Vegetarian Chili

Make the “meat” for the chili.

Walnuts, mushrooms, and carrots all blitzed up in a food processor. This is your chili “meat” for this recipe. All vegetarian!

Sauté onions and garlic.

Heat a Dutch Oven or another large pot on the stove and get all those good house smells going!

Add chiles, tomato paste, and spices.

I love the kick and acidity the green chiles bring and the deep flavor from the tomato paste. Smoked paprika and soy sauce are bringing a bit of a delicious surprise too!

Add the “meat” back in.

Let it simmer and cook for about 10 minutes to get the vegetables soft and delicious.

Let it simmer.

Add the tomatoes and beans and let it all simmer together for 45 minutes.

Add Your Toppings and Eat!

Top with all the usual suspects – sour cream, cheese, cilantro, etc. Get your tortilla chips and get in there!

Ingredients List

Walnuts, Mushrooms, and Carrots

This is the “meat” base of the chili. Pulsed up in a food processor, it’s just absolute texture-perfection. Love this so much.

Onion and Garlic

One of the basic cornerstones of any good chili!

Canned Stuff

The gang’s all here – diced green chiles for a kick of heat, tomato paste for that deep tomato flavor, and canned tomatoes for sauciness.

Spices

We’ve got chili powder and cumin for that classic chili flavor, and then a punch of smoked paprika.

Soy Sauce

Noy typical for chili, but I love it. Soy sauce adds the perfect little dose of umami and saltiness.

Beans

Most veggie chilis are very bean-heavy, but I’m not about that (hence that delicious meatless base). Just one can of beans here is all we need! Black beans or pinto beans would be my pick.

About The “Meat” In This Vegetarian Chili

This vegetarian chili features a hearty mixture of walnuts, mushrooms, and carrots that can beautifully stand in place of your ground beef and absorbs the big flavors of sautéed onion and garlic, diced green chiles, and all those spices. When scooped and topped with some avocado or cheese, sour cream or tortilla chips, it’s just warming and so satisfying in that chili-specific way. And, bonus, it’s totally meatless.

I have some requirements for my vegetarian chili and the first is that I want it to be really on-point texturally. I want it to scoop like a real chili. I don’t want soup, okay? I want a thick and meaty-like chili texture. The “meat” mixture in this recipe is going to ensure that texture.

My second requirement for my veg chili is equally as important: LOW-TO-NO BEANS. I love beans as much as the next person, but sometimes I feel like they are overused in vegetarian lookalike recipes (like vegetarian chili, for example) where we could easily use vegetables more creatively instead of defaulting to 27 types of beans as the base of the recipe.

I don’t know, I have opinions, okay?

Storage and Freezing

As all chilis