Today I’m excited to share a delicious vegetarian and vegan chili recipe with you. Not only is this chili recipe warm and perfect for the winter season, it’s also a real hit at a party (think Super Bowl etc.). Be warned, this recipe makes a lot of servings, and I’ve included a note below on how you can reduce the size if you don’t need too much.
Allergy Status
Free From: Wheat/Gluten, Dairy, Egg, Soy, Tree Nut (including Coconut), Peanut, Fish, Shellfish, Sesame, Top 9 Allergens, Top 14 Allergens, Apple, Avocado, Banana, Berries, Buckwheat, Cane/Refined Sugar, Carrot, Celery, Cinnamon, Citrus, Cruciferous, Lupin, Mustard, Oat, Pea & Pea Protein, Potato (Nightshade Variety), Poultry, Red Meat, Rice, Seeds, Squash & Gourd, Stone Fruits, Strawberry, Sweet Potato & Yam, Tapioca/Cassava/Yuca/Manioc, Yeast
Friendly To: EOE, Vegan
Compatible With: Corn Free, GAPs
Corn Free: Omit the smoke if you don’t have a safe brand. You could smoke at home (with a smoker like this one) if you’re into that.
GAPs: Use 45 ounces of navy beans and 45 ounces of haircot beans in place of the beans I used.
Cruciferous, Mustard, Seed Free, and Top 14 Free Reminder: Use the ground ginger option in Part 3.
Tools to Make This Vegan Chili Recipe
- Large Dutch Oven (this is the one that I have)
- Cutting Board
- Knife (this my current favourite knife)
- Can Opener (I have one similar to this and it’s super comfortable to use)
- Measuring Spoons
- Cooking Spoon
Do you NEED a Dutch Oven? Honestly, no. As long as you have a pot large enough to hold the ingredients, you’ll be just fine. This vegan chili recipe doesn’t have an oven step, so you don’t need to worry about something that would be oven safe.
Cooking Tip: If you plan to cook at home often, have a BUNCH of measuring spoons. You can get quality sets for a low cost at the Web Restaurant online store. I am not exaggerating when I say I have about 80. I purchased a lot of sets all at once, and just have a container full of them, in every size, and I never run out or have to wash/rinse between spices.
Ingredients for Your Tasty Vegan Chili
Part 1 Ingredients
- 4 TBSP Oil of Choice for Cooking
- 325g Organic Yellow Onion, small dice (11.5 ounces)
- 225g Organic Mushrooms, roughly chopped (8 ounces)
- 1 tsp Sea Salt
Part 2 Ingredients
- 200g Organic Red Bell Pepper, small dice (7 ounces)
- 150g Organic Green Bell Pepper, small dice (5.5 ounces)
- 3 TBSP Oil of Choice for Cooking
Part 3 Ingredients
- 1.36KG Organic Tomato Sauce, AKA Strained Tomatoes (96 ounces)
- 900mL Milk of Choice (32 ounces)
- 850g Organic Cannellini Beans, AKA White Kidney Beans, drained (30 ounces)
- 850g Organic Small Red Beans, drained (30 ounces)
- 850g Organic Pinto Beans, drained (30 ounces)
- 390g Organic Tomato Paste (14 ounces)
- 180g Organic Maple Sugar
- 7 tsp Sea Salt
- 5 tsp Organic Ground Ancho Chili Powder
- 4 tspOrganic Dried Marjoram
- 2.5 tsp Organic Garlic Granules OR 1.75 tsp Organic Garlic Powder
- 2 tsp Organic Ground Mustard OR Organic Ground Ginger
- 10 – 20 drops Liquid Smoke
Important Ingredient Notes
Salt: Don’t be alarmed by the amount of salt that’s called for. All of the other ingredients that I use are low sodium or unsalted. However, if you use salted tomato products etc., you should start with 2 teaspoons of salt, mix, and taste before adding more.
Milk of Choice: Any milk will work including soy milk, almond milk, coconut milk, oat milk, or a homemade milk.
Maple Sugar: Classic chili recipes contain sugar, however, you can use less if you’d like. In this recipe, you can also swap the maple sugar for a liquid sweetener including maple syrup. Sweeteners to consider include date paste, date sugar, coconut sugar, light brown sugar, and dark brown sugar.
