The best vegan chili is loaded with beans, veggies and plenty of flavor! It’s hearty, cozy, comforting and insanely delicious. It’s also super easy to make with pantry staples.
This delicious, hearty vegan chili is one of our absolute favorite vegan dinners. It’s so easy to make, with simple pantry ingredients.
It is absolutely loaded with flavor and takes around an hour to make. Plus, leftovers are divine and it freezes beautifully too. So it’s perfect to make a large pot of this even if you’ll eat it over a few days.
It also makes the perfect meatless Monday meal because even meat-eaters will not miss the meat one bit in this hearty, satisfying dinner.
Serve it with cashew cream on top and vegan cornbread on the side and you have a seriously memorable meal.
Ingredients You’ll Need To Make This Bean Chili:
Ingredient Notes
- Black beans and red kidney beans – this is our favorite combination of canned beans for this bean chili, but you are welcome to mix and match or just use any canned beans you have on hand.
- Chopped tomatoes – canned chopped tomatoes work best for texture rather than crushed tomatoes.
- Chili powder, oregano, smoked paprika, cayenne pepper, cumin – is the perfect spice combination for that smoky, layered, chili flavor.
- Light brown sugar – simply cuts the acidity from the tomato. Coconut sugar also works great.
How To Make Vegan Chili
You will find full instructions and measurements in the recipe card at the bottom of the post. This is a summary of the process to go along with the process photos.
- Heat a large pot over medium heat, add olive oil and chopped onion and sauté until the onions are softened. About 5 minutes.
- Add sliced celery and carrots and sauté with the onions until the veggies have softened. About 12 minutes.
- Add crushed garlic, chili powder, cumin, oregano, cayenne pepper and smoked paprika and cook until the spices are fragrant. About 2 minutes.
- Add canned chopped tomato, vegetable stock, tomato paste, kidney beans and black beans and stir in. Bring it to a gentle simmer.
- Reduce heat and gently simmer, uncovered until the vegetables are cooked and the flavors have blended together. About 30 minutes.
- Add light brown sugar for flavor balance and stir in. Add sea salt to taste.
- Your vegan chili is ready to serve.
How To Serve Vegan Chili
This is divine served with a dollop of plain cashew cream. It cuts the spiciness perfectly and adds an extra layer of total deliciousness to this meal. It is also great with some vegan sour cream if you want more of a tang.
My preference is for the plain cashew cream (as pictured here), I feel that the more plain option works better to alleviate the spiciness of the dish.
Some fresh chopped cilantro and diced avocado are also great accompaniments.
And sides? You just can’t go wrong with vegan cornbread on the side, or make some vegan cornbread muffins instead. Vegan biscuits also pair perfectly.
Storing and Freezing
Storing: Leftovers keep very well for 4-5 days, covered in the fridge. You can reheat it on the stovetop over low heat or in the microwave.
Freezing: It freezes beautifully for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge overnight and heat on the stovetop over low heat, or in the microwave.
More Comforting Vegan Stews and Soups
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!
Vegan Chili
Ingredients
For the Chili:
- 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
- 1 Medium Onion White, Yellow or Brown, Chopped
- 2 Medium Stalks Celery Sliced
- 2 Medium Carrots Sliced
- 2 Cloves Garlic Crushed
- 2 Tablespoons Chili Powder
- 1 teaspoon Cumin
- 1 teaspoon Oregano
- ¼ teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
- 1 teaspoon Smoked Paprika
- 28 ounces Canned Chopped Tomato (800g)
- 1 cup Vegetable Stock (240ml) or Broth
- ½ cup Tomato Paste (130g)
- 15 ounce Can Kidney Beans Drained
- 15 ounce Can Black Beans Drained
- 2 Tablespoons Light Brown Sugar or Coconut Sugar
- Sea Salt To taste
For Serving:
- Cashew Cream
- Fresh Chopped Cilantro
- Avocado
Instructions
- Heat a large pot over medium heat, add olive oil and chopped onion and sauté until the onions are softened. About 5 minutes.
