The dish chili con carne, Spanish for "chili with meat," is a stew that originated in Texas, rather than Mexico or Spain. Its name combines the Nahuatl (Aztec) word for the pepper with Spanish. The stew was widely popularized in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by the "Chili Queens" of San Antonio, women who sold bowls of chili in the city's open-air plazas. It was also introduced to a national audience at a stand during the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago.

In 1977, Texas proclaimed chili its official state dish, defining the authentic "Texas Red" style as strictly containing meat and a red chili sauce, with no beans and often no tomatoes. This purist approach traces back to "chili bricks" used by cowboys on cattle drives. Today, common "secret" ingredients used to enhance chili include unsweetened chocolate or coffee for depth, masa harina for thickening, and a splash of vinegar or lime juice at the end to brighten the flavors.

The world's largest pot of chili weighed over 11,750 pounds, and after cooking, it was served free of charge at a community festival. The famous Terlingua International Chili Championship was founded in 1967 and it began as a publicity stunt.

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