Today's post is sponsored by CorningWare! We're cooking up some winter comfort food in a pair of their Meal Mugs.
While racking my brain for a fun individually portioned recipe I kept circling back to pot pies. Pot pies pot pies pot pies. Since I posted the recipe for my vegetable biscuit-topped pot pie last month I needed to give the ol' pot pie a twist.
In the end I landed on this hearty vegan chili topped with cornbread. It's kinda pot pie-esque but I don't think I'd really call it a pot pie, ya know?
Before going veg at the tender age of 13, I loved Tim Horton's chili and I always went for the bread bowl (a true carb-lover through and through.) This chili is a little Tim Hortons-esque, the base ingredients are red kidney beans, tomatoes, vegan "beef" crumbles, mushrooms, green pepper, carrot, celery, onion, and garlic. This chili is the epitome of hearty, meaty, satiating chili - it's exactly the recipe I'd want to serve to a vegan-food-adverse -omnivore . If you're not a fan of vegan "meats" just leave it out and add an extra ½ cup each of kidney beans and mushrooms.
The Meal Mugs come in once the chili is prepared. Divide the chili between 2 Meal Mugs, top with cornbread batter and bake for 35 minutes at 350F. Freshly baked cornbread AND piping hot chili all in one big happy mug. Perfection.
These mugs are nice and roomy (591ml) making them perfect for large, cold-day-sized-servings of chili (or hot chocolate, tea, coffee, soup, you name it!). They're made of durable, non-porous stoneware (meaning they won't stain or soak up flavours or food smells.) They're safe to be used in your oven, microwave, freezer, and dishwasher. The vented lids are BPA free and microwave and top rack dishwasher safe.
This recipe makes enough for 2 really hungry people and scales up easily if you want to serve more people. It's freezer-friendly too!
Canadians can find CorningWare Meal Mugs at Walmart, Loblaws, Home Outfitters, London Drugs, CorningWare.com, ShopWorldKitchen.com, and Amazon.ca.
This post is sponsored by CorningWare.
An extra big "Thank you" to CorningWare for the beautiful Pyrex bowl shown in the cornbread batter photos!
Vegan Chili Topped with Cornbread
- Yield: 2 hungry people 1x
- Category: Lunch, Dinner, Main Course
- Cuisine: Vegan
Description
A hearty meatless Tim Hortons-style chili topped with cornbread. This recipe can easily be scaled up to serve more people.
Ingredients
Chili
- 1 ½ tbsp olive oil
- ⅓ cup chopped red onion
- ⅓ cup chopped carrot
- ¼ cup chopped celery
- ¼ cup chopped green pepper
- 2 cloves minced garlic
- ¾ cup sliced button mushrooms
- 1 tbsp chili powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 cup cooked kidney beans
- 1 cup diced, drained, canned tomatoes
- ¾ vegan “beef” crumbles (I recommend Gardein’s Beefless Crumbles)
- 1 ½ cups vegetable broth
- 1 ½ cups water
Cornbread
- ⅔ cup unsweetened soy milk
- ⅓ cup + 1 tbsp cornmeal
- 1 tsp ground flax seed
- 2 ½ tbsp sugar
- 2 tbsp + ½ teaspoon vegetable oil (I used canola)
- ½ cup unbleached flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
Instructions
Chili
- In a medium saucepan, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add red onion, carrot, celery, green pepper and garlic. Cook until onion appears translucent, about 5 minutes.
- Add mushrooms, chili powder and salt. Cook until mushrooms begin to soften, about 2 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Add kidney beans, tomatoes, "beef" crumbles, vegetable broth, and water. Turn heat to medium and simmer for 35 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning.
- Prepare cornbread batter.
- Divide chili between two Meal Mugs. Top with cornbread batter and bake for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let sit for 5 minutes before serving (mug will still be hot!)
Cornbread
- Combine soy milk, cornmeal, ground flax seed and sugar. Set aside for 10 minutes.
- In a medium bowl, combine flour (refer to Notes for best results with measuring flour), baking powder, and salt.
- Add soy milk/cornmeal mixture to dry ingredients and mix well.
- Baking instructions: Top chili with cornbread batter and bake for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let sit for 5 minutes before serving. Microwave instructions: Top chili with cornbread batter and microwave on high for 4-5 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let sit for 5 minutes before serving.
Notes
For best results, make sure to measure your flour accurately! How to Measure Flour
Wiktoria
Hi
I find this recipe and want to try it this week but I don"t have meal mugs.
could I use a springform pan with a diameter of 20 cm?
With love Wiktoria
Brittany
Hi! I think that would probably work. Be sure to put a pan underneath in case the pan leaks. You could probably prepare the recipe in a loaf pan too!
Mia
I added the oil to the wet cornbread ingredients, as this was not stated to the directions. It is in the oven now, hopefully that is where it belonged. I am so looking forward to trying this dish!!!
Cheryl
What a scrumptious recipe for chili and corn bread, which I just love. My favourite baking dishes have always been my cornflower corningware casserole dishes with lids, but these mugs could change that 😊
★★★★★
EmilieMS
Hello Brittany,
What kind of gluten free flour would you use for this recipe?
I would love to make it and I am a bit clueless!
Thanks
Emilie
Brittany
Hi Emilie! I'm not a pro with gluten free baking so I always choose a 1:1 gluten free flour blend, and I usually start with less than the recipe calls for and work my way up if needed. I hope that helps!
Stefanie
hey brittany, this sounds simply amazing! ever since i've been to the US i miss cornbread like crazy, we don't really do that here in europe. already working on my grocery list, will definitely make this next week, thanks so much for the recipe 🙂 if you ever need new inspirations for more vegan recipe ideas, i'd love if you stop by at eatwholegreens.com to explore more vegan awesomeness!
cheers, stäf | eatwholegreens.com
Brittany
Thanks so much Stefanie!
Janne
Hi Brittany!
I made these last night, they were great. Great recipe as usual.
I just want to say one little thing: You listed oil in the ingedrients for the chili, but then in the directions i cant find were to use it?
i noticed something similar in a different recipe aswell, i think it was the pumpkin seed granola (which i loved aswell, dont get my wrong :D)
maybe you could check on these things for anyone trying the recipes in the future 🙂
please excuse my english, im writing from across the pond 😛
xxx Janne
Brittany
Thanks for your feedback Janne! I'll be sure to read over this recipe and the pumpkin seed granola and try to do better in the future. Thanks for pointing that out! 😀
Kelli Brink
Thanks for this yummy vegan recipe! I'm becoming a big fan of vegan comfort food like this. It's my New Years resolution to eat more vegan dishes because they're so darn healthy, so I love it when I stumble upon good recipes. Take Care, Kelli Brink
★★★★★
Brittany
Thank so much Kelli!
NTI School
OMG! Love this recipe! I actually just introduced my mother to vegan chili last night. She's new to this "eating healthy world", but she was a HUGE fan!
★★★★★
Brittany
Vegan chili is the best! I'm so glad your mom was a fan!