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This Vegan Chilli is cooked slowly with smoky spices to create a serious depth of flavour. With plenty of veggies too, it’s nutritious and satisfying.
Make a big batch of this delicious plant-based Vegan Chilli (or chili if you’re in the US) so you have more for another day or if you’re cooking for a crowd.
This is protein-packed and so full of flavour, with a few shortcuts thrown in for good measure!
Why you’ll love this vegan chilli recipe
⭐️ Easy to make and budget friendly
⭐️ Great for batch cooking
⭐️ Satisfying, healthy and comforting
Top Tips
Best beans for a vegan chilli
I use a mixture of borlotti and cannellini beans in this recipe, but feel free to use whichever beans you prefer.
I like to include at least one tin of white beans as they seem to mash a little better (see notes below).
How to make vegan chilli thicker
There are a couple of things I do to thicken the sauce for this recipe.
➡️ One is to mash some of the beans while they’re cooking.
➡️ The second thing is to use mashed butternut squash.
My hack for this is to microwave a fresh squash until it’s softened (which takes about 15-20 minutes) while the spices are cooking in the pan. It’s then usually soft enough to mash and add to the dish.
This gives a nice consistency and thickens the sauce up really well.
The slightly longer cooking time also helps to thicken this dish up really well.
Vegan Chilli Ingredients Notes
- Oil – Use olive oil or sunflower
- Spices – The flavour of this chilli comes from paprika, sweet smoked paprika, ground cumin, cayenne, ground cinnamon, oregano and chilli flakes
- Brown sugar – Adds a little sweetness
- Garlic – Fresh or frozen, jarred etc are all fine so use what you have
- Tinned tomatoes – Use a good quality type here if you can. It makes a difference
- Stock – I like Marigold Boullion Powder
- Limes – You’ll need the juice of fresh limes
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper – Season generously for plenty of flavour
Cook this in the oven instead
You can also cook this chilli in the oven from step 8 in the recipe below.
Cook it at 180℃ fan/200℃/Gas Mark 6 for 1 hour-1.5 hours until thick and darker in colour.
How to cook vegan chilli in the slow cooker
You can also use your slow cooker for this recipe.
Prepare up to step 8 in the recipe and cook on HIGH for 8 hours or LOW for 4 hours.
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FAQs
You can make this a gluten free chilli by making sure you use gluten free stock. And obviously whatever you decide to serve it with.
This recipe can take up to about 1.5 hours to cook because it makes for a much richer flavour. I promise you it’s worth it!
It’s great with homemade potato wedges or jacket potatoes. You could also go for lime wedges, avocado slices, tortilla chips, rice or tortilla wraps.
Let me know how you got on and what you thought of these recipes. Please rate the recipe using the ⭐️ below.
Also I’d LOVE to see your cooking creations. If you’d like to share yours with me, you can tag me on Instagram (@tamingtwins).
Put the oil, onions and garlic into a large non-stick saucepan or saute pan and cook over a medium low heat (with the lid off) for 5 minutes until just starting to soften.
Add the brown sugar, paprika, smoked paprika, cumin, cayenne, cinnamon, oregano and chilli flakes along with plenty of salt and pepper. Put the lid on the pan ajar, reduce the temperature to low and cook for 15-20 minutes, stirring regularly.
As the onions cook, you will almost certainly need to add a splash of water if they start to stick a little (from the tap is fine). This will depend on what type of pan you’re using (and also if you’ve put the heat up too high as you’re impatient like me!)
While the onions are cooking, prick your whole, unpeeled butternut squash all over with a knife. Pop it onto a plate and put it into the microwave for 15-20 minutes until soft throughout. (If you don’t have a microwave, see notes below.)
Remove from the microwave and when it is cool enough to handle, peel, remove the seeds and mash or chop finely.
After 15-20 minutes the onions should be deep brown and fragrant. You shouldn’t be able to see any white onion parts left, they should all be soft.
Add the beans along with the mashed squash and the tinned tomatoes. Give everything a good stir. Put the lid on and put the heat up to medium.
Cook for 45 minutes-1 hour. As the chilli cooks, I like to use a masher to mash about half of the softened beans. I find this improves the texture of the finished dish. It’s personal preference if you prefer not to though.
The chilli is ready when it is darker in colour and everything is soft and thick.
Gluten free: You can make this a gluten free chilli by making sure you use gluten free stock. And obviously whatever you decide to serve it with
If you don’t have a microwave: Instead, peel, deseed and cube the raw squash. Then either boil until soft, drain and mash the squash and add as above. You can also just add the raw cubes of squash in cubes to the chilli to cook when you add the tomatoes etc. Obviously make sure you cook the chilli for long enough to soften the butternut squash thoroughly if you use this method
To oven cook: You can also cook this chilli in the oven from step 8 in the recipe. Cook it at 180℃ fan/200℃/Gas Mark 6 for 1 hour-1.5 hours until thick and darker in colour
To slow cooker: Prepare up to step 8 in the recipe and and cook on HIGH for 8 hours or LOW for 4 hours
Calories: 261kcalCarbohydrates: 52gProtein: 12gFat: 3gSaturated Fat: 0.5gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 2gSodium: 395mgPotassium: 1156mgFiber: 13gSugar: 13gVitamin A: 10623IUVitamin C: 35mgCalcium: 175mgIron: 6mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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