Homemade Vegetarian Chili
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This easy vegetarian chili is the absolute best! It’s cozy, warm and so hearty, loaded with sweet potato, zucchini, beans, and pantry staples!
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why you’ll love this vegetarian chili
- Filling and so hearty. This hearty chili is loaded with so many different vegetables and two different kinds of beans. It’s rich, cozy comfort food high in fiber, and you won’t miss the meat in here one bit!
- Budget-friendly. The recipe calls for inexpensive pantry staples such as canned beans, tomatoes, and basic spices already on hand.
- Reheats very well. Similar to lasagna, the leftovers taste even better the next day as the flavors of the chili continue to meld and deepen overnight.
- Freezes beautifully. Chili is incredibly freezer-friendly, making it perfect as a freezer meal for a quick and easy weeknight dinner.
what is a vegetarian chili?
This is a thick stew made with vegetables, tomatoes, beans, and various spices.
Key ingredients
- Base: diced tomatoes and vegetable stock
- Beans: black beans and kidney beans
- Vegetables: onion, poblano pepper, sweet potato, and zucchini
- Spices: garlic, chili powder, cumin, and oregano
- Extras: cilantro and lime wedges
How to make vegetarian chili
- Sauté the aromatics. Cook the onion and poblano in a large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium heat until tender. Then stir in the garlic, chili powder, cumin, and oregano until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Combine. Add the diced tomatoes, rinsed beans, vegetable stock, salt, and pepper.
- Simmer. Partially cover the pot with a lid and simmer for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking.
- Add vegetables. Stir in the sweet potato and zucchini, cooking until tender, about 10-15 minutes. Pro tip: swap out the sweet potato for butternut squash, or add more vegetables such as bell peppers, corn and mushrooms.
- Serve. Stir in cilantro and serve warm with lime wedges.
Freezing and storage
Storage
Leftover chili can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days.
Reheating
Gently reheat on the stovetop over medium heat, with a splash of water if it is too thick, until warmed through.
Freezing
Let cool completely; portion into plastic freezer bags in individual servings, squeezing out any excess air before sealing. Lay the bags flat in a single layer in the freezer (this will help them freeze quickly). Label, date, and freeze up to 3 months.
Reheating after freezing
To reheat, thaw overnight in the fridge and gently reheat over medium heat with a splash of water, stirring occasionally, until heated through.
what to serve with chili
Tools For This Recipe
Homemade Vegetarian Chili: Frequently Asked Questions
This really depends on personal preference but the most popular options are kidney beans, black beans, and pinto beans. But you can also use what you have on hand such as white beans or chickpeas.
Yes! Rinsing the canned beans will remove the excess sodium and the metallic taste from the canned liquid.
Mash some of the kidney beans (with the back of a spoon) prior to adding, releasing some of the starch and thickening the chili. The chili can also simmer for a bit longer, uncovered, until the desired consistency is reached.
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days, reheating gently on the stovetop over medium heat with a splash of water (if needed) until warmed through.
Yes! You can freeze the leftovers in individual freezer bags, thawing overnight and reheating gently on the stovetop.
Homemade Vegetarian Chili
Video
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons canola oil
- 1 medium sweet onion, diced
- 1 small poblano pepper, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 ½ teaspoons dried oregano
- 2 (14.5-ounce) cans diced tomatoes
- 1 (15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 (15-ounce) can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
- 4 cups vegetable stock
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 small sweet potato, peeled and diced
- 1 medium zucchini, diced
- ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
- 1 lime, cut into wedges
Instructions
- Heat canola oil in a large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium heat.
- Add onion and poblano, and cook, stirring frequently, until tender, about 2-3 minutes. Stir in garlic, chili powder, cumin and oregano until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Stir in diced tomatoes, black beans, kidney beans and vegetable stock; season with salt and pepper, to taste. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer, partially covered, until flavors have blended, about 15-20 minutes.
- Stir in sweet potato and zucchini, and cook until tender, about 10-15 minutes. Stir in cilantro; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Serve immediately with lime wedges.
Equipment
Notes
- Use canned beans. Canned beans are such a convenient option when making chili. The best beans to use are really dependent on personal preference. The most popular options for beans when making chili are kidney beans, black beans and pinto beans.
- Incorporate more veggies. This is an incredibly flexible, giving recipe. Add more hearty veggies to the mix such as butternut squash, bell peppers, corn kernels and mushrooms.
- Add some heat. Diced jalapeños or minced chipotles in adobo will add a little bit of heat!
- Lime juice will brighten the flavors. Add freshly squeezed lime juice to brighten the rich flavors and balance out the heavy spices. Always add 1-2 tablespoons lime juice at the end of cooking time to keep the flavor fresh, or serve with lime wedges.
- Serve with toppings. Serve with your favorite chili toppings – shredded cheddar cheese, red onion, avocado, sour cream, corn chips, sliced jalapeno and cilantro are all excellent options.
Did you make this recipe?
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I had to add chilies and bell peppers.
I added one chilli in adobo sauce, red bell peppers , and added Bulgar wheat. This was tasty!
Another great winter soup. Used chicken bone broth and in the slow cooker. Cooked the day ahead and it was very flavorful. Served with dinner rolls.
Yum!!! Very good
Another delicious recipe! I used a yellow bell better one n place of a poblano and added a can of green chilies. Packed with vegetables and beans it became a “meaty” chili. Thanks again for all your great recipes
Delicious! My only suggestion to others would be to reduce the stock and make it thicker. Mine was more like a chili flavored vegetable soup based on consistency.
Agree, halve the amount of stock it will be perfect.
Hi, Chungah! This was GREAT. As with all of your recipes, it worked exactly as written. Spicy, hearty, and Damn Delicious. Thank you. There are now four containers in my freezer to cheer me on a blustery winter’s day.
This was very flavorful! I made a few adjustments by adding seasoned salt instead of regular, one packet of Sazon for vegetables, onion powder & garlic powder during step 2 of the recipe. Then added the sweet potato at step 3 because I cut the pieces a little bigger. Next time I might add some carrots. 🙂
This recipe is really good, however I think it’s the sweet potato that really makes it, so next time I will use a large one instead of small. Also, at the end I cooked it about 40 minutes longer so it could cook down and thicken. It was delicious!
Would this also be suitable for a vegan diet? I’d love to make it for my vegan friend 🙂
Yes, this is a vegan chili. If topping with cheese or sour cream just be sure to use vegan substitutes.
Would there be a way to do this i the crockpot?
I agree with Jim. I have many lots of your recipes and they are great. Thank you.
the word was suppose to be made not many
Excellent vegetarian chili. By the way, I save a variety of your recipes. There are some absolutely horrible recipes on the internet. Your recipes are 9 1/2 times out of 10 the best. It was only a few years ago when there were only a few recipe blogs on the internet. Now, there are hundreds. Of the ones that I save now, yours are always terrific.