I grew up helping my dad make his “famous” chili for special occasions like Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve. If there was a holiday party going down you can be sure his chili was the main event (often paired with his “famous” Caesar salad and garlic bread – his 3 staple recipes that we ate time and time again). A love of chili is definitely in my blood and rarely does a winter go by when I don’t make a couple batches of it. Of course, my versions are free of animal products, but I can promise you they are just as tasty as the originals (you can also find my version of Caesar salad in my cookbook, by the way).
I have a couple chili recipes on the blog already, but this one is my favourite by far. I see recipes as works in progress; I’m always tweaking and improving the flavour and the method each time I make them. A recipe is never the final word even if it feels that way at the time. Isn’t that what makes cooking fun? I think so. Plus, it gives me a chance to try and improve upon the last batch of photos!
This time I served the chili with a homemade vegan sour cream and now I can’t believe that I’ve been eating my chili without it for all this time. It’s like a creamy ribbon of heaven dispersed throughout the bowl, taking a bit of edge off the spices. Where have you been all my life?
I’m always asked about recipes that freeze well and chili is definitely one of them to prepare in bulk and freeze. It’s also packed with protein and fibre so you really don’t need to serve it with much else if you don’t have time. Sometimes just a crusty roll or crackers will do. It’s a meal that leaves you feeling satisfied for hours and hours.
If you are like us and caught in winter’s wrath yet again this week (nooooooo!), I hope this dish brings you the comfort it’s brought us during this snow storm. Stay warm!
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My Favourite Vegan Chili
Yield
8 small servings
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
Hearty, satisfying, and veggie-packed, this vegan chili will leave you feeling full for hours. I recommend pairing it with a big scoop of my Cashew Sour Cream for the ultimate chili experience.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 cups (280 g) diced sweet onion (about 1 medium/large)
- 2 tablespoons minced garlic (about 4 large cloves)
- 2 medium jalapeños (80 g), seeded (if desired) and finely chopped
- 1 cup (115 g) finely chopped celery (about 2 large stalks)*
- 1 large red bell pepper, seeded and diced**
- 1 (28-ounce/796 mL) can diced tomatoes, with juices
- 1 cup (250 mL) low-sodium vegetable broth
- 6 tablespoons (90 mL) tomato paste
- 1 (14-ounce/398 mL) can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 (14-ounce/398 mL) can pinto or navy beans, drained and rinsed
- 2 tablespoons chili powder
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon fine grain sea salt, to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper (optional)
- 1 teaspoon hot sauce (optional)
Toppings:
- Cashew Sour Cream
- Chopped green onions
- Fresh cilantro, chopped
Directions
- In a large pot, sauté the onion and the garlic in the oil over medium heat until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Season with a pinch of salt and stir.
- Add the jalapeños, celery, and bell pepper and sauté for another 5 to 7 minutes or so, until softened.
- Now add the can of diced tomatoes (with the juice), broth, and tomato paste. Stir to combine. Increase heat to medium-high.
- Add the drained and rinsed beans, along with the chili powder, cumin, oregano, and salt. Simmer the mixture, uncovered, until thickened, about 10 to 15 minutes.
- Add the cayenne and hot sauce to taste, if using. Taste and season with additional salt if desired.
- Serve with Cashew Sour Cream, chopped green onion, and cilantro leaves, if desired.
Tip:
- * I recommend finely chopping the celery so it cooks faster.
- ** Try swapping the raw red pepper for jarred roasted red pepper. It makes the flavour simply out of this world!
- A few of my go-to jarred or canned bean and tomato products are as follows: For canned beans I buy Eden Organics, for canned diced tomatoes I buy Ontario Natural Food Co-op, and for tomato paste I try to buy it in a glass jar whenever possible (Bioitalia is one brand I use). I try to buy glass jars for tomato sauces and pureés too.
Nutrition Information
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OmG thanks so much for a delicious recipe. I made this for our first vegan dinner and it was a hit. The sour cream is amazing. I couldn’t believe it smelled and tasted just like sour cream only richer and creamier. This will be a staple!
Hi Angela, I wonder if you can answer a question for me please? I have made many of your fab recipes and own your cookbook. Often you state 2 tablespoons of chilli powder in your recipes. I live in England and such a quantity would make the food inedible! This is no problem as I just adjust accordingly. I wonder if your chilli powder is much milder than ours or something totally different?
Hi Shirl, You’re right; there’s definitely a difference between the products we’re each respectively talking about. In North America, chili powder typically refers to the blend of spices, usually cayenne, cumin, garlic powder, paprika, and oregano, traditionally used to season chili—as in, the dish. Chili-as-in-the-dish powder has got some kick to it (more or less, depending on the blend), but it isn’t hot; it’s much milder than chili powder–that is, chili-as-in-the-pepper powder (or sometimes chile powder, with an e, or what I refer to as “cayenne powder or cayenne pepper”) that consists only of pure, ground dried chili peppers. The latter is what I suspect you may be more used to having in your kitchen (as many of my readers in other countries possibly are, too!), and it packs a lot more heat. So yes, I can imagine 2 tablespoons of chili (pepper) powder would be quite a lot! I would recommend making a chili powder blend at home—there are a ton of quick and easy recipes online!