Beans: This is the organic, unsalted brand that I use. You can swap the beans for other options. Some good swaps include red kidney beans for the cannellini beans, navy beans for the cannellini beans, black beans for the pinto beans, and adzuki beans for the small red beans.
Tomato Products: This is the organic, unsalted brand that I use.
Liquid Smoke: It’s important that you purchase a quality brand. Some brands are just filler nonsense. This is the brand that I use, and they properly capture the smoke and it’s a pure product.
Mushroom: You can use any mushroom variety. When making this vegan chili recipe, I often use different types each time. If you’re texturally averse to mushroom, you can swap this for mushroom powder if you’d like the health benefits. Several Tablespoons would be a good starting point.
Bell Peppers: You can use other colours of bell peppers if you prefer. Just make sure you have a total of 12 – 14 ounces of bell peppers (335 – 390g).
Onion: You can use other colours of onions, or a combination of onions. White onion and purple/red onion will still produce a delicious vegan chili.
Cooking Oil of Choice: I use organic extra virgin olive oil, however, any cooking oil you enjoy will work in this vegan recipe.
Garlic: Garlic granules are a coarser grind when compared to garlic powder. Since garlic powder is a finer grind, the flavor is more potent and when using it, you’ll need less to achieve the same flavour complexity.
This is a Large Batch That You Can Reduce
If you’ve looked over the ingredients and thought “is she cooking for an army?” well… an army of teenagers, yes. The nice thing about the metric numbers is that you can easily cut this recipe down in half if you don’t need to feed a crowd or a bunch of hungry teens.
Reducing this recipe by half is going to be the easiest way to proceed since here in the US, beans come in 15 ounce cans.
However, if you’re a fan of meal prep, I’d encourage you to make this vegan chili recipe as is, and freeze leftovers for future use.
Vegan Chili Recipe Directions
Start by prepping all of your produce. Once everything is ready, heat your Dutch Oven on medium heat (6.6/10 for me). Once hot, add the cooking oil, let it heat up, then add your diced onion, mushrooms, and 1 teaspoon of sea salt. Mix well and cook for 10 minutes. Stir only as needed to prevent burning/sticking.
Now add all of the bell peppers along with the next 3 Tablespoons of cooking oil. Mix everything together and continue to cook for 6 minutes.
Whilst the produce continues to cook, get all of your cans and jars opened. When your six minutes are up, add all of the remaining ingredients (Part 3 on the Ingredient List). Once you have everything in, mix it all together very well. You can use less salt. If you plan to use less, taste as you go and add what’s right for you. Just remember, this is a BIG batch.
Continue to cook, without a lid, for up to 30 minutes. This allows the flavours to meld together beautifully. Stir as needed to prevent burning/sticking. If your chili is at more than a simmer (only a few bubbles here and there), turn the heat down a little bit for these 30 minutes of cooking. If you’re not able to watch your pot, transfer your chili to your oven and cook at 375f/190c for 30 – 40 minutes (with the lid on).
That’s it! Pretty easy instructions, right? You can also scroll down below to see different ways you can change this dish.
Tip: If you want to prevent splattering during the simmering stage, partially cover your Dutch Oven with the lid. This allows for the evaporation process, but reduces the amount of mess you’ll have to clean up later.
Storage Notes
Once you’ve coked this awesome vegan chili recipe, and allow it to cool, you can store leftovers in the fridge for a week in an airtight container. When I store leftovers in the refrigerator, I use a large glass container, and everyone can take as much as they’d like until the container is empty.
The great thing about this vegan chili recipe is that it’s freezer friendly. In fact, that’s why this is such a large batch. I often make a huge batch of chili, freeze it individual containers, and my kids can grab one for lunch or dinner whenever they feel like it.
You can use a large container when freezing, however, only do this if you plan to thaw it for a family dinner where you know everyone will have some. As my kids got older and schedules were all over the place, individual sized containers made the most sense for me.
Serving Ideas for Your Vegan Chili Recipe
One of my kids LOVES eating this vegan chili recipe with grain free tortilla chips. He pulls a container out from the freezer to thaw, then sits down with his chips and has a good time.
