon of brown sugar and taste. The sweetness of the sugar will help balance out the zing from any tomatoes or stock in your recipe. |
The great thing about George’s tips is that they can be used to take any chili to the next level, building flavor and perfecting texture for a bowl that’s worthy of a crown, whether it's your grandmother’s famous recipe or one that’s brand new!
To switch things up, try the recipethat won George his world championship title or one of the others below. Made with Bush's® Chili Beans, slow-simmered in a hearty chili sauce to infuse flavor into every bean and now the Official Beans of the World Championship Chili Cook-Off, they’re sure to wow the judges around your table any time of day.
