Hi friends, who's got a good vegetarian/vegan chili recipe? After eating mostly @strawberry 's veggie soup for days and enjoying myself I'm trying significantly cut down on meat. That being said, how do you make a good meatless chili? I've tried meat substitutes like beyond beef but those were super dry, and one squash based recipe was extremely bland and not really chili. I currently only own some pans, one small pot (like 4 inches tall) and a crock pot.
I already don't like cheese or sour cream and don't really use butter so that makes the vegan part easier.
I'd personally go with beans instead of meat substitute unless you have found one you really like.
I'd also suggest a few squares of dark choc added after the tomatoes and about half a pint of dark beer to bring out the flavour.
Squash (and jackfruit if u use it) I have found to be a big flavour sponge, so if u use em add more spices and herbs would be my suggestion.
Key to chilli is time. You want it to simmer for a while and to be honest if u can stick it in the fridge and reheat it it tends to taste even better.
Ingredients 1 lb (450g) dried dark red kidney beans
Kosher salt
4 quarts (3.8 litres) water
3 whole ancho, pasilla, or mulato chilies, seeded and torn into rough 1-inch pieces (about 1/2 ounce)
2 whole New Mexico red, California, costeño, or choricero chilies, seeded and torn into rough 1-inch pieces (about 1/8 ounce)
1 whole cascabel, árbol, or pequin chili, seeded and torn in half
2-4 habanero chili, seeded
Freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons (30ml) vegetable oil
1 quart (900ml) vegetable broth
1 teaspoon (5ml) Marmite
2 teaspoons (10ml) soy sauce
2 tablespoons (30ml) tomato paste
1 1/2 tablespoons whole cumin seeds, toasted, then ground
1 1/2 teaspoons whole coriander seeds, toasted, then ground
2 whole cloves, toasted and ground
1 star anise, toasted and ground
1 tablespoon extra-finely ground coffee beans
1 ounce chopped unsweetened chocolate
1 medium red onion, chopped
2 red bell peppers, chopped
1 small butternut squash (1 ½ pounds or less), peeled and chopped into ½-inch cubes
3 fresh Thai bird chilies or 1 jalapeño, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced (about 1 tablespoon)
1 tablespoon dried oregano leaves
2 bay leaves
1 (28-ounce; 800g) can crushed tomatoes
1/4 cup (60ml) cider vinegar, plus more to taste
1/4 cup (60ml) vodka or bourbon
1 tablespoon (15ml) Buffalo-style hot sauce, such as Frank's RedHot (or more to taste)
For the Garnish (all suggestions optional): Scallions, sliced finely
Jalapeño or Poblano peppers, diced and seeded
Onion, diced
Avocado, diced
Directions
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Place beans, 6 tablespoons kosher salt (or 3 tablespoons table salt), and water in a large plastic container or bowl. Allow to soak at room temperature at least 8 hours, or overnight. Drain and rinse soaked beans.
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Add dried chilies to a large heavy-bottomed Dutch oven or stockpot and cook over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until slightly darkened with an intense, roasted aroma, 2 to 5 minutes. Do not allow to smoke. Remove chilies, place in a small bowl, and set aside. Alternatively, place dried chilies on a microwave-safe plate and microwave on high power in 15-second increments until chilies are pliable and toasted-smelling, about 30 seconds total.
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Return Dutch oven to medium-high heat and add 1 cup (240ml) vegetable broth. Reduce heat until vegetable broth is at a bare simmer, add toasted chilies to liquid, and cook until chilies have softened and liquid is reduced by half, 5 to 8 minutes. Transfer chilies and liquid to a blender. Add Marmite, soy sauce, tomato paste, ground spices, coffee, and chocolate and blend at high speed, scraping down sides as necessary, until a completely smooth purée has formed, about 2 minutes. Set chili purée aside.
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Heat 4 tablespoons (60ml) vegetable oil in a large Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed stockpot over medium heat until shimmering. Add onions, and red pepper and cook, stirring frequently, until softened but not browned, 6 to 8 minutes. Add fresh chilies, garlic, and oregano and cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add chili purée and cook, stirring frequently and scraping bottom of pot, until chili mixture begins to fry and leaves a coating on bottom of pan, 2 to 4 minutes. Add broth and bay leaves. Bring to a simmer, scraping bottom of pan to loosen browned bits. Reduce heat to lowest possible setting, add beans, and cook, with cover slightly ajar, until beans are almost tender, about 1 hour. Add crushed tomatoes, squash, and cider vinegar and cook, with cover slightly ajar, until beans and vegetables are fully tender and broth is rich and lightly thickened, around another hour, adding water if necessary to keep beans mostly submerged (a little protrusion is okay).
