Five Ingredients You Probably Wouldn’t Put In Chili, But Kentuckians Do

Fall weather brings lots of things- pumpkins, mums, falling leaves, warm blankets, hot apple cider and big bowls of chili.

Earlier this week on my morning radio show, my cohost Angel and I asked our listeners this!

As the conversation transpired on social media and the show, we started to hear about some ingredients that people are using in their chili recipes for an extra kick.

The first was no surprise at all . . .

NOODLES

Two of my favorite restaurants to get chili in Owensboro are Old Hickory Bar-B-Q and the Big Dipper. What's interesting about them- their chili recipes are completely different. Old Hickory's is a traditional chili with meat and beans. The Dipper puts noodles in theirs. Noddles are a Kentucky go-to for many chili lovers.

Aaron Givens shared this on Facebook- The best chili is homemade and yes with beans and elbow noodles!

And Chris O'Nan, who lives just north of the Ohio River in southern Indiana, agrees. She said- At my house, already made it twice, and yes I put macaroni in it.

CHOCOLATE

Now, I have heard of people putting chocolate in their chili, but I can't say that I have ever tried a chocolate chili recipe personally. That said, I combed YouTube for some chocolate chili videos and there were plenty of them. This one looks DELICIOUS. Hearty, thick, with a touch of sweetness.

CINNAMON

Some Kentuckians add cinnamon to their chili to thicken it up and give it a touch of sweetness to cut through the spice. Honestly, the effects of cinnamon are much like those of chocolate. And here's the deal.  We're not alone here in the Commonwealth.  Our friends in neighboring Cincinnati apparently enjoy cinnamon in their chili too.

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PEANUT BUTTER

A radio listener named Lydia called into our show to share her good friend's secret chili ingredient. Take a listen.

Yeah, she adds peanut butter to her chili. I was only kidding in the radio break when I made the joke about Peanut M&Ms, but apparently her friend does that too.

Really? M&Ms in chili? Okay. This Kentuckian, who hasn't tried it yet, may have to do that soon.

MUSTARD

Of all the suggestions I heard this week on our show, this one made this particular Kentuckian gag a little bit. Admittedly, I am not a fan of mustard, but Jennifer, one of our callers, chimed in and said that the condiment is her favorite additive.

Take a listen!

So how do you like YOUR chili?