You can use this vegan chili recipe as part of a layered dip and add other ingredients such as dairy free sour cream, organic guacamole, or even something like tater tots or smashed potatoes.
A chili bar would be a fun dinner to serve (or great for a Super Bowl party). You can have serving bowls of different things including chili, shredded cheese, and other classic/popular chili toppings. This allows each person to take the parts they enjoy.
You can serve your bean chili over quinoa or rice and top with fresh chopped herbs such as parsley or baby greens including spinach and kale.
Make Chili Cheese Fries (or chili cheese tots). You can crisp up fries or tots, spoon your cooked chili on top, then add shredded cheddar cheese. The key to a good chili cheese fry in my humble opinion is the cheese melt. You can melt your cheese a bit under your oven’s broiler or with a culinary torch (this is the one that I use to have and loved, and I’m not loving my new one as much, but you can get the idea).
Make a plate of nachos! When I use this vegan chili recipe as a topping for nachos, I layer like this:
- Grain Free Tortilla Chips (bottom)
- Cooked Bean Chili
- Dollop of Dairy Free Cream Cheese
- Guacamole + Sour Cream (I create a mixture and it boosts the flavour complexity of the guac)
- Diced Olives (from a can)
- Homemade Cheddar Cheese Sauce (I make this in the blender since a lot of dairy free cheeses don’t melt that well)
I’ve been doing nacho plates like these off and on for years and everyone in my family say they’re fantastic. One kid is always inspired by this concept and tries to make different combos with the leftovers.
More Vegan Soup & Stew Recipes
If you love making plant-based soups, here are some fantastic soup recipes to explore. People all over the globe have written to me to share how much they enjoy these plant based dishes, and it really comes down to punchy flavour.
In fact, that’s one of the best tips I can ever give someone living a free-from life: don’t skimp on flavor. When you skimp, you realize you’re “mising something”. When you punch, you forget that you’re gluten free, dairy free, and all the frees.
- Parsnip & Carrot Vegan Soup Recipe (perfect for the winter season and has such a creamy consistency)
- Hearty Vegan Winter Stew Recipe (packed with lots of veggies and has an incredible depth of flavor)
- Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Vegan Cream of Mushroom Soup (pairs well with a range of flavors and cooking projects)
- Easy Vegan Potato & Leek Soup Recipe (great dinner on a cold weeknight)
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Change Up the Flavor
You can alter the flavor profile of this vegan bean chili recipe in so many tasty ways. Here are a few ideas to get you started.
Make it Mexican
You can give this vegan chili recipe a mole leaning flavour profile by adding:
- 30g of organic cacao powder (this is the brand that I use)
- date paste
- a little cayenne pepper (you can use more, but my kids can’t handle too much spiciness)
- 1 Tablespoon organic smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon of Mexican oregano
- 1 teaspoon of organic ground cumin
You’ll want to leave the other ingredients as they are, and just add to them. Once the chili has simmered and is totally delicious, you can serve with chopped fresh cilantro on top with a squeeze of lime juice and crispy tortilla strips.
If you don’t have access to cacao powder, you can use a high quality chocolate, or Mexican chocolate (like this one). Pure dark chocolate chips (like these) will also work. However, know that if you use a chocolate, rather than cacao powder, leftovers will need to be heated to remelt the chocolate.
Make a Curry Bean Stew Instead
Whilst this is a great vegan chili recipe, you could take this in an Indian direction and have a curry bean stew. Swap half of the tomato sauce with full fat organic coconut milk from a can. In addition to the spices listed, add 3 – 5 Tablespoons of your favorite organic curry powder.
Serve with a dollop of dairy free yogurt on top to boost the richness of this recipe.
Increase the Spice
As is, this vegan chili recipe is fantastic for kids and adults. If you don’t have kids and LOVE all things spicy, you can add cayenne pepper, black pepper, and fresh peppers such as habanero and jalapeño to amp up the heat. Anaheim chilies are another great option you can slice and add to your chili before simmering.