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Using tongs, remove and discard bay leaves. Add vodka (or bourbon) and hot sauce and stir to combine. Season to taste with kosher salt, ground black pepper, and additional vinegar.
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Serve immediately, or, for best flavor, allow to cool and refrigerate overnight, or up to 1 week in a sealed container. Reheat and serve with desired garnishes.
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The best veggie chili recipe i found was recommended my another user on this site IIRC. This is the one I like https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/burnt-aubergine-veggie-chilli
It is much easier if you have a gas burner or grill, but its not nessisary.
I’ve tried meat substitutes like beyond beef but those were super dry,
as in it was somehow dry in the chili?
since you're only trying to cut back on meat you could also just literally do that and use more of whatever else you'd put in anyway.
The most important thing in chilli is spices. Use the right spices and it doesn't really matter whether you have meat or not because you still have the main flavour. I like using brown lentils or beans instead.
Fry an onion, add your chillis and spice selection, put chopped tomatoes in saucepan, put lentils/beans in, put vegetables in, let it cook for a little bit. Put on rice at the same time. Pretty straightforward. Let me know if you want a detailed recipe!
please note: I'm not good at cooking by any means I just make food I enjoy to live
I would love a detailed recipe! The one thing Id like more than anything is to know how long to cook it for. Most of the recipes suggested use a pot when all I own is a crockpot, so I don't know how to adjust the time. Im also not great at cooking so utility-recipes are great!
If you're using a crockpot it'll be on the order of like five hours. BUT, since it's vegan, you can mostly wing it. Unlike meat, all of the ingredients are safe to eat even uncooked. This means you can experiment with the cooking time without fear. If you're happy with your first attempt, no need to change anything.
Here's a recipe I've used:
- 1 chopped onion
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon tumeric
- X chopped chillies
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 2 cans of chopped tomatoes
- 1 vegetable stock cube
- 2 cans of brown lentils (drained and rinsed)
- 1 can of kidney beans
You could follow the method I outlind before, or I guess you could just add everything to the crockpot and see what comes out. Good luck!
Just made this recipe and it's delicious. I didn't add enough spice but I think that's because I added the wrong type of chili pepper (there were like 9 different types of dried chili at my supermarket.) Also I forgot to buy tortilla chips so I'm eating it with potato chips which makes me feel like a fool, except I also accidentally used low sodium beans so the extra salt is nice.
Awesome, I'm glad it worked out for you! Here's a couple tips I may bestow upon you if you try it again:
- Chop up a bell pepper and add it as an awesome non-spicy textured ingredient!
- Add multiple types of chilli, they probably combine really well!
- Add 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda to the tomatoes and mix with a spoon until they stop bubbling. (You might need to do this while it's hot for the reaction to occur.) Baking soda nullifies the sharp acid of tomatoes, improving the flavour in my opinion - but also decreases the effectiveness of any spices you add, so you'll need to counter by increasing spice levels about 25%.
- Consider red lentils instead, no particular advantage to them, they're just different. Be aware the cooking method is totally different since red lentils are often bought dry and you have to rinse them and soak them. (The crockpot time will do the soaking for you, no need to soak manually first, only rinse.)
That's all the tips I have, let me know if it goes well for you!
Minimalist Baker's 1 Pot Red Lentil Chili has been my go to for the past few years, it's delicious and tastes just like the chili my mom used to make but a bit better and vegan. I added an extra can of beans, whatever's cheapest usually, just for that extra body to the pot, as well as replacing the jalapeno with a handful of pickled jalapeno from a jar, it keeps a bit longer. I too like chili basically as is, maybe with some bread or rolls so it's been great for meal prep for me.
Just make this without the lamb instead:
Use your pan for the browning and frying part, then deglaze everything and transfer it into your crock pot to cook. Cook times may vary going from stovetop to crock so go by “how it should look and taste” versus the clock. The pasta will cook just as fast in the crock pot as stovetop.
Something I don’t see toooo often that we do at my house a lot. Take pressed tofu, crumble it up, season it, bake it till it’s kinda crispy, toss that in whatever chili recipe you are following. It’s a nice texture, protein, and I find it fills the role that may have previously been held by meat.
I'd suggest black or small red (ie not kidney) beans.
Other than that I usually keep it pretty simple: onions, celery, habanero and garlic fried up with bay leaves, add some tomatoes but not too much then blend it all (take out the bay leaves and replace them after), then add beans, thick carrots and corn with your spices, heavy on paprika, chili powder and white pepper. Chocolate is a nice add if you have some. I usually add some veggie ground round at the end.
