Does Your Oklahoma Chili Have Beans, Yes or No?

For as long as I can remember, people have been debating whether traditional Oklahoma chili should contain beans or not.

Let me lay it down for you... I've had both. I've cooked both. I love either/or almost equally if not for my slight preference for those delicious filling beans in my bowl.

Have you ever wondered why Oklahomans prefer chili without beans? It's because some of us are far too comfortable appropriating Texas' opinion on the matter.

Look at that picture. That's my chili looking super picturesque if not for the thrashed conference room table, errant napkins and utensils, and a frosty can of soda in the background.

That is my back-to-back contest-winning "Best Chili" my coworkers have ever eaten. It also doesn't have any beans. The fact that every other chili up for consideration during those contests had beans only drives home this wild belief that chili doesn't contain beans.

I admit it, I cooked for the crowd, not myself. I deeply appreciate beans in chili regardless of what my Texan friends and family says on the matter.

Here's why Texas is wrong about beans.

The whole "beans don't belong in chili" is a modern Texan revelation. Traditional Texas chili is, in fact, mostly beans.

That's not true!

It is! It harkens back to the days of the Chisholm Trail when cowboy'ing was the main focus of life across the Lone Star State.

While you were in the field or on the trail, you either carried your food with you--hard tack biscuits and beef jerky--or you pulled up a stump to have a dish of whatever the cook prepared on the chuck wagon.

Most nights the cowboys would chow down on bread, beans, and coffee. The bread could be rolls, biscuits, etc... but the beans were a chuck wagon staple because they not only tasted like whatever they were cooked with, but they kept very well in their dry form.

Beans were also one of the only forms of beneficial fiber a cowpoke could get out on the range short of eating plants at will.

Partly due to the sheer fatigue of eating the same thing over and over again, and the hilarious side-effect of consuming improperly prepped beans, when cowboys had a choice in the matter, they'd opt for a bean-less meal. That is why Texas refuses to use beans in chili... probably.

It's all in the prep.

Fast forward to what we know now, the effect your beans have on you is all in the preparation. If you soak your beans overnight, they don't become the magical fruit.

Because the chuck wagon was always on the move, there was no time or technology to allow the soaking of beans overnight to reduce the odds of you, well, stepping on a toad if you know what I mean...

So why do Oklahomans love beans in their chili?

Two reasons.

1 - Between the texture and taste, beans are amazing.

And 2 - Beans are the best way to stretch your chili dollars at the grocery store.

Do you know how many of Oklahoma's signature dishes directly came from folks who were poor during economically difficult times like the Great Depression and Dust Bowl?

Smoked bologna, onion burgers, chili pie, carrot marmalade, sand plum jelly, depression cake, etc... All rich and delicious tastes, all dirt-cheap to make, and filling.

While traditional Texas chili may have been a Lone Star spin on Mexico's traditional chili con carne, it became less and less meat, peppers, and beans and evolved to become just meat with tomatoes and spices.

Oklahoma perfected the state dish of Texas by opting back in with the beans. Not only are they beneficial for the fiber and healthy fat content, but they thicken up the mix and also cut down on the cost which meant each member of the family could eat a little more during hard times.

It is a dish that has evolved even further over the decades. Ground beef has replaced the traditionally tough cuts of meat that were slowly stewed till tender. Some even opt for chicken, turkey, and tofu in place of it altogether.

So, does chili have beans or not?

It's totally up to you. There's really no correct answer, but yes, real chili contains beans.