Thank you so much for taking the time to reply Angela. Now I understand! Here chilli powder and cayenne pepper are different, but both very hot. So I need to make some of your’chilli powder, which sounds tasty. Think this recipe will be even tastier with it ?
Thank YOU for the great question, Shirl! :) So glad I could help.
I just love this recipe! Delicious!
So glad to hear you enjoy it, Eithne! :)
I’ve made this twice, 2nd time was better! I added a habanero to make it more spicy and it worked out so well. I was less worried about exact measurements although I did follow them I wasn’t as fixated on getting the exact amount as I was the first time. Thanks so much for such a delicious and quick recipe.
PS: Didn’t make the sour cream, for some reason working with cashews always seems like a lot of work for me!
Love this recipe, use it for a few dishes, nachos tacos or in a budda bowl, freezes ok too
Sounds delicious! Thanks!
I love the sound of this recipe but I’m having my kitchen renovated right now and have no stove! Can I throw everything into my slow cooker?
Hi Sue, I haven’t tried it myself, but I can’t see why not! If you give a try, please let us know how it goes. :) Good luck with those renos!
Hi Angela! This looks so delish. We are having friends and their little girls over for pumpkin decorating this weekend and I’m planning to make this chili and sour cream. I’m curious about the level of spicy hot to this dish? On a scale of 1-5 with 5 being the hottest? We are Arizona people and used to some heat in our dishes, but I know little palettes won’t be up for much more than say a 1-2 level of heat… THANK YOU!
This looks amazing! I love a vegan chilli and the sour cream looks amazing. If you’re looking for another quick vegan chilli recipe this is one of my favourites – plus it’s got homemade sweet potato nachos yum https://www.mindfulchef.com/recipes/vegan/mexican-veggie-chilli-with-sweet-potato-nachos-and-guacamole
Didn’t make the sour cream, but the chili was fantastic. We will make it again!
Glad it was hit! :)
Thank you for this recipe. I won third place at the company chili contest. :)
That’s so great, Alex!! Congrats! :)
Thanks for this miracle! My husband is a sour cream junkie so he takes anything if it comes with sour cream, but if it comes with chili then it’s close to heaven.
Haha, glad it was a hit!!
Just made this for dinner and it was amazing. Made the cashew cream too!! Doubled the recipe and it came out perfect. Best vegan chili eat!
It’s great to hear you enjoyed it, Eleen!
This was delicious! I tweaked the recipe a little bit since my family isn’t the greatest fan of cumin or loads spice but it still ended up great over a bed of basmati rice. This is definitely going to be something I’ll remake throughout this upcoming Canadian winter.
Oh, I’m so glad to hear it was a hit, Samantha! Hope it helps keep you and the fam warm. :)
This chili was fantastic, especially with the vegan sour cream! I made this in my crock pot. I just added all the ingredients in and set it for 8 hours on low. I LOVED it, and so did my non-vegan husband! The sour cream didn’t taste too cashew-like to me. It was perfect and added a great creaminess to the chili. Thank you so much for another amazing recipe!!
I’m so glad the recipe was a hit, Megan! And it’s great to know it worked out well for you in the crock pot, too. :) Thanks so much for the feedback!
I absolutely love this chili – it has become my go to! I haven’t tried the cashew sour cream, but I do top it with Kite Hill cream occasionally (that stuff is amazing!). I can’t wait to try to sour cream (and the great crock pot idea someone mentioned!). Thank you for such great recipe!!
Can I replace the tomatoes with something else? Thanks!
I had this at a friend’s house and it was amazing! I asked her for the recipe and was happy to see it was from Oh She Glows. I made it for a game night recently with the cashew sour cream and several of my non-vegan friends tried it and loved it. They all left with the recipe for the chili and the sour cream! I make the sour cream consistently now and always have to share it with my 25-year-old daughter. It is fabulous. This is truly the best tasting vegan chili I have had; if you are omnivore (which I used to be), you really won’t miss the meat. Also, it’s not as hot as you would think reading the recipe (although I did not add the hot sauce, but did use the jalapeños and cayenne pepper). All around great!
Thanks so much for the glowing comment, Leslee. It’s wonderful to hear this recipe was such a hit with everyone! I’ve got a huge smile on my face.
Love your cookbooks. Have made ’tis chilli several times and everyone loves it but it isn’t in your cookbooks is it or did I completely miss it?
Thank you, Lynn! Nope you didn’t miss it, this particular recipe isn’t in my cookbooks. (Though there is a recipe for Chili Cheese Nachos in Oh She Glows Every Day that you may enjoy!)
I just tried this recipe last night and I love it. I like my chili kinda chunky also and I could’ve added some water to have it a bit soupy, other than that, amazing recipe. Thank you!