Make Your Homemade Chili Award-Winning By Adding Some Sweetness

A hot bowl of chili is the ultimate comfort food, especially on a blustery or rainy day. Chances are when you crave chili, it appeals to you because of its savory, robust flavors and hearty, filling nature. However, to take your favorite chili recipe from body-warming to award-winning, you might want to counter your instincts to only add savory ingredients.

One of the best ways to change the flavor profile of your chili while still retaining its signature spicy notes is to add a little bit of sweetness. Perhaps you've avoided doing this in the past because it seems unnatural, but sweet and spicy flavors are meant to co-exist. After all, balancing spicy dishes can be done with sugar to tone down the heat. One specific ingredient can add depth to your chili, but you probably wouldn't think to pick it up for your chili recipe, as it's most commonly used in baking and making candy. 

Not many people would see a jar of molasses and think, "I need to add that to my chili." But that's exactly what you should do. Molasses comes from the sugar-making process: It's sweet, contains more vitamins and minerals than regular sugar, and it has a little tang that pairs really well with the acidity of tomatoes. If you want all of the other flavors of your chili to stand out, molasses provides a perfect contrast while still keeping the flavors of tomatoes and peppers at the forefront. 

Be mindful of the type of molasses you use. For chili, you'll want unsulfured molasses because it's sweeter. Dark molasses is also a good option if you want an especially strong molasses flavor in your chili — but stay away from blackstrap molasses. The bitterness of this variety could easily clash with the other flavors of your chili, though the recommended amount of molasses depends on the chili recipe: Some call for as little as 1 teaspoon of molasses, and others opt for 1 to 2 tablespoons. We recommend tasting as you go, which is a great way to test out this unconventional sweet-savory flavor pairing before you commit to using a larger amount. 

Molasses isn't the only sweet ingredient award-winning chili recipes typically contain. Many of the best chili recipes call for other sweet ingredients that create the same counterbalance effect on the finished dish. Brown sugar, white sugar, and maple syrup can all add some sweetness to an otherwise one-note pot of chili. As with molasses, don't just dump a clump of brown sugar into your chili if you like it spicier or more savory: Taste as you go and start small. 

Since tomatoes are acidic, brown sugar can tone down some of those sharper flavors. It also contrasts well with the heat of any peppers you use. If you don't regularly use brown sugar, you can use white sugar instead. Though it has a slightly different taste and texture than brown sugar, white sugar will still enrich your classic bowl of chili with a little something special. And if regular refined sugar isn't your thing, try adding in a little bit of authentic maple syrup. You won't need a lot, but the syrup will give your chili a perfectly balanced, uniquely complex flavor. If you find that you enjoy the sweetness and are even craving more, try our cornbread recipe as a side dish — smeared with honey butter, of course.