Vegan 3 Bean Chili

About the Recipe

Chili is the best for a hearty, comforting meal that’s still nutritious. It’s so easy to make, endlessly customizable with different additions and toppings, and always a great choice for meal prep.

This chili recipe is also vegetarian (and vegan!), gluten-free and oil-free so works well for those with dietary restrictions.

If you’re looking for a quick, weeknight meal, you’ll love this. All you have to do is chop a few veggies, open some cans of beans, simmer it all up and it’s ready to enjoy!

Whether you’re feeing a crowd with a fun chili bar or making a batch for healthy meals all week, this is a great base recipe to keep in your back pocket.

For more chili recipes, this Chipotle Butternut Squash Chili with Black Beans and Vegan Slow Cooker Red Lentil Chili are excellent.

Ingredients & Substitutions

This list is not complete. Please see the recipe card at the end of the post for the complete ingredient list with measurements and detailed instructions.

• Onion: White or yellow onion is suitable.
• Garlic: The recipe calls for quite a lot of garlic – 5 cloves, so feel free to adjust up or down to preference.
• Carrot: You’ll need about 3 carrots. Other veggies that would work here are zucchini, corn
• Bell Pepper: Use any variety such as red, orange or green.
• Jalapeno: Remove the seeds and chop very finely.
• Spices: You’ll need chili powder, cumin and smoked paprika. Other spices you can experiment with are taco seasoning, oregano and for heat, red pepper flakes or cayenne.
• Tomato Paste: Use a small 6-oz can of thick tomato paste. In a pinch, you can substitute any plain tomato sauce.
• Beans: Use 3 different types of canned beans such as pinto beans, chickpeas, kidney beans, black beans, white kidney beans or black eye beans. Lentils would also work!
• Broth: Any broth or stock you enjoy works. I like to use Better than Bouillon.

How to Make 3 Bean Chili

1. Chop all the veggies.

Chop up the an onion, carrots, bell peppers and jalapeno so you’re already to go once you start cooking.

Quick Tip: Wash and de-seed the jalapeno pepper before dicing then make sure you give your hands a good wash right away.

2. Saute the onion and garlic.

Once you’ve got everything ready to go, add the onion and garlic to a large soup pot with 2 tbsp of water (or olive oil) and a pinch of salt and pepper and bring to medium heat.

Cook these up for 6-7 minutes until soft and fragrant.

Note: If the onion starts to brown a bit on the bottom and the pan is drying out, no problem. Add a bit of water to “de-glaze” the pan, scraping the browned bits back into the mix to help add depth of flavour the dish.

3. Add the spices, carrot and peppers.

Next, you can add the rest of the veggies and the spices, giving it a good stir. I used chili powder, cumin and parika.

4. Add everything else and simmer.

The final step is to add the beans, tomato paste and vegetable broth and simmer until the carrots are tender. This should take about 15-20 minutes.

Recipe Tips

• Mix-and-match bell peppers. I used a green, red and yellow bell pepper but any combination of colors works. Only have green peppers? Totally fine!
• Love spicy chili? This recipe isn’t spicy as is but you can easily turn up the heat by adding 1 tsp cayenne pepper, red chili flakes or 1 chopped chipotle pepper in adobo to spice this recipe up!
• Use any beans. Mix-and-match the beans to whatever you have available. I used chickpeas, kidney beans and black beans but pinto beans, white kidney beans, fava beans and just about anything else works. You could even stir in some cooked lentils.
• Add more protein. If you want to add ground meat or sausage, cook it separately and stir it in at the end.

How to Thicken Chili

This recipe is thick on its own but here are a few tips for thickening chili:

• Add refried beans. You can stir up to 1/2 cup refried beans of choice into chili to give it a thick texture.
• Mash chili. You can use a wooden spoon or potato masher to make up some of the chili for a thicker texture. Alternatively, you can use an immersion blender in the pot or transfer a few scoops to a blender and then pouring it back into the pot.
• Add tortilla or tortilla chips. Try adding a handful of crushed tortilla chips or even a whole corn or wheat tortilla to your chili.
• Add cauliflower rice or a grain. You can add up to 1 cup cooked grains such as rice or quinoa, or cauliflower rice for a low-carb option.

Storing

• Let chili cool completely before storing.
• Fridge: Store 3 bean chili in the fridge in a sealed container for up to 5 days.
• Freezer: Store in an air-tight container or a heavy duty freezer bag for up to 6 months. This can be done in individual servings or one large batch. Thaw in the fridge before reheating.
• Reheating: You can reheat chili on the stovetop in a saucepan or microwave, stirring occasionally, until heated through.