Brian Baumgartner Reveals The One Mistake People Always Make With Their Chili Beans — Exclusive

Chili lovers rejoice, as National Chili Day is upon us again! Yes, this year, February 25 is the day to grab your chili pot, your favorite recipe, and unleash your bottomless belly. And The Office's Brian Baumgartner — whose character Kevin famously spilled a giant pot of chili on the long-running, hit NBC series — is ready to celebrate. For the second year in a row, Baumgartner is partnering with Bush's Beans on National Chili Day to promote the brand's beans and unveil his very own un-spillable chili pot, called the No Spilly Chili Pot.

"My biggest issue, at least publicly, with making chili is, well, actually getting to eat it," Baumgartner told Mashed in an exclusive interview. "So that's in my partnership with Bush's this year. It's a lot about making sure that I can finally, for the world, enjoy the chili that I enjoy making so much." Baumgartner has spent years perfecting his chili recipe, which can be found on the Bush's Beans website, and the actor recently chatted with Mashed to share his secret for creating the best bean-based chili.

"I always make it with beans," says Baumgartner of his chili. "I actually enjoy a couple of different varieties of beans in mine, both the kidney and the pinto." But there's a key element to using those beans correctly, according to the actor, who also includes ground turkey or beef, green peppers, shallots, and tomatoes, among other ingredients, in his recipe. "I think the mistake that a lot of people make is putting them [the beans] in too soon," says Baumgartner. "I mean, I take a slow cook approach to the chili that I make in general, but the beans you need to put in later. And I think it just adds a whole other layer and complexity to it."

Beyond beans, though, there's another ingredient that's very important to Baumgartner's recipe: Love. "It's about making it and serving it with love," the actor says. "I cook chili fairly often, kind of all different times of the year for different occasions and different reasons. It's something that I enjoy doing." As for whether he ever thought that spilling chili would make him a household name, Baumgartner says: "It's a crazy thing that I've gotten into this chili game [based on] one episode of the television show The Office that, when I was shooting it, I had no idea would translate now, I guess over a decade later or so, into this. But I love it. I love making it. I love the way that it makes the house smell. I love my partnership with Bush's, and [that] they came to me to create some fun around chili, which I'm always game for."

The Office star Brian Baumgartner's chili recipe can be found on Bush's Beans website.