How Johnny Cash Made His Signature Chili

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It's no secret that Johnny Cash was just as much a foodie as he was a musician. As an Arkansas native, the country icon loved old-school Southern meals, like his family's recipes for pineapple pie and cornbread. But the Man in Black was arguably most famous for his chili.

Cash's son, John Carter Cash, discussed his father's "old iron pot chili" in an interview with NPR after the 2018 release of the family's official cookbook. According to him, Cash's chili was slow-cooked and starred sirloin steak or deer meat. Even more intriguing, though, is his use of an unexpected ingredient: cornmeal.

"He would go by the chili pot with a handful of cornmeal in his hand—I remember seeing this so many times when I was a boy—and he would throw the cornmeal at the pot," Carter Cash told NPR. "You didn't know how much was going to get into one pot of chili to the next. However much it was, that was the specific texture and thickness of that chili."

Interestingly, the recipe, which was first published in the 1992 USO Celebrity Cookbook (did you know Cash was in the Air Force?), doesn't officially call for cornmeal. Instead, you'll see likely suspects like chili powder, cumin, white onion, canned chiles, kidney beans, and whole tomatoes. USO also notes that ground beef or chicken can be substituted for sirloin to make the chili more affordable.

Cornmeal thickens chili's texture and brings mildly sweet nuance to every bite (via Southern Living). It soaks up moisture like a charm, so it can alter the consistency of chili late in the cooking process. With ample time to simmer, the excess liquid will cook off, and the chili will thicken and intensify in flavor (via Masterclass).

As long as it's fine- or medium-grain, any white or yellow cornmeal works. Just don't use coarse cornmeal or polenta, as the grains are too big to properly incorporate. Alternatively, Ree Drummond uses masa harina in her chili, a powdery flour made from nixtamalized corn or hominy. Because it's so finely ground, it dissolves faster than cornmeal, but still imparts a corn-like taste. You can also substitute cornstarch, but it won't add any flavor or grittiness; it'll only thicken the chili.

A couple tablespoons of thickener and a longer cook time guarantee rich results. It's like making a slurry: Combine the thickener with a bit of water, pour it into the chili, then simmer. After 10 minutes, check the pot and repeat the process if it's too runny for your taste (via The Pioneer Woman). (If you use cornmeal instead of cornstarch or masa harina, it may take up to 30 minutes to completely incorporate, says The Kitchn.) You can also skip the water and simply add the cornmeal, Johnny Cash-style. Just know you may need to whisk the chili to break up any lumps that form.