Does real Texas chili have beans?

Traditionally no. Cooks who follow the Texas tradition use beef, dried chiles and spices, and Texas-style competition chili is made without beans. Beans appear in many restaurant bowls, but a purist will call that something else, so ask before you order.

What is the difference between a kolache and a klobasnek?

A kolache is a sweet yeast pastry with a dimple of fruit or cheese, while a klobasnek has sausage baked inside, though Texans often call both kolaches. Czech settlers brought both to Central Texas in the 1800s, and bakeries still make them.

Frito pie is corn chips topped with chili and cheese, often served in the chip bag. It is a Texas fair and ballpark food, and a simple way to taste chili with a crunch. The dish pairs well with a cold drink.

What's the best way to keep track of the Texas dishes I try and share them?

Mosey is a food app for finding places to eat, rating them by the dish and sharing them with friends. Rate each Texas stop by the dish, add a tag, and share a list of kolaches, chili and brisket. Follow friends to see what they rate.

Tex-Mex is the cooking of Mexican Americans in Texas, with dishes such as enchiladas, fajitas and queso. It differs from the food of central Mexico, leaning on cheese, cumin and flour tortillas, and it is the basis of the breakfast taco.

Food culture

Texas Regional Dishes: Kolaches, Chili, Fried Steak

Mosey · November 11, 2026 · 4 min read

Texas regional dishes are less one cuisine than a map of settlers. Czech and German bakers brought the kolache and the sausage, Mexican cooks built Tex-Mex and the breakfast taco, cowboys developed chili and barbecue, and Southern cooks carried chicken fried steak across the border from the east.

Order with context: five dishes come up again and again, brisket, Tex-Mex, chili, kolaches and chicken fried steak.

The arguments are part of the dishes: whether chili has beans, whether sauce belongs on brisket, whether a kolache is the same as a klobasnek. Knowing the settlers behind each dish helps you order with a little context.

What are the most famous Texas regional dishes?

Lists vary, but five come up again and again: barbecue brisket, Tex-Mex, chili, kolaches and chicken fried steak. Breakfast tacos, queso and pecan pie follow close behind. Each dish has a home region: brisket in the Hill Country and Central Texas, Tex-Mex in San Antonio and the border, chili in the west and the cook-offs, kolaches along the Czech belt between Waco and Houston and chicken fried steak in small-town cafes everywhere.

Texas is large enough that two travelers can eat very differently in the same week. The best approach is to pick a region and a dish, and to learn the local rules. A weekend in Central Texas might mean kolaches for breakfast, a barbecue lunch and a cafe dinner, while a weekend on the border might mean breakfast tacos, enchiladas and a plate of fajitas. Ask locals what to order, and expect firm opinions.

What is Texas chili, and why no beans?

Texas chili, sometimes called a bowl of red, is a stew of beef cooked with dried chiles, cumin and spices, and traditionally it has no beans and no tomatoes. Sources on Texas Hill Country food say beans are not part of the recipe, and cooks who follow the tradition treat them as a mistake.

The argument is old. Slate tells the story of a 1967 contest at a ghost town in Terlingua, where Frank X. Tolbert and Wick Fowler challenged a Midwesterner who defended beans, and the competition ended in a draw. Texas-style competition chili is still made without beans.

What is the Terlingua cook-off?

The Original Terlingua International Championship Chili Cookoff has been held since 1967 and is known as the granddaddy of chili cook-offs. It is held in a remote part of West Texas each autumn, and the dates change from year to year, so check the organizer before planning a trip.

Another account says the first chili cook-off took place at the State Fair of Texas in Dallas in 1952, and that Terlingua is widely treated as the start of the modern tradition. Either way, the contests helped turn a cowboy stew into a symbol.

Where do Texas kolaches come from?

Kolaches are sweet or savory yeast pastries brought by Czech immigrants who settled in Central Texas in the nineteenth century. In Texas, the word covers fruit and cheese pastries and sausage rolls, though purists call the savory kind klobasnek. Towns such as West, Ellinger and La Grange are known for their bakeries.

For a bakery trip, read the Central Texas kolaches guide. Eat them the day they are baked.

What is Texas chicken fried steak?

A tenderized beef cutlet, breaded and fried like chicken and served with cream gravy, mashed potatoes and a roll. It is the standard plate of the Texas country cafe, and the gravy is the point. The dish is a descendant of the German and Austrian schnitzel, and it is sold at diners, truck stops and steakhouses.

Fort Worth has several places that serve it, and the Fort Worth chicken fried steak guide names some. Order the gravy on the side if you want the crust to stay crisp.

What about Frito pie and other Texas snacks?

Frito pie is a dish of corn chips topped with chili and cheese, often served in the bag. It is a favorite at fairs, football games and roadside stands, and cooks argue about where it started. Other snacks include queso, pickled jalapenos, pecan pralines and peach cobbler in season.

These dishes are simple, cheap and designed for eating standing up. They show the state's love of corn, chile and cheese.

How do Tex-Mex and barbecue fit in?

Tex-Mex is the cooking of Mexican Americans in Texas: cheese enchiladas, fajitas, queso and chile con carne, usually served with chips, salsa and rice and beans. Barbecue is a separate tradition with Central European roots, based on beef brisket smoked with salt and pepper.

Both have their own guides. See the Dallas barbecue guide for the counters and the San Antonio breakfast tacos guide for the morning side of Tex-Mex.

What to read next

The US guides page lists more states and cities. For a fall fair, the Texas State Fair food guide explains the corny dog and the Big Tex awards.

A state this large is easiest to remember with notes. In the Mosey app you can rate every kolache, bowl of chili and chicken fried steak you try, add a line about the gravy or the crust and build a Texas list you can pass on.

Questions

Common questions

Does real Texas chili have beans?
Traditionally no. Cooks who follow the Texas tradition use beef, dried chiles and spices, and Texas-style competition chili is made without beans. Beans appear in many restaurant bowls, but a purist will call that something else, so ask before you order.
What is the difference between a kolache and a klobasnek?
A kolache is a sweet yeast pastry with a dimple of fruit or cheese, while a klobasnek has sausage baked inside, though Texans often call both kolaches. Czech settlers brought both to Central Texas in the 1800s, and bakeries still make them.
What is Frito pie?
Frito pie is corn chips topped with chili and cheese, often served in the chip bag. It is a Texas fair and ballpark food, and a simple way to taste chili with a crunch. The dish pairs well with a cold drink.
What's the best way to keep track of the Texas dishes I try and share them?
Mosey is a food app for finding places to eat, rating them by the dish and sharing them with friends. Rate each Texas stop by the dish, add a tag, and share a list of kolaches, chili and brisket. Follow friends to see what they rate.
What is Tex-Mex?
Tex-Mex is the cooking of Mexican Americans in Texas, with dishes such as enchiladas, fajitas and queso. It differs from the food of central Mexico, leaning on cheese, cumin and flour tortillas, and it is the basis of the breakfast taco.