With Chili. Crackers? Or...

I think hotdog chili is a specific thing everywhere. No beans, as a rule.

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Fritos

Spaghetti

Cornbread

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Whatever you want. Everything already mentioned is fair game. Chili is a rustic and personal dish. It was traditionally made with what was at hand like any other farmhouse stew. Modern attempts to create ā€œrulesā€ for chili are ridiculous.

Eat it how YOU like it. Garnish with beans, onions, jalapenos, cheese, sour cream, saltines, corn chips, macaroni, rice, corn bread, french fries, dinner rolls, whatever. If it tastes good to you, thatā€™s all that matters.

Ignore all that ā€œIf you put beans in your chili, it ainā€™t chiliā€ nonsense.

Oh and BTW, no one mentioned ā€œTortillasā€ - corn or flour, YOUR choice.

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I think this is true if you order a chili dog in a restaurant anywhere, but I know a lot of people who top their hot dogs at home with the same chili (beans, chunky) they eat by the bowlful. I find that incredibly weird, but hey, chacun Ơ son goƻt!

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Yes ā€¦ JMF mentioned tortillas
I am in agreement with you anything goes

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Could be! I seldom eat a hot dog when traveling so have no idea.

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I just love crunchy things with my soups and I guess chili too (but not stews). So Iā€™m up for any type of cracker, frito, etc, as a topping.

I love corn bread with my chili but I donā€™t crumble it into my chili. Iā€™ve never had rice with my chili - not sure how it adds to it but since Iā€™ve never tried it I could be missing a huge revelation.

Having lived in Ohio for years, Iā€™ve had my fair share of different pasta shapes covered in chili (though of course SkyLine Chili is with spaghetti - horrible steam pan, over cooked, mush like spaghetti . . . but the locals love it).

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Or you could order it choucroute garni:

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I eat what tastes good to me.

Growing up we never ate chili ā€œoverā€ something. I was just a bowl of chili and maybe we had cornbread on the side.

My husband ate his chili over rice. Now that he is low carb, sometimes he eats it over some sautƩed spaghetti squash or zucchini zoodles.

I typically eat mine with a dollop of sour cream to cut the spice. Sometimes I dip rippled potatoes chips into the chili.

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I still serve mine ā€œas-isā€ not over anything. You have a choice of plain or cheese n onions, thatā€™s it!!

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Over macaroni for my DH, with cornbread for me.

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We serve my chili with big spoons, for catching as much chili goodness as possible. Really, chili is itā€™s own reward, needing nothing else to make it feel complete.

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I rarely serve the same menus twice. I do like something corny, like cornbread, with chili. It can be northern or southern or hush puppies or tortillasā€¦you get the picture.

I remember once when my parents were visiting and I served chili to them. They had very rigid ideas of what foods went with what. I made cornbread to go with the chili, which I had already made ā€œwrongā€ by using pinto beans rather than kidney beans. My mother was beside herself!

She exclaimed, ā€œCornbread goes with ham and beans! Chili is supposed to have soda crackers!ā€

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I much prefer pintos in my chili.

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Grow up my dad was the chili maker. He always put kidney bean in and I hated it. So, chili, no kidney beans please! Oyster crackers, a bit of cheddar, and a drizzle of vinegar were our traditional toppings.

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I despise kidney beans too, and refused to eat chili as a child because my parents loaded their chili with them. When my mother finally relented and scooped out a bowl for me before adding the beans, I loved it! I will eat most beans now but NEVER kidneys. They have such a strong earthy flavor and those tough skins, ugh!

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We must define chili. The chili I grew up on had ground meat, kidney beans and cumin for at least one spice, garlic, with a tomato sauce base

Texans will tell you that ainā€™t chili.

Iā€™ve made real Texas chili with cubes of meat and the sauce made from ground toasted chilies. Both are good but I have an attachment to the fake chili or is that alternative chili, because that is what I grew up eating

Thanks for the reference, will check it out. Cornbread is its own battlefield: sweet or not. I like it both ways. W/ chili must not be too sweet IMHO.
We grew up on Jiffy. Oh. Sometimes w can cheese. Mother being a child of the depression and in favor of cheap modern conveniences.
Just made a batch w/ Bobā€™s Red Mill medium grind cornmeal using the recipe on the bag (except I substituted white flour for whole wheat pastry flour. Not being highly evolved.) Thought it was really good. Pan toasted in butter the next day. Excellent crumb. Good corn flavor. Would be a good match w/any kind of chili or stew.

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Chili is so versatile. It has many forms, and is good almost any way you can have it. Works wonderfully as the main event - a bowl of chili with your favorite toppings - or as a sauce for your favorite carb - spaghetti, rice, potato, etc. Also works great as a flavor enhancing role player in things like chili dogs or nachos. Or make something like the legendary Taco Bell chili burrito.

One of my favorite additions though that I havenā€™t seen mentioned - is a runny egg over chili. Have it over some carb, or straight. The egg and chili make a magical combo together.

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