Chili is the ultimate Fall comfort food. A chilly autumn evening begs for a nice big bowl of hot, steaming chili. This hearty, veggie-packed chili will fill your whole house with the smell of a delicious home-cooked meal and warm you right to the core.
It doesn't matter what kind of day you've had, this chili is going to make you feel better.
This is the kind of food that's perfect to heat up and hunker down on the couch with a blanket to watch your favourite TV show while enjoying this + a nice big piece of crusty bread.
See? That's comfort food.
Comfort food tends to get a bad rap because a lot of it is high calorie/fat/sugar, etc. etc. Well, this chili is NOT that kind of comfort food. It's satisfying, hearty, delicious and warming but also super healthy for you!
This recipe is loaded with healthy ingredients like chickpeas, beans, brown rice, mushrooms, kale, carrots, peppers, and celery.
Making chili is a great way to use up leftover veggies. You can pretty much put anything in there: broccoli, zucchini, sweet potato, corn, anything goes! Feel free to customize this recipe to your heart's content!
This chili is perfect for sharing. It's also a wonderful potluck dish because it's super easy to prepare and will totally impress all of your friends and family.
Personally, I love serving this chili topped with vegan cheese, chopped avocado, and green onion + whole grain bread with Earth Balance. Sometimes I just have it plain with a big piece of crusty baguette. Ugh, soo good.
This hearty vegan chili can be served in plenty of different ways: 1) Scooped into a casserole dish, topped with vegan cheese and baked to perfection. 2) A nice big scoop on top of a baked potato with green onions and cheese. 3) Sloppy Joe style or served in a bread bowl. Get creative!
So here's a recap of ALL the reasons why you need to make this chili, it's:
- the ultimate comfort food
- perfect for sharing with friends and family
- a healthy AND hearty fall meal
- easy to prepare and super quick to make
- FANTASTIC for leftovers
- very customizable
- as good as traditional Chili
Notes on the recipe:
- If you have a food processor, use the slicing attachment to help you make some truly easy vegan chili. I run my green pepper, kale, celery, carrot, and mushrooms through my food processor. The only vegetable I have left to prep is the onion. Easy peasy!
- I try to keep cooked brown rice on hand for easy meals. Bring ⅔ cup brown rice + 2 cups vegetable stock to a boil, turn down to low and simmer (covered with a tight-fitting lid) for 1 hour. This makes enough rice for this recipe plus a little leftover for stir-fries, salads, etc.
- If you like vegan "meats" this is a great place to use a little veggie "ground beef" or TVP. The taste and texture are great in this recipe and closely resemble the texture of real ground beef.
- This recipe is great for freezing. Just let frozen chili thaw in the fridge for a day before reheating on your stove top.
Easy 1 Hour Vegan Chili
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 40 minutes
- Total Time: 60 minutes
- Yield: 5 cups 1x
- Category: Main Course, Entree, Chili
- Cuisine: Vegan, Mexican
Description
Insanely easy 7-vegetable vegan chili that's ready in 1 hour! Fall comfort food that's packed with healthy ingredients! Makes about 5 cups.
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp coconut, olive or canola oil
- ½ green pepper, chopped (approx. ½ cup)
- 1 cup (packed) kale, shredded
- 1 rib celery, thin sliced (approx. ½ cup)
- 1 carrot, thinly sliced (approx. ½ cup)
- 10 mushrooms, thin sliced (approx. 2 cups)
- ½ red onion, finely diced (approx. ⅔ cup)
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 can organic tomatoes (undrained)
- 1-2 cups vegetable stock
- 1 cup chickpeas, drained
- 1 cup black beans, drained
- ½ tsp sugar
- 3 tsp chili powder
- ¼ tsp oregano
- ½ tbsp sriracha
- ¼ tsp cumin (optional)
- ⅔ cup cooked rice (cooked in vegetable broth)
- optional: ½ cup veggie beef
Instructions
- If you don't have leftover cooked rice on hand get that cooking on the stove right away. Bring ⅔ cup brown rice + 2 cups vegetable stock to a boil, turn down to low and simmer (covered with a tight-fitting lid) for 1 hour.
- Gather, wash, chop, and measure all of your ingredients.
- In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium-high.
- Add the green pepper, kale, celery, carrot, mushrooms, red onion, garlic and veggie "beef" (if using). Season with ¾ teaspoon of salt. Sauté until vegetables are tender.
- Add 1 can tomatoes (undrained), 1 cup vegetable stock, chickpeas, black beans, sugar, chili powder, oregano, sriracha, and cumin.
- Cover with a lid and simmer for 30 minutes. Thin with more vegetable stock if needed.
- After simmering for a full 30 minutes, uncover and gently mash the chili with a potato masher or use an immersion blender to lightly blend about ½ of the chili. Aim for a somewhat chunky texture - do not liquefy.
- For optimal taste, chill overnight and add the rice the following day when reheating (the rice really likes to absorb the liquid in this recipe.) If serving immediately you can just add the rice now. You may find it necessary to thin with stock when reheating.
Jan
Looks delicious! I am trying to cook ahead for several vegan guests at a year's wedding. Can this chill be frozen and reheated, leaving the rice to be added at the end?
Brittany
Definitely! That would work really well!
Pamela
Absolutely delicious! I am vegan and your chili is such a treat! I took a chance and doubled the recipe so I could stock my freezer for the winter ahead, and to share with my friends and family. I am just thrilled that I did. Wow! I will make more of your recipes -- You are talented! Thank you for sharing your gift! That is all I can say at the moment because I am enjoying your vegan chili recipe!
Brittany
Yay! Thank you SO much for commenting Pamela. I'm so glad you love this recipe 😀 I hope you love the next recipes you try (make sure to check out our reader favourites too!)
Melissa L
I could not think that my chilli could get any better, then I found this!!! I cannot get enough of this!! Had this for lunch all week and I had to watch myself on the potions (wanted to fill up the whole bowl).
I added kidney beans and bought spicy black beans to add to this and I loved it!! Going to make it for next weeks dinner and I cannot wait~
Thank you Brittany, 10 gold stars!!
★★★★★
Brittany
YAY! I love this so much, chili is one of my favourites and this recipe never really got the love I thought it deserved, haha. Thanks Melissa!
Melissa L
Yesterday I made this for my family when I visited them, made 3x the amount listed on your recipe and everyone demolished it!! Some ate it with corn bread. Some ate it by its self ( no rice ) and everyone asked if they could have the recipe! So glad it was a hit
Brittany
Oh wow, thank you so much Melissa! I'm so honoured you'd want to share one of my recipes with your family. I really appreciate it and I'm so glad they loved it so much. It makes me so happy!
Melissa L
You are very welcome!!
Desoré
I'm not vegan and I hate chili , but I loved this recipe. I couldn't tell there was no meat. Can't wait to try this with meat.
★★★★★
Summer
I made this for a Church potluck, and it was delicious!! I added a larger quantity of spices to cater to my own taste, but other than that I kept the recipe the same.
★★★★★
Brittany
That's great to hear Summer! I'm glad you enjoyed it 🙂
Cheryl
This looks so good, I can almost taste it ...mmm
Love the vegan cheese on the top too.
★★★★★