How Do I Save A Pot of Chili I Just Burned
Becky asked, “Is there any way to save scorched food, not totally scorched but just a little, enough to taste? I made a great pot of chili, left the room to answer the phone, and returned to scorched food. Any tips would be great.”
Saving scorched chili can be tricky, but there are ways to recover it. Here’s how:
- Transfer quickly. Move the chili to a new pot as soon as you notice the burn. Avoid scraping the burnt bits at the bottom.
- Add a potato. Peel and cut a potato into chunks. Drop it into the chili and let it simmer for 15-20 minutes. Remove it after. The potato absorbs some of the burnt flavor.
- Dilute with fresh ingredients. Add more tomatoes, beans, or meat. This not only stretches the chili but also balances the burnt taste.
- Sweeten lightly. Add a little sugar or honey. Go slowly, tasting as you adjust.
- Add acid. Stir in a splash of vinegar or a squeeze of lemon or lime juice to brighten the flavors and mask the burn.
- Boost spices and herbs. Add fresh seasonings carefully to balance the flavor.
- Try chocolate. Stir in a small piece of dark chocolate or a pinch of cocoa powder. It deepens the flavor and masks bitterness.
- Go smoky. Add smoked paprika or chipotle to make the burnt flavor feel intentional.
- Strain and rinse. If the burn is mild, strain out the good chili, rinse gently with water, and re-season.
- Add dairy. Stir in sour cream, cheese, or a splash of cream to mellow harsh flavors.
These tips can help, but success depends on how scorched the chili is.
Tips for Preventing the Chili from Burning in the First Place
Preventing your chili from burning takes attention and the right techniques. Follow these tips to keep your pot of chili perfectly cooked and flavorful:
- Stir Often: Regular stirring prevents the chili from sticking to the pot and burning. This is especially important for thicker chilis.
- Choose the Right Pot: Use a heavy-bottomed pot, like a Dutch oven, for even heat distribution and less risk of scorching.
- Keep the Heat Low: Stick to low or medium heat. High heat can quickly scorch ingredients at the bottom.
- Add Liquid if Needed: If the chili thickens too much, stir in broth, water, or tomato sauce to maintain a smooth consistency.
- Layer Smartly: Start cooking with moisture-rich ingredients, like onions or tomatoes, at the bottom to protect other ingredients from direct heat.
- Try a Slow Cooker: Slow cookers are ideal for chili. They use low, even heat to cook without burning.
- Simmer, Don’t Boil: Keep the chili at a gentle simmer. A vigorous boil increases the risk of burning.
- Use a Heat Diffuser: On a gas stove, a heat diffuser ensures more even heat under the pot.
- Deglaze Often: Add liquid and scrape the pot’s bottom with a wooden spoon to lift stuck bits.
- Watch the Clock: Even on low heat, overcooking can lead to sticking and burning.
These tips will help you serve up a perfectly cooked, flavorful chili every time.
67 Responses
I found a little trick in a curry recipe book that said if your food sticks to the bottom of the pan to take it off the heat for a few minutes and then try stirring it and I’ve found that it comes off the bottom quite easily although left for too long and all you get is a horrible burnt taste. I’d only recommend this if you’ve got the heat too high or it has been left for a short while.
I PUT SOME SMOKE FLAVORING, JUST A LITTLE. IT HELPS WITH THE BURNT FLAVOR IF NOT TOO BURNT.
I have a slightly burnt taste to one of my mega pots of chili (one burner on my ceramic top stove heats in spurts even on the lowest setting)…I managed to scrape the bottom before I realized what had happened. Any thoughts? I had been cooking a vegetarian chili, wondering now if I add more ingredients and meat if I can save it somewhat. (Planning to serve vegetarian and meat chili tomorrow, was going to add onions and meat to one of the two pots today)…It’s hard to tell if a little bit of burn is too much burn at this point. Why do some recipes call for adding vinegar?
Adding a splash of vinegar to brighten the flavors. Follow with a small amount of sugar or honey to round out the taste.
Adding vinegar helps with the gas that all the beans will cause. Sounds weird, I know, but it works.
Great tips. I usually just eat the foods with the burnt taste or throw them away! I will be moving on now. Thanks
Hi,
Thanx for these tips! This is something I never thought of doing.
Cheers
Chef Johan
There is no such thing as saving scorched chili! However, there is a simple way of doctoring it up. I am the infamous chili burner so, I always pick up an extra package of chili seasoning EVERY time that I plan on cooking chili. You can strain the chili and rinse with cool water. This will completely get rid of the burnt taste. Then you just put it back in the pan, add water and more chili seasoning. I also add a teaspoon of liquid smoke to help! This really really works!
