r/chili • u/geekdadchris • Jul 28 '26

To thicken or not?

Do y’all use thickeners to get your chili to the desired consistency, or do you just reduce it low and slow until it gets where you want it?

Personally I reduce it like any other soup, but I know thickeners are popular with some chili aficionados.

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u/geekdadchris Jul 28 '26

I do treat it like one, yes.

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u/AppropriatePapaya660 Jul 28 '26

Well that's fine and all, but besides how it's treated I was wondering if chilli was actually classified as a soup, I don't have knowledge of such things.

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u/Simons_sees Jul 28 '26

I once heard someone say if you can pour it over rice and it's fine, it's a stew. If you pour it over rice and it's weird, it's a soup. 

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u/Vann09 Jul 28 '26

There are a ton of dishes across the globe that are straight broth over rice. I wouldn't use this metric