- Add sliced celery and carrots and sauté with the onions until the veggies have softened. About 12 minutes.
- Add crushed garlic, chili powder, cumin, oregano, cayenne pepper and smoked paprika and cook until the spices are fragrant. About 2 minutes.
- Add canned chopped tomato, vegetable stock, tomato paste, kidney beans and black beans and stir in. Bring it to a gentle simmer.
- Reduce heat and gently simmer, uncovered until the vegetables are cooked and the flavors have blended together. About 30 minutes.
- Add light brown sugar for flavor balance and stir in. Add sea salt to taste.
- Serve with cashew cream, fresh chopped cilantro and diced avocado.
Notes
- Storing: Leftovers keep very well for 4-5 days, covered in the fridge. You can reheat it on the stovetop over low heat or in the microwave.
- Freezing: It freezes beautifully for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge overnight and heat on the stovetop over low heat, or in the microwave.
- Nutritional information is for chili only and excludes toppings.
Tried this recipe for the first time today without sugar and celery but added mushrooms and peppers instead. It was absolutely delicious, probably the best chilli I’ve ever eaten and I made it myself! I didn’t try the cashew cream but served the chilli with boiled white rice. I will start making this in batches and save remainders in the fridge or freezer. Thank you for the recipe!
Thanks so much for the amazing review Sam!
Great recipe! I’ve made several of your recipes and I’ve loved all of them. This chili was phenomenal and far surpassed other recipes I’ve tried. We had a bit of leftover gardein grounds in the fridge and threw that in too. Definitely looking forward to making this again! Thank you for sharing your wonderful recipes!
Thank you so much Megan! Really appreciate the awesome review.
Excellent recipe…will make again cuz everyone liked it…used white kidney and pinto beans and added veggie crumbles n a bit of ancho chili powder for extra oomph…very substantial meal…nut allergy all around so didn’t try the cashew cream…this recipe will be on repeat with football season starting, thank you kindly Alison…
So happy to hear that Greta, thanks so much for the great review.
Made this recipe today for our daughter and son in law as they are vegan, I must say it was absolutely delicious and so easy to make. Will definitely be making this again. Thank you 😋
Wonderful! Thanks so much Glenys!
I don’t know why it has taken so long to write a review as I have made this many, many times! It’s such a delicious, simple recipe. I didn’t add carrot and celery until tonight and this made it even tastier. Thank you!
Thanks so much Lisa! xoxo
Easy to make, and very tasty. I’ll make this again.
Thanks so much Carol!
This recipe was easy and delicious! I subbed garbanzo beans for the kidney beans. I didn’t have enough cashews on hand to make the cream but quartering a whole ripe avocado for each serving gave it some creaminess. Yum – I will make this one again.
Awesome Tothie! Thanks so much for the amazing review!
I tried this recipe, it was absolutely delicious. The cashew cream gave it extra delicious flavour. Thank you, Debbie
So glad you enjoyed it Debbie! Thank you!
This chili was amazing with a wonderful mix of flavors. I used white kidney beans instead of black beans. I made a double recipe so we could get lunches out of it too. This was so delicious. Thank you for such great recipes.
So happy to hear that! Thanks so much for sharing Paula!
Delicious and simple recipe!!! Great foundation to add to. Thanks so much. I cut back on the brown sugar by about 1/2 and added a tad more chili powder and a can of pinto beans and it came out excellent!
So glad you enjoyed it Ana! Thanks for the awesome review. 🙂
Tried this recipe today, tasted amazing and so easy to make.
So glad to hear it was good! Thanks so much for posting! 🙂
This is so good! I love how easy it is and it’s extremely tasty and filling. Thanks for the recipe. Definitely a keeper.
Thanks Jackie, we love it too. It’s so hearty! Thanks for the awesome review. 🙂
With winter coming on, this is an ideal warming, hearty winter meal