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!
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
(click to expand)
hey ! I did your chili recipe tonight but I didn’t have the ingredients for the sour cream. My family and I really enjoyed it, we ate it with corn chips ! I’m always trying to make them try vegan options and I was NOT disapointed this time ! :D thank you very much for this recipe ! hello from canada :)
Both the chilli and the sour cream turned out amazing! I made them for a party of half veggies and half carnivores and they were a favourite of everybody’s. Your blog is great, thanks for the inspiration to sit down and take the time to cook something!
Made this today, I’m not much of a cook but when I was done and tasted this I felt like a CULINARY GENIUS. It was so comforting and it tasted fantastic.
I was going to make the vegetable broth using a powder, but I decided to go all the way and just make a fresh broth and you could really feel how fresh and homemade it turned out. It was so stupidly easy and yet when I ate it I felt like I was eating a 3 hour cooked stew. I might be overreacting because I rarely cook, but in conclusion:
It was delicious, and was easy enough for a newb like myself, but managed to skyrocket my self esteem.
can’t wait to keep trying more recipes! :D
I love this sour cream recipe and make it regularly, but I accidentally made far more than I needed to recently. Do you know how long it’ll last in the fridge?
Thank you so much for your vegan recipes. I went vegan almost a year ago and this has helped quite a lot.
Thanks for the recipe. We cant have chili unless we have cornbread with it.
Thank you Angela for the great vegan sour cream recipe. Your recipe was the 3rd one I tried. One was labor intense and involved cooking and a thickening agent, one was easy but was made with tofu and tasted like it, and then there was your recipe. I will look no further. I find it to be deliciously satisfying. Thank you so much!
I just made this chili for the second time, and again it was the best chili I’ve made, or actually eaten. It was so flavorful, that my met eating husband said he didn’t miss the meat and was really happy with the meal as well. The Vegan sour cream was the perfect accompaniment to the chili.
I am not usually one to comment on recipes, but this one deserves some kudos. Both the chili and the “sour cream” are wonderful!! I just started eating vegan a few months ago and this is my favorite recipe so far. Delicious! Thank You!!
I just made this the other day and it was delicious. But mine turned out more like tomato soup than chili. I used 2 cups fresh diced tomatoes + 1 cup water instead of canned diced tomatoes. Could this be the reason why? How do I get it to thicken?
Do you have a nut free version for vegan sour cream?
The chili was perfect! I’m not 100% vegan so I did use organic sour cream, and one of my beans was an organic ranchero (pinto in chili-flavored sauce), which I used rather than rinsing. I will make the vegan sour cream in the future though as I move more in that direction. SO looking forward to the arrival of your cookbook, which I ordered the other day.
– Cheers!
I really want to try the sour cream, however, for medical reasons I can’t have citrus. That means no lemon juice. Can you suggest an alternative? I can have lemon zest, or lemon extract, just not the juice. Thanks!
Could you please tell me if you have a smaller recipe for the Homemade Vegan Sour Cream (cashews) as it doesn’t last long in the fridge and there are only two of us? Would appreciate it greatly.
Yummy
This was so delicious, fast, and easy to make! I didn’t have tomato paste so I just added extra diced tomatoes, and it turned out great! My family was hovering around complementing how good it smelled the entire time it was cooking! Definitely going to be a new classic. The flavors were just spicy enough! Perfect on cold stormy days <3
I made this chili and loved it! I had some left over and used in in place of the chunky marinara sauce for your ‘life affirming warm nacho dip’ from the book and it was an excellent substitution! I am going to make a huge batch and freeze! Thanks so much for your site!
Has anyone cooked with this sour cream. I need sour cream for mushroom stroganoff recipe. Last step is mix in sour cream into gravy to heat. Wondering if this would work
This chili was jam packed with lots of spicy, well balanced flavor. I added some chipotles en adobo sauce, which elevated the smokiness. It is very easy to make and goes well with some brown rice.
Hi, your recipes look wonderful! However, I notice that you use lots of raw cashews, like many vegan cooks/chefs. Since they’re closely related to poison ivy and can cause a horrific internal rash when eaten raw by people (like me) who are sensitive to poison ivy, why don’t you use roasted cashews? (which don’t have the same danger as raw.) Why specific raw — does it make that much difference?
Thanks for any thoughts you might have.
This is the best vegetable chili I’ve had. Very satisfying. A word of warning that it has quite a kick between the jalapenos and cayenne. We all liked that, but if you’re not into spicy food then you may want to forgo the cayenne and halve the jalapeno amount.
I forgot to put in broth and it was still delicious, so if you prefer a thicker chili you may consider doing the same and saving a few bucks.
I doubled the recipe and it served four with leftovers for two lunches. Paired with Oh She Glows vegan caesar salad.
First of all, your blog is one of my favorite vegan recipe blogs! I just made this chili this morning. It is TO DIE FOR! It is seriously the best chili I have ever had hands down.
*For anyone searching online for the perfect chili recipe, you can end your search now :) .
I did a couple substitutions. In addition to the kidney and pinto beans, I added black beans. I poured a bit more vegetable broth to maintain the consistency. I did not add the hot sauce because I felt it was spicy enough as is (I am feeding it to kids as well). The hot sauce could always be added to individual portions. I also added chives as a garnish.
This will definitely be my go to chili from now on. Thank you!
Excellent- the chili & the cashew”sour cream” Thanks, ohsheglows~
Unfortunately, the founder of Eden Organics uses his money to actively fight against women’s rights and bodily autonomy. I buy different beans.
