This Family Recipe Helped Build Culver's Early Success

Culver's is one of America's must-try regional fast-food chains. It has expanded greatly since its humble small-town Wisconsin beginning in 1961. While it may now be famous for its ButterBurger and creamy high-quality frozen custard, founder George Culver's chili recipe is what helped build the restaurant's early success. While co-founder and wife Ruth handled the front of house serving customers, George was in the kitchen perfecting his signature chili con carne, a blend of ground beef, tomatoes, dark red kidney beans, bell peppers, onion, and celery, all cooked together with his secret blend of spices. At first the chili was only a seasonal item; something to warm you up when the weather turned cold. But it proved to be so popular the chain quickly made it a permanent menu item available all year.

George's chili is made at a medium spice level. For those that want an extra kick, just ask for packets of hot sauce when you order. Getting the chili supreme features some extra toppings: a dollop of sour cream, cheese, and sprinkling of diced raw red onions. You can also get chili cheddar fries with George's chili ladled over crinkle cut fries and topped with Wisconsin cheddar cheese sauce. 

This popular family recipe is still a hot seller on Culver's menus, and customers have their own unique ways of enjoying it. Many customers have suggested ordering the fries extra crispy if you are going for the chili cheddar fries to avoid the fries becoming too mushy from the liquid in the chili. This can be requested when ordering in person or on the app. People might not know you can also pick which cheese you want topping your chili, shredded cheese or cheddar cheese sauce. "Our restaurant still uses cheese sauce, but we will make it with shredded cheese upon request," mentioned one Redditor.

But fries aren't the only thing you can get loaded with chili. Culver's onion rings rank as some of the best in the biz. So why not try ordering chili cheddar onion rings?  Or how about some chili cheese pretzel bites? Another Redditor simply suggested, "Chili + cheese curds = game changer."