Classic Vegetarian Chili

This vegetarian chili is so flavorful, you won’t miss the meat! It’s also a vegan chili recipe, and a hit with plant based and meat eaters alike.

Chili is one of those things that’s easy to make, but hard to perfect. Especially vegetarian chili – we’ve tried many variations, but often they end up just tasting like bean soup. We’ve even tried secret ingredients like beer and cocoa powder, but haven’t met with much success. They’ve been tasty, but not quite right. The combination of a reader request and a Super Bowl party prompted us to try another attempt at vegetarian chili. And man did it come out right! It’s also a vegan chili recipe: but eaters of all kinds love it, especially meat eaters! Keep reading for the recipe.

Related: Top Healthy Dinner Ideas | 12 Easy Dutch Oven Recipes

How to make a vegetarian meatless chili

For this vegetarian chili, we added bulgur wheat for some texture, green chiles (or jalapeños) for some spice and flavor, and amped up the chili powder. Once we combined everything, we used a bit of chipotle powder to add a bit of complexity, and it made for the perfect touch! All that experimentation finally paid off, and we think we’ve come up with a vegetarian chili that’s hearty and not just “bean soup”. Give it a try for a casual evening with friends, or an upcoming big game!

Making it a vegan chili recipe

Did you know this chili is also a vegan chili recipe? The only thing that’s not vegan about this chili is the toppings. To make this vegetarian chili into a vegan chili recipe, just omit cheese and instead top with Vegan Nacho Cheese. Or, omit all the toppings and just enjoy it “naked”! We love eating this as a vegan chili recipe with just a few dollops of hot sauce.

Looking for other vegetarian soups?

This website is full of vegetarian soups and vegan soups! Here are a few other vegetarian soups we’d recommend:

• Cozy Farro & Brussels Sprouts Soup
• Moroccan Spiced Cauliflower Soup
• Italian Vegetable & Gnocchi Soup
• Tomato Artichoke Soup
• Creamy Vegan Tomato Soup
• Tomato Artichoke Lentil Stew
• Creamy Vegan Tomato Soup

This recipe is…

This Vegetarian Chili recipe is vegetarian, vegan, plant based, dairy free, naturally sweet, and refined sugar free. For gluten free, use quinoa (see special instructions in note). For a vegan chili recipe, top with Vegan Nacho Cheese.

Classic Vegetarian Chili

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(28 votes, average: 5.00 out of 1)

5 from 28 reviews

• Author: a Couple Cooks
• Prep Time: 10 minutes
• Cook Time: 35 minutes
• Total Time: 45 minutes
• Yield: 8
• Category: Main Dish
• Method: Stovetop
• Cuisine: American

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Description

This vegetarian chili is so flavorful, you won’t miss the meat! It’s also a vegan chili recipe, and a hit with plant based and meat eaters alike.

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Ingredients

• 2 medium yellow onions
• 6 cloves garlic
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 15-ounce cans beans or 4 1/2 cups cooked dried beans (black, pinto, and kidney), drained
• 2 32-ounce cans diced tomatoes
• 2 4-ounce cans roasted green chilies
• 1 cup bulgur wheat (for gluten free, see below*)
• 1 cup frozen corn
• 1/3 cup chili powder (standard, not spicy)
• 3 tablespoons dried oregano
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup or honey
• 1/8 teaspoon chipotle powder
• Hot sauce, sour cream, cheese, cilantro, or chives for garnish (for vegan, garnish with vegan nacho cheese)

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Instructions

1. Chop the onions. Mince the garlic.
2. In a large pot or dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions and saute until softened, about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic and saute, stirring, for about 1 minute.
3. Add the remaining ingredients: beans, tomatoes with their juices, green chilies, bulgur wheat, frozen corn, chili powder, oregano, garlic powder, kosher salt, black pepper, maple syrup or honey, and chipotle powder. Mix to combine. If necessary, add a bit of water to make sure everything is covered (we added about 1 cup).
4. Bring to a boil, then simmer until the bulgur is soft, about 20 to 30 minutes. Taste and add additional seasonings as desired. Add hot sauce to taste; and serve with sour cream, shredded cheese, and cilantro or chives. For a vegan chili, garnish with our Vegan Nacho Cheese.

Notes

For gluten free, you can also substitute quinoa: however, use 3/4 cup quinoa and use the instructions listed in Step 1 of our Quinoa Vegan Chili to cook the quinoa separately. Then add 2 cups of cooked quinoa to the final step when simmering (save any leftover quinoa for future use).

The chipotle powder is a bit of a hard to find, but it adds great complexity and flavor; we recommend using it if at all possible. Ancho chile powder also can add a nice bit of smokiness.

If 1/3 cup chili powder seems like a typo, it’s not! While it’s a large quantity, it did bring the flavor we were looking for to the dish. The resulting chili is not overly spicy (though it would be if you use spicy chili powder, jalapeños, or more chipotle powder than specified below); we like our chili with moderate spice and then adding spiciness at the table with hot sauce.

Keywords: Vegetarian Chili, Chili, Healthy Chili, Vegetarian, Vegan, Chili Recipes, Healthy Recipes

About the Authors

Sonja Overhiser

Cookbook Author and writer

Sonja Overhiser is author of Pretty Simple Cooking, named one of the best healthy cookbooks of 2018. She’s host of the food podcast Small Bites and founder of the food blog A Couple Cooks. Featured from the TODAY Show to Bon Appetit, Sonja seeks to inspire adventurous eating to make the world a better place one bite at a time.

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Alex Overhiser

Cookbook Author and photographer

Alex Overhiser is an acclaimed food photographer and author based in Indianapolis. He’s host of the food podcast Small Bites and founder of the recipe website A Couple Cooks. Featured from the TODAY Show to Bon Appetit, Alex is author of Pretty Simple Cooking, named one of the best vegetarian cookbooks by Epicurious.

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