I love this chili. Do you know the nutritional content per serving. It says “refined sugar free”. Could you tell me which foods in this have natural sugar as such. I’m struggling to keep my sugars under control. I usually eat one cup of this at a time without the sour cream. I guess I’m looking to see the nutritional value and calorie content in one cup.
Thank you so much for this recipe. I make it and freeze it into one cup portions.
Joan
I made both the chili and the sour cream. Twice. In two weeks. Truly the best chili I’ve ever had. The kick from the chili powder, cayenne, jalapeños and hot sauce (I used siracha) is robust and full of flavor, not just heat. Also, this recipe was really quick and easy for this kitchen rookie to take on. Thank you for sharing, Angela.
My husband and I just made this for dinner tonight-it was so awesome. We served it over baked potatoes. Usually chili recipes turn out kinda blah for me, but this one is a keeper for sure! Thanks for all you do!
Hi Sascha, I’m so glad the recipe was a hit! It’s definitely a fav of mine (probably obvious from the title, haha). Thank YOU for the great comment!
This is so similar to my own chili recipe. I’ve been using yours for the past few years, especially perfect on cold winter nights! I always pair this chili with cilantro and avocado slices, and crackers. And if I have leftovers, they taste amazing over brown rice :)
Hi Phil, I’m happy to hear you’ve been enjoying the chili recipe! Leftovers over brown rice sounds delicious – what a great idea. :)
I just finished eating this and had to tell you this got two thumbs up from my family! I was skeptical about the “sour cream” and was pleasantly surprised. I actually had my husband taste it (without a clue what it was) and his comment was “mm..sour cream like”. That’s a win in my book. I look forward to trying more of your recipes!
Do you have any suggestions for making any of your chili recipes in a crockpot? My fiance has a chili cook off event at work next week and we need a recipe that can sit in the crockpot all day lol
Hi Jessica, sorry for not getting back to you in time! How did your fiance do at the cook off? What did he end up making? I’d love to hear. :)
Not sure of the exact recipe he ended up using but he got second place and his was the only one completely finished at the end of it (so I’d say that’s a win lol) :) I will have to ask him what he ended up doing!
Good for him! I think that definitely counts as a win. :)
Excellent chili recipe, thank you!
What makes this chili so delicious?! I omitted the bell pepper and added a sweet potato because that’s how things worked out in the produce department. Definitely going to be a go-to. Thank you so much!
This recipe is amazing! It’s healthy, hearty and full of flavor. Would definitely recommend it to anyone!
So happy to hear you enjoy it! :)
This chili is fantastic, and it always makes me feel so much better whether I am sick or just cold! However, when I first made it, I made a critical mistake that I would like to warn everyone else about so they do not suffer like I did…. WEAR GLOVES OR A PLASTIC BAG around your hands when you are handling the jalapeños! I didn’t and soon after, my nose and my hands began to burn. I am vegan so it really was awful… but my mom had me stick my nose in cow milk that she had been drinking. Surprisingly it worked like a charm and my nose stopped burning after 5 minutes of holding it. Even though I washed my hands thoroughly, they burned so bad! I tried all kinds of home remedies but nothing worked. Heres a time line: I handled the jalapeños at 7pm and washed my hands thoroughly immediately after, at 8pm my nose started burning and I applied the milk and it stopped burning, by 10pm my hands started burning and they did not stop burning until midnight no matter what weird home remedies I tried! I could not sleep! So the moral of the story is be very very careful, and I would recommend wearing gloves! <3 delicious recipe though!
I don’t often leave comments although I had to say this has been the nicest chili recipe I have ever tried and my fav oh she glows recipe so far. I am cooking up a big batch weekly and freezing portions. Thank you I love it.
Thanks for lovely words, Lisa! I’m so glad you enjoy the recipe. (I definitely love freezing it, too – it’s so great to have on hand!)
This is the first time I’ve made one of your recipes. I LOVED this chili! I have tried several vegan/vegetarian chills in this past, and this one had a fantastic, spicy flavor that satisfied. It was also pretty quick to prepare! I am excited to try more of your recipes in the future.
I’m so happy to hear the recipe was a hit, Renee! It’s a fave around here too. Do you know what you want to try next? Whatever it is, happy cooking!
I wish this had the nutrition facts..
I never thought chili could taste so good and healthy, I kind of change a few added ingredients I used whole organic tomatoes with other pot luck healthy ingredients.
Thank-you
so much
I’m so glad to hear the recipe’s a hit, Dolly!
The second recipe I have done of yours and wow! Perfectly balanced and easy to make. I am slowly converting to vegan and you would never miss meat eating this and beans keep my nice and full (which are also easy to swap depending on what needs using up in the cupboards) Second batch this week made up tonight because I can’t get enough.
I recommend the 7 vegetable and “cheese” soup as well.
I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed the dish, Chloe! I hope you like whatever recipe you try next just as much as the first two, too. :)
I tried this chili without the cashew sour cream, since cashews are expensive where I live, but despite that, this chili tasted fantastic! I made the a 3x larger batch of the recipe and I’ve gobbled down so many bowls just today of this healthy, hearty stew I’m worrying I’ll get fat from it.
This is a very affordable dish to make, too. It costed around $14.50 CAD to make, and estimating extra for the ingredients I had about home, no more than $23 CAD for a 3 gallons of chili.
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! :)