I just read and tried this and it saved a HUGE pot of chili!! thank you for the advice!!
I just burned my pot of chili and I am going to try your trick. I can’t smell or taste anything (I think because of Covid-19 but maybe a chronic sinus infection) so it doesn’t taste or smell bad to me but, my bunch is super picky. Thanks so much for the tip
i saved a pot of chili that was sticking to the bottom of the casserole . I transfered it to my slow cooker and added a heaping tablespoon of peanut butter, yes peanut butter! And WOW the burnt smell and taste went away, couldn’t believe it!
I burnt my Chili I knew not to scrape the bottom and transfer to the clean pot. However, the burnt and bitterness taste was still there. Finally, after trying different things I turned to the internet in hopes of something that would take the burnt taste out. This trick helped so far (took most of the burnt bitterness out) but we will see come dinner time if it worked. My son is pretty picky about taste and texture of things he eats (more so then me and my husband). If it passes him as tolerable then I have found a winner.
Peanut butter really works, tried this last nite and even after stirring the burnt flavor into the chili, its now tolerable.
Great ideas for chili, but what about green beans? Back to back to back phone calls, and trying to catch the weather coming our way from Ike and I got home canned grean beans burnt! (And my daughter and family are invited to dinner!)
I accidently made my chili way too spicy – is there anyway to fix this? I thought I read somewhere that adding a potato can help when you’ve added too much spice?
Susan, if your chili is too spicy, you can tone it down by adding more ingredients to dilute the heat, such as extra beans, tomatoes, or broth. Dairy products like sour cream, yogurt, or cheese help neutralize spice, while some sugar, honey, or tomato sauce can balance the heat with sweetness. Serving it with rice, pasta, or potatoes absorbs some of the spice, and a splash of lime juice, vinegar, or extra tomatoes adds acidity to counteract it. Adding a little butter, oil, or avocado can also mellow out the flavors. Adjust based on what you have available!
You guys and the Internet are incredible! Made a double batch of easy bean chili for a large group of friends and burned it on the new gas stove. Will try the peanut butter
I was heartbroken when i burned a double batch of turkey-chili, but i tried the peanut butter and it worked really well!! i also added more chili powder, a couple squirts of ketchup and a little Frank’s hot sauce. you should have seen my daughter’s face when i told her about the peanut butter!! couldn’t taste it at all!! THANK YOU!!!
Mayonnaise and lemon pepper… I know sounds strange .. but the lemon in the lemon pepper and the mayo, combined with the creaminess of the mayo really counteracts the bitterness.
1tbsp. Mayo per 1 1/2 lbs. of chili
1/2 tsp lemon pepper
Did the mayo, had no lemon pepper, so I added pepper and a couple of teaspoons of lemon juice. Seems to have worked. Thank you!
P.S. just make sure you sir in the mayo very rapidly or it will curdle.
I accidentially scorched the potatoe soup I was making for a soup supper. Any suggestions on how to get rid of the burnt taste.
ok.. i am amazed. doing a fundraiser chili supper tomorrow and scorched the chili. googled scorched food. if peanut butter works you are geniuses…
Did it work Jennifer? 20# of meat is a big pot o chili!
worked great for me
peanut butter who would have thought
Be careful of the peanut butter. There are people who have allergic reactions to anything peanut. If you use that technique you should inform your guest. Some people can not even be in the same room with anything peanut related.
My husband is allergic to peanut butter so I tried sunflower butter (which is similar to peanut butter). It worked!! I was very skeptic, but I didn’t want to throw away a huge pot of vegetarian chili. We could not believe we saved it.
My chili is too spicy.. any way I can fix it?
To salty or spicy try some sugar it really works, using about a table spoon at a time . good luck!
Kat – if you still have the spicy chili – peel and slice a RAW potato, in big chunks and add that to the chili while heating it up. The raw potato will absorb a lot of the spice. Take the potato chunks out before serving. This actually blends the spice nicely too!
The Raw Potato may also help get rid of the scorched taste in Chili.
Peanut butter really works! I tried it on a pot of burned chili and it took most of the burned taste away. Add a few tablespoons to a large pot or a teaspoon per bowl.
Dark chocolate 90% and higher works similarly and less allergies
Some cilantro as well
It was my time to shine for Sunday Football. I went all out for snacks, zoom zooms and wham whams. I had over $50.00 worth of chili cooking in a huge stock pot, in the excitement of the first game, it happened. The chili wasn’t stirred in time and it was scorched. My wife jumped onto Ask.com and found this blog which suggested to add a heaping tablespoon of peanut butter. I was doubtful and didn’t serve the chili. But today I refused to let my funds go to waste and reluctantly tried the remedy. To my surprise and great delight, IT WORKED! ! Thanks for saving my chili and my money. My wife, son and I had a great Tuesday night chili party!! The scorched smell slightly lingered, but it didn’t taste burned to any of us. Again, thanks for updating this awesome blog with the helpful peanut butter remedy.