Make Dutch Oven Chili and Cornbread
To do this, you’ll make your chili on the stovetop. When it comes time to simmer, you’ll skip that step. Make your cornbread batter, then gently pour it on top of the chili. Put the lid on your Dutch oven, and pop it in the oven according to the directions for your cornbread mix (time and temperature).
Bake in the oven. Most likely, your cornbread will need extra time since it’s on top of a wet chili. When it does come out of the oven, you’ll have chili on the bottom and cornbread on the top and it’s fantastic.
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Answering Your Questions About This Vegan Chili Recipe
Would this recipe taste good with added carrots?
Oh man, yes, yes, yes a thousand times. Adding other vegetables, including carrots, is a great way to take this nutritious meal and boost the nutritional content even further.Adding a variety of beans not only enhances the texture but also adds something hearty that makes this vegan chili truly satisfying.
I suggest washing, peeling, and slicing your carrots into a medium sized slice. Add them with the bell peppers (Part 2 Ingredients), and follow the rest of the recipe as-is. By the end of the cooking time, your carrots should have softened a good amount, and may have a little bite left to them.
Can I use lentils instead of the beans?
When it comes to making this vegan chili, yes, you can use lentils. However, this isn’t an ingredient I’ve cooked very often, so I can’t tell you the precise stove top method to use. It may be better to boil the lentils separately, then add them when you add all of the Part 3 Ingredients.
I’d encourage you to look up lentil chili recipes for the proper cooking method and steps, then use this recipe’s ingredients.
Would this recipe taste good with soy sauce?
Maybe. I could see soy sauce, tamari, teriyaki sauce, and even Worcestershire sauce adding some tang and extra flavour depth to this recipe, like the liquid smoke. However, I couldn’t tell you how much to use, so do this:
Once the chili has simmered for at least 15 minutes, take out about a cup of chili and place it in a small bowl. Add 1/2 teaspoon of your soy sauce (or other sauce) and mix it in. You want to make sure you blend it well, so the flavour is properly distributed. Taste and see if you like it. If you do, season the whole pot of chili. If you don’t, you’ve only lost a cup of chili, rather than the whole pot.
Could I use vegetable broth instead of the milk in this recipe?
Yes. Since there’s a good amount of tomato sauce in this recipe, you can use vegetable broth. However, this will change the flavor profile, so make sure you adjust your expectations. You could also add a 50/50 blend of milk and vegetable broth for a less dramatic shift.
Can I make this bean chili in an Instant Pot?
I don’t suggest it. Personally, I’ve never been able to get my Instant Pot to properly cook most recipes that are bean heavy. I get the burn error, which I’m not a fan of.
Instead, you can make this in your slow cooker for some serious comfort food when you get home from work. This also gives the flavours a good amount of time to blend together. Plus, no burn error. Your Instant Pot should have a slow cooker setting, and you can try to use that.
Will the pepper color really make a difference?
When it comes to bell peppers, the color makes a difference where nutrients like Vitamin A and Vitamin C are concerned. In terms of flavour, you’re not going to notice a huge difference when cooked in a chili like this. When eaten raw, you will notice a difference in green vs the other colours.
Generally speaking, green bell peppers cost less than their red, yellow, orange, and purple counterparts, so you can save a little money by using green instead.
Can I use green onions in place of the yellow onion?
When it comes to this particular veggie chili, no, green onions won’t work in place of the yellow onion. However, you can use other aromatics including shallots, purple onion, and white onion.
Green onions (sometimes called scallions) cook up differently, and are usually used in the last few minutes of cooking to add a fresh bright flavor and a little touch of crunch.
If you’re all out of onion, you could use organic onion granules or onion powder to bring in some of the flavour.
I’m not vegan. Can I add meat to this chili recipe?
Yes, you can absolutely add meat to this chilli recipe. You can add chunks of beef, bison, chicken, pork, turkey, or any other meat you enjoy. When adding a meat, you’ll want to add it along with the diced peppers (Part 2 Ingredients). I’d suggest using one teaspoon salt (or smoked salt) per pound of meat you add to the chili. Break the meat into chunks as it cooks, which will also distribute your salt.
You could add additional spices to your meat to add more flavour, but that’s going to come down to personal preference. Follow the rest of the instructions as is, and you’re good to go.
