Ina Garten's Secret To Flavorful Chili Is A Fragrant Italian Staple

There are tons of ways to make a more flavorful chili with just the contents of your spice rack. Things like cayenne can send alarms blaring, and secret ingredients like cinnamon can have a more subtle chili-warming effect. Fresh herbs are less frequently seen seasoning those great, big pots of meat and/or beans. But Ina Garten, the celebrity chef known as the Barefoot Contessa, actually uses lovely, green basil leaves in her own chicken chili. And the reason has a little something to do with disdain for another herb that some folks might find pretty familiar.

"Most chili has cilantro in it, but I, personally, hate cilantro. So I'm gonna put basil in instead," Garten says in a Food Network clip posted to YouTube, adding, "It gives it great flavor." As anyone who's ever had a tomato sauce or gravy that cooks fresh basil right into the mix can attest, the chopped ¼ cup that Garten tosses into her chili before simmering will imbue the dish with a bit of its fragrant anise-like bloom and a subtle sweetness. Garten's hack should also empower anyone who doesn't exactly love a recipe as written to adapt it to their own taste within reason and without negatively affecting the consistency — including in your next basil-infused chili!

Ina Garten gives basil the stamp of approval specifically in the case of chicken chili, but its potential holds up elsewhere, too. Consider meaty ragùs, which share similarities with chili and have enjoyed a long partnership with the herb. Basil's versatility lets you pair it with just about any similarly tomato-based, protein-packed, or vegetarian chili preparation, from turkey to venison to beans – and adding it to the chili of your choice opens the door to plenty more switcharoos.

A lot of people adorn chili with some shredded cheddar. This would still be nice with basil, but the herb is also always wonderful with Parmesan, and the piquant hard cheese will even give your chili a bit more of an umami quality, thanks to its naturally occurring MSG. (Tossing leftover Parmesan rinds in a chili will amplify its umami, too.) You can also swap some of the chile powder that you might typically use with red pepper flakes, which are also known to mingle successfully with basil and parm. When using basil, replacing the usual chopped onions with some shallots and Calabrian chiles also repurposes a classic combo. And if you normally serve this dish with slices of a crusty loaf, garlic bread is just the upgrade your basil-boosted chili needs (consider following Garten's lead and adding fresh oregano and parsley to the garlic butter).