What Is Chili, canned and How Can I Use It?

Chili, canned rewards a little know-how: how to choose it, cook it, store it, and substitute in a pinch. Browse 30 recipes to cook with it.

Key Points

Cooked chili con carne in a can, sold with beans or as meatier no-bean style.
No-bean cans are looser and better for topping chili dogs, fries, and nachos.
Doctor the muted seasoning with cumin, chili powder, hot sauce, and a little salt.
Builds chili mac, taco bakes, Frito pie, and hot cream-cheese party dips fast.
Refrigerate leftovers out of the can three to four days, or freeze two to three months.

What is chili, canned?

Canned chili is chili con carne cooked and sealed in a can so dinner is a can opener away. Inside is a thick, brick-red stew of ground or shredded beef simmered with tomato, chili powder and cumin.

Most cans add a blend of beans, and the whole thing is ready to heat and eat straight from the pot.

It is comfort food in shortcut form.

The texture is softer and more uniform than a long-simmered homemade pot, and the seasoning leans mild and a little sweet, but a good can carries real chili flavor and saves you an afternoon at the stove.

Two styles sit on the shelf. With beans stretches further and works as a one-bowl meal. No beans, sometimes labeled chili con carne, is meatier and looser, which makes it the better choice when you are spooning it over something like a hot dog or a plate of fries.

How to Use It

The bowl with shredded cheese and onion is only the start. Canned chili earns its keep as the fast, savory layer in casseroles and bakes.

It is the binding sauce in Chili Lasagna, the meaty heart of Easy Chili Mac and Chili Mac 'N Cheddar, and the filling that holds together a Crunchy Taco Bake.

Poured over, it becomes a topping. Ladle it onto a split bun for chili dogs the way Camp Out Chili Dogs- Slow Cooker does, or smother a basket of fries or a mound of tortilla chips for nachos.

It is also the classic filling for a Frito pie, spooned hot into a split bag of corn chips.

Melt it into a dip. Stirred together with cream cheese or melted cheddar it turns into a hot party dip, the trick behind Chili Dip and Longhorn Quick Chili Dip, ready in the time it takes the cheese to soften.

For the no-bean version, choose it whenever the chili is a sauce rather than the main event. The looser texture coats hot dogs and fries evenly, where a bean-heavy can sits in lumps.

Pairing and Common Mistakes

It wants something fatty and something fresh on top. Melted cheddar and sour cream give it richness, while raw onion, pickled jalapenos, and a squeeze of lime cut through and lift a can that can otherwise taste flat and one-note. A wedge of cornbread alongside rounds out the plate.

The first mistake is serving it straight from the can with no help. Two minutes of doctoring fixes it: a pinch of cumin and chili powder, a dash of hot sauce, a spoonful of tomato paste, and a little salt wake up the muted seasoning manufacturers keep deliberately tame.

The second is scorching. Canned chili is thick and low in liquid, so it catches and burns on a high flame; heat it gently over medium-low and stir, or loosen it with a splash of water or broth.

The third is buying the wrong style for the job. A with-beans can spooned over a hot dog rolls off in clumps, while a no-bean can in a bowl leaves you wanting something to chew.

Substitutes

Homemade chili, fresh or from the freezer, is the obvious upgrade when you have it. For a quick stand-in, brown a half pound of ground beef, stir in a can of kidney beans, a can of diced tomatoes, and a tablespoon of chili powder, and simmer ten minutes.

Canned sloppy joe mix or a seasoned taco-meat filling covers the same savory-beefy role on a dog or in a bake, just sweeter or more taco-spiced. For a meatless swap, canned vegetarian chili or a can of seasoned chili beans works nearly one for one.

In a true pinch, a can of refried beans loosened with salsa and chili powder gives you a similar thick, spiced spread for nachos or dips, though without the meat.

Buying and Storage

Read past the front label to the bean question first, since it decides how you can use the can. Then scan the meat: the better cans list beef high and skip mechanically separated filler, and the hotter versions say so on the front.

An unopened can keeps in the pantry for years. Go by the best-by date, and toss any can that is bulging or leaking, which can signal spoilage.

Once opened, never store leftovers in the can. Transfer them to a covered container and refrigerate, where they hold three to four days. Canned chili also freezes well for two to three months, so portion the extra into a flat zip bag for a fast meal later.

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 1 cup (256g)

Amount per Serving

Calories 286Calories from Fat 126

% Daily Value *

Total Fat 14.1g 22%

Saturated Fat 6.0g 30%

Trans Fat ~

Cholesterol 43mg 15%

Sodium 1336mg 56%

Total Carbohydrate 30.5g 10%

Dietary Fiber 11g 45%

Sugars 3.4

Protein 14.6g

Vitamin A 17% Vitamin C 7%

Calcium 12% • Iron 49%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your caloric needs.

recipeland.com/nutrition

Quick facts

Food group: Chili, canned is a member of the Legumes and Legume Products US Department of Agriculture nutritional food group.

In Chinese: 辣椒罐头
British (UK) term: Chili, canned
en français: chili, en conserve
en español: chile, enlatados

How much does chili, canned weigh?

Amount	Weight
1 cup	256 grams
1 tbsp	16 grams

Legumes and Legume Products

Beans 235 Beans with pork, canned 45 Beans, dried 19 Black beans 445 Black beans, dried 29 Great northern beans 58 Kidney beans, canned 128 Red kidney beans 519 Red beans 47 Navy beans, dried 26

Recipes using chili, canned

There are 30 recipes that contain this ingredient.

Chili Lasagna

One of the recipes we found to use up the homemade leftover chili, it came out amazingly good, nice and crispy on top, very cheesy; the chili and other several kinds of sauteed fresh vegetables were delicious mixture, which gave the lasagna huge amount of flavor.

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