Vegetarian Chili Recipe

4.97 from 32 votes

Hearty and comforting vegetarian chili loaded with fresh vegetables, three kinds of beans, and of course, flavorful and aromatic spices.

Prep Time15

Cook Time45

Total Time1

Course: dinner, Main Course

Cuisine: American

Diet: Gluten Free

Servings:

Calories: 262kcal

Prepare ingredients ahead of time: dice the vegetables, measure stock and seasoning, and open all the cans, and drain the juices off the beans.
Preheat a Dutch oven over medium heat and saute onions, carrots, and celery first until it starts to soften.
Add peppers, jalapenos, and fresh tomatoes to the pot and cook for a few minutes.
Make a little well in the middle and add pressed (or minced) garlic. Let it saute until fragrant and mix it all together.
Sprinkle seasoning over the veggies, mix it well, and saute for a couple of minutes.
Pour in stock, tomato sauce, beans, and canned tomatoes. Add bay leaves and mix everything very well.
Bring the mixture to simmer and lower the heat to low. Cover the pot with a lid but leave a small crack for the steam to escape.
Cook for about 30-40 minutes, stirring occasionally. Take out the bay leaves and mix in fresh minced cilantro and juice from 1 lime.
Use a immersion blender and pulse the chili a few times. This will blend some of the beans and vegetables for a better, thicker texture. (If you don’t have an immersion blender, you can take out about half the chili, pulse it in a food processor, and return blended chili into the pot with the rest of it.)

Storing: store cooled cooked chili in the refrigerator, in the pot with an air-tight lid or in an air-tight food storage container. Properly stored, vegetarian chili will last 4-5 days in the refrigerator.
Freezing: Cool chili as quickly as possible if you plan to freeze it. This will give bacteria less chance to build and will help extend the shelf life of food. The best way to cool food quickly is to place the pot of chili into a larger container filled with ice and make sure to stir it from time to time as it cools. Once it’s cooled, portion it into zip-lock freezer bags, let all the air out, and close it tight. Remember to label and date. Lay the bags flat on the cutting board and freeze. Once frozen, it will be easy to stack bags of chili.
To thaw, take the bag out of the freezer and into the refrigerator to slow-thaw it overnight.
If you want spicier chili, use older jalapeños with more visible veins on the skin. You can also choose to leave the seeds in (that's where a lot of the heat is). Of course, you can always swap the jalapeños with something spicier like serrano peppers.
To make the chili less spicy, choose younger jalapeños with smooth skin and get rid of the seeds. You can add less chili powder or no chili powder at all.