You are very welcome and thanks for telling us your story. – RG
Well, I tried the peanut butter in my scorched chili and it worked! The tip saved a gallon of chili and 5#s of meat! Had to readjust the seasonings as the PB made the chili bland but that isn’t a problem.
Hi Natalie, thanks for sharing your experience. – RG
I was making dinner for a friend and I burned a huge pot of chili. I carefully removed the portion which wasn’t burned. It tasted so, so, but left a bitter after taste. I decided to try the peanut butter—and was delighted to discover it worked very well!
Hi Peg, peanut butter to the rescue again. Thanks for sharing your results. – RG
Does anyone have any ideas to take the sweetness out of chili. I used different tomatoes this time I guess that was it, no clue.. Do you think the potato will work? Or will it take away the salt and spices as well?
Great question. It could be the tomatoes or possibly your onions or maybe tomato paste. I have read that dry mustard added a little at a time can help with sweetness. Also, you can try unsweetened cocoa powder which is not sweet. – RG
I do not have dry mustard, do you think regular mustard will work?
Hi Tawnie, not sure since I have never tried it but only read it may help. You may want to try taking a little portion of the chili and add a small amount of regular mustard and see if that works. If it does, you can try it with the whole batch. – RG
I will let you know how the slightly burnt chili with the one tablespoon of organic creamy peanut butter does because I’m in a chili cook off tonight at Cross Pointe Church in Tyler, TX. I have made my chili with bison/buffalo. All for now and have a blessed day.
Hi Tom, hope you don’t need peanut butter in your chili cook off. Good luck – RG
I cooked a huge pot of chili and was watching it close as my huge pot has gotten very thin over the years. My phone rang and took me away for 2 mins and it started to scorch!! I was so mad at my self. It wasn’t just a waste of food but had no time to make more dinner. Got on here and read the tips about the peanut butter and it worked great. Added more spices to it just to be sure and it is great now!! Thanks you guys saved my chilli!!
Hi Shaine, you are very welcome and I’m glad it worked out for you. I know from experience and should know better, but often walk away from the stove when the kids are screaming or our new puppy has to go out. It is a mistake we all make and in some cases, like this one, there is something that can be done to prevent a complete mess up. Thanks for commenting. – RG
Tonight I made three batches of chili for a super bowl party and my one pot burnt one of the batches a bit. I saved it by combining a few tricks I found on various websites including this one: For one batch 1/8 cup of white vinegar, 3-4tbsp of peanut butter, 1 cup of salsa, 1/2 to 1 tbsp of chili powder and salt and pepper to taste. It worked great. Thanks for all the great suggestions.
You are welcome Joyce and thanks for your tip. – RG
I have been creating different chili receipies for years – the one thing I found was brown sugar! Hides the burnt taste and sweetens the pot – everone will ask you what you used for seasoning. They won’t even pickup on the fact it’s a little scorched.
i hope the peanut butter works. I burnt a huge pan of chili last night (LOL glad I’m not the only one) I can’t see wasting it so thanks for the pointers!!!I will let everyone know.
Thanks Kathie, let me know – RG
Can you taste the peanut butter in the chili?
yes slightly, but I maybe biased because I added it. my daughter tried it and couldn’t tell in fact she asked for more.
I tried the peanut butter, I still taste burnt chili. An entire pot wasted! Ugh??♀️
Thank you, thank you, thank you! Peanut butter worked for my pot of pinto beans scorched as well. So appreciative!!!
I also got lost a lil while reheating chili I had better than eight hours invested in making. I was prepping jars for canning and inadvertently turned the heat up higher than I thought. It scorched and I was frustrated thanks the peanut butter really does the trick. Having made chili for over twenty years and never doing this I was very pleased for all the help online. Excellent!!! Thanks
You totally saved the day!!! But you might need to increase the heat because it also mellowed the chili out. Thanks For Saving Game Day!
I burnt a HUGE pot of chili last night. I poured it into a new pot right away. I’ll try the peanut butter trick tonight. But how much peanut butter should I use per gallon of chili? How high should I turn the burner and how long should I cook it? OR should I only try a pint of chili at a time..how much peanut butter per pint/ How long to cook it and how high should I set the burner to? Please help!
