Easy Vegan Chili
on Nov 06, 2019, Updated Jul 18, 2024
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This easy vegan chili is healthy, delicious and ready to enjoy in just 30-minutes making it perfect for a weeknight meal. This recipe is vegetarian, gluten-free, oil-free, sugar-free and grain-free.
Easy Vegan Chili Ingredients
Here’s what you’ll need to make this easy vegan chili:
- Onion, garlic and bell peppers. Onion, garlic and bell peppers make the veggie base of the recipe. You can use white or yellow onion and any colour of bell pepper.
- Beans. I used 1 can of kidney beans and 1 can of pinto beans but black beans, white beans and small red beans also work well.
- Canned diced tomatoes. I love the Fire Roasted Diced Tomatoes from Muir Glen but any kind works. You’ll need 1 large 28 oz can.
- Vegetable broth. You’ll need up to 2 cups of veggie broth and you can use homemade, carton or bouillon cubes or powder.
- Cocoa powder. Ever added cocoa powder to chili? Sounds a little strange but it adds a lovely depth of flavour. You’ll need just 1 tsp and it’s optional so if you don’t have any on hand, no worries.
- Spices. To season the chili, you will need mild chili powder, oregano and cumin.
Best Chili Toppings
Toppings are the best part of chili, aren’t they? My favourites are vegan queso and tortilla chips! Here are some yummy ways to top your chili – pick 4 or 5 and make a chili bar for a fun and healthy weeknight meal.
- crushed tortilla chips
- avocado
- vegan queso
- vegan sour cream
- cilantro
- green onion
- shredded vegan cheese
- chipotle sauce
Easy Vegan Chili Recipe
This simple, healthy chili recipe is easy to make in about 30 minutes. The recipe is vegan, gluten-free, oil-free, sugar-free and can be made in advance and stored up to 4 days. Enjoy with your favourite chili toppings for a complete meal.
Recipe Variations
Here are a few ways to customize this recipe:
- stir in 1 cup of canned or frozen corn at the end
- add up to 1 cup diced carrot with the rest of the veggies at the beginning
- use any kind of cooked beans or lentils, up to 3 cups total
- for some heat, add 1 diced jalepeno with the rest of the veggies at the beginning
- for chipotle chili, add 1-2 chopped chipotle peppers in adobo sauce when you add the spices
More Chili Recipes
Here are some more chili recipes you might enjoy:
- Sweet Potato Black Bean Chili
- Instant Pot Quinoa Chili
- Vegan 3-Bean Chili
- Slow Cooker Red Lentil Chili
- Vegan White Bean Chili
- Chipotle Butternut Squash Chili with Black Beans
Easy Vegan Chili
Ingredients
- 1 white or yellow onion, approx. 2 cups
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 1 green bell pepper, diced
- 2 tbsp mild chili powder
- 1 tbsp dried oregano
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes, optional, for spicy chili
- 1 15 oz can kidney beans, drained and rinsed (1.5 cups, see notes)
- 1 15 oz can pinto beans, drained and rinsed (1.5 cups)
- 1 28 oz can diced tomatoes, with the juices
- 1.5 cups vegetable broth
- 1 tsp cocoa powder
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- sea salt to taste, if needed
Instructions
- Add the onion, bell peppers and garlic to a large soup pot with 1-2 tbsp of water or vegetable broth.
- Cook over medium heat for 5-6 minutes.
- Add the chili powder, oregano and cumin, stir to combine and cook for a couple more minutes. If the pot starts to dry out, add a splash of water.
- Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer lightly for 15 minutes.
- Optional: using an immersion blender in the pot, pulse the chili a few times to blend just a bit of it and create some texture and thickness – or add a big scoop to a blender, pulse a few times then pour back into the pot.
- Turn off the heat and let the chili sit for 5 minutes to thicken a little. It will continue to thicken in the fridge.
- Serve right away with your favourite chili toppings. Leftovers can be stored in the fridge for up to 5 days or frozen for up to 2 months.
Super delicious! Made with some of your variations and allowed it to thicken b4 enjoying. Success from going to eating meat based chilli with grated cheddar and avoid eating but a few of the beans to whole food plant based and eating this much beans in one meal without missing the meat or dairy😁
This chilli is delicious. And so easy to make. We added some fake meat to ours.
Soo yummy! Will def be a staple in my recipes 🙂
Delicious! So easy and fast to prepare! I added black beans as well but followed the recipe exactly otherwise.
Yum! This is a tasty and easy plant-based chili recipe. It’s easy to customize with what you have on hand. I went all in with the veggies and added corn, carrots and chickpeas. Definitely recommend some avocado and crushed tortilla chips on top. This will be my go-to for chili!
That sounds amazing! So glad you loved it. Thanks for letting me know!
This was really good. I omitted the cocoa powder and added some quinoa. This was very filling. Thanks.
Deeeeelish!!!! So perfect for these cold rainy days, sheltering in place out here in Chicago! So glad I made enough for the week :)) Thank you for the awesome recipe! 😋🥰
So glad you enjoyed it! Stay warm and cozy out there! Thanks for the rating 🙂