Burnt my chili so bad I had to start over from scratch

I was making a big pot of budget chili with beans and canned tomatoes last Tuesday, but I got distracted by a phone call and left it on high heat for way too long. The bottom half turned into this black, crusty mess that smelled like a campfire gone wrong. I had to scrape out what I could salvage, throw in more tomato sauce and spices, and stretch it with extra canned beans from my pantry. Somehow it actually turned out okay, not as good as the original but still edible. Anyone else ever salvage a burnt meal and have it work out?

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samf951mo ago

Had to do the exact same thing with my lentil soup last month. Scraped the burnt stuff off the top, added extra broth and a can of diced tomatoes to thin out the smoky flavor. Let it simmer low for another 30 minutes with some smoked paprika and it actually came out better than the first batch.

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grant_ross271mo ago

Oh man, been there with a pot of chili that looked more like charcoal briquettes than food. @samf95 is right though, that smoky flavor can actually be a happy accident if you catch it early enough. I'd call it "artisanal campfire chili" and act like I meant to do it!

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