Hi Maggie, I don’t think this is an exact science. I would try a little peanut butter at a time but I like your idea of working with a pint at a time. Test it out with a pint and then extrapolate for the rest. How long depends on how much chili and how far along you were in the cooking process. What was the burner set at when you burned it? I would lower it from there and be sure not to walk away from it so you can keep an eye on it. – RG
Hello, I was planning on making chilli did not get home in time to use crockpot so thought I would try this pressurecooker and was not sure how it would work was afraid it would.sick.and.burn …well it did! I transfered to crockpot added more seasoning but still had that schorched smell.and after taste not good my 5yr old granddaughter would not eat it so I googgle it and saw the reviews about the peanut butter with not other option to throw it out I did it. Low and behold it worked!!! My daughter came over to pick up her kid and had her taste it without telling her she thought the chilli was great not pb taste and even better no schorched taste or smell …who would have thought. The only other thing I have used pb for is to get gum out of hair that works too.
it was my job to bring chilli to my sis house for the gathering we was having christmas eve turn my back a few seconds and burnt my chill i was upset and lost cause it was to late to start over so i started searching found this site read articles over and over and every one mention PB so i tried it u should have seen me jumping up and down it really works:_)my kids are looking at me like im crazy
I burnt a whole whack of chili and tried the peanut butter remedy and would like to know how long it takes to get the burnt smell/taste out of the pot?
I have found that adding some dark chocolate to chili that is too spicy will tame it down, and add depth to the flavor. Add a little at a time so you don’t over do it.
Mother in law bought me a new stock pot, and I thought it was going to work so well. Well, it did if the job was to burn my huge pot of chili. I was furious. I stepped away to cater to my daughter who had just hit her head and the whole pot was lost…. or so I thought. I got on here and found so many people saying peanut butter. So I figured its worth a try before I throw it out. I added a little at a time tasting in between and when all was said and done had about 3 tablespoons in. My kids couldn’t even taste the scorched taste and they are very picky. Thank you all for the peanut butter trick. Don’t know how it works, but very glad it does!
You are very welcome June – RG
used the Peanut Butter… CANT BELIEVE IT WORKED! I burned the bottom of the pot and black flakes came up into the Chili, I scooped them out… took a long time.. but I did and added the peanut butter ( I melted the PB and then mixed it in) I also masked the burn smell by adding ground Cloves and Cinnamon Sugar! PEOPLE loved it. worked out great.
I burned the heck out of 10 lbs of cubed pork in green chili sauce yesterday. My stove malfunctioned! My big burner would not turn down or shut off, but by the time I realized it, I had burned the chile for over an hour! We finally threw the breaker because the whole stove was so hot. My dish is due at a chili cook-off tomorrow. I’m headed in there to transfer the unstuck portion to a smaller pot and try the peanut butter AND the vinegar. Will do a little at a time and let you know how it goes. My pot did fantastic! It got so hot that when we moved it to another burner it lit up that burners ‘warning, hot burner light’…..
I Was Making Ham & Bean Soup Of Course I Burnt It. so I Thought Of My WhiteChicken Chili &Added Cumin. It Worked great. Cuz I Have A New Recipe For Ham &Bean Soup. I Also Added Oregano,Thyme. To Make ItLike My White Chicken Chili
PS Cumin Is A Smokey spice
Thank you all so much for the awesome tips for fixing burned chili. I scorched a big pot of Taco Soup and tried using a few tablespoons of peanut butter, a little liquid smoke, a little cumin and vinegar, another 1/2 pkg of Taco Seasoning, another can of black beans….and IT WORKED!! The soup has maybe a hint of scorch taste, but it is hardly noticeable. (Amazingly, you cannot even taste the peanut butter.) Before I added these magic ingredients I would have had to throw it out. Thank you all so much!!
I made huli huli chicken in the crockpot left it in over night had to try the peanut butter trick. It work great. Thanks
I found the rinsing, then picking out obviously burnt parts (yes I burned it that bad!) and then adding a tiny bit of chipotle along with respicing it with garlic and cumin, covered the burnt taste! Be careful, it’s very spicy. I put most of the tiny can in a tupperware afterwards.
Thanks for all the great tips but I found that the one that worked the best was straining off all the sauce and rinsing and then addig tomatoes sauce and seasoning back in. Hope this helps
Thanks Melissa for this tip. And all tips are welcome.
I used brown sugar in scorched chili and it wored like a charm! Thanks Roxy!
tried the mayo and lemon pepper and IT WORKED!! Thanks 5 gallons of chilli saved
After transferring chili to a new pan,: Add a spoonful or so of peanut bitter. It for sure does the trick without detection. Be sure to warn all guests that your chili contains a bit of peanuts in case of allergies.