Chili has been one of the most heavily debated topics in America for centuries. Is it its own food, a stew, or a soup? While many believe it to be something else due to its thick texture and bold flavor, it shares many important characteristics with traditional soup. Like soups, it simmers in a liquid, mixes beans, vegetables, and meat, and is served hot and in a bowl. It is without question a soup, and there is hardly an argument for any other opinion.
The first thing I would like to bring up is the menu at New England Soup Factory in Newton, Massachusetts. New England Soup Factory is the go-to soup factory for soup lovers across Massachusetts. If you were to look at their full dinner menu and proceed to the house soups, you will notice roughly 5 soups. However, the third soup on that list is chili, blending right in with all the other soups, clearly demonstrating that Chili is, and always has been, a soup. High-caliber restaurants, such as New England Soup Factory, are calling Chili a soup, making it clear that Chili’s identity as a soup is recognized in the real world. Right underneath the Chili on the menu, it says “A favorite at the Soup Factory. Slow-cooked, rich and zesty blend of ground beef, red beans, onions, and sweet bell peppers in a spicy tomato and cumin scented sauce.” This accurately represents what chili is as a whole and how it is a soup, since a favorite at the soup factory needs to be soup, or else they would not be serving it.
Secondly, according to the official Merriam-Webster dictionary, one of the most widely used on planet Earth, Soup is “a liquid food especially with a meat, fish, or vegetable stock as a base and often containing pieces of solid food.” Chili is a liquid-based dish made with vegetables, beans, and meat. It is commonly cooked in a meat stock. There is no argument for any other possibility, and Chili is most clearly a soup.
To conclude, Chili is most definitely a soup. There is undeniable evidence, and there is essentially no possible argument that can be made against it. Chili is one of the world’s classic soups, beloved for its rich flavors and hearty ingredients.
Sean:
Chili is not a soup, and lumping it into that broader category does it a complete injustice. Instead, it is a stew which, although it has some similarities with soup in certain respects, is a completely different concept.
First, Chili does not place importance on its broth, unlike soups. Although some chili variants contain a broth-like liquid, it is not typically considered part of the dish. If a person were to consume soup, it would be normal to eat all of it, including the liquid. However, when eating chili, it would be abnormal to go out of their way to drink the meat juice that is left behind. Therefore, it must be categorized as something other than a soup entirely.
This brings me to my second piece of evidence that distinguishes chili from soups: chili can be eaten with a fork. No soup can be eaten solely with a fork, and because Chilis can, it is definitely different from soups. And so, with no other categorization being possible, it must be considered a stew.
To close it all out, just as Sam did, I will present a dictionary definition to support my point. According to the Oxford Dictionary, stews are defined as “a dish of meat or vegetables (or both) cooked slowly in liquid in a closed dish or pan.” As anyone who has made chili before can tell you, making chili is a long, arduous process that spans multiple hours. As it is a dish that requires slow cooking in liquid, it more accurately fits the description of a stew than a soup. Many people across the world consume chili every day, and it is important to make this distinction.