Vegan Chilli
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cooking Time: 40-60 mins
- Serves: 6-8
- Difficulty: Easy
Ingredients
Vegan chilli (without the carne!) is a tasty dish that provides plenty of vitamins and nutrients including a very healthy amount of vegan protein and dietary fibre. With many vegan mince products packing in around 20g of protein per 100g, and the various beans and lentils adding more and different proteins, this is a great option for those who want to ensure they get enough protein in their vegan diet. And, if you serve the chilli with brown rice, you will also get a decent amount of rice protein thrown in too. Add the vitamins and minerals from the carrots, peppers, chillies and spices and this is a very healthy (and delicious) main course.
As well as being a healthy and nutritious dish, vegan chilli is also very easy, and it lends itself well to being cooked in a big batch and then being split into meal-sized portions, which can be frozen for future consumption. As a one-pot dish (aside from the rice or whatever you serve with it), vegan chilli is also a great option for those who don’t like washing up!
- 1 tbs olive oil or rapeseed oil
- 2 medium onions, finely chopped
- 2-3 carrots, finely chopped
- 2-3 sticks of celery, finely chopped
- 2-3 fresh chillies**
- 1 red pepper
- 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
- 300-500g vegan mince (pick your favourite)
- 300g red lentils
- 1 can kidney beans*
- 1 can black beans*
- 2 cans chopped tomatoes
- 1-2 cans water (as required)
- 30g tomato puree
- 1 tbs nutritional yeast
- 2 tsp dried chillies
- 2 tsp smoked paprika
- 2 tsp paprika
- 2 tsp cayenne pepper
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp soy sauce
Ingredient Notes
*Feel free to add other beans alongside these, such as black eye beans, pinto beans or haricot beans
**Choose your fresh chillies according to how spicy you want the dish to be
Method
- Heat the oil in a large saucepan and add the onion, carrots and celery
- As they are gently frying, cut the fresh chillies, pepper, garlic and prepare the various spices, adding these after about 10 minutes
- Stir in the vegan mince and then add the chopped tomatoes, tomato puree and water (before the mince sticks to the pan, as can sometimes happen)
- Bring it to the boil then reduce the heat to allow it to simmer
- Add the various beans, the lentils, the nutritional yeast and a little more water if required
- Cover and simmer for 20 minutes or so
- Stir in the soy sauce and add a little pepper and salt to taste, and perhaps some more dried chillies
- Depending on the consistency, simmer either with or without the lid for a further 20 minutes
- Meanwhile, if serving with rice, cook the rice (we recommend brown rice as it is higher in fibre)
- Serve with rice or vegan-friendly tacos, and perhaps with a dollop of your favourite vegan crème fraiche (we’d go for the Oatly Creamy Oat Fraiche as featured in our vegan cream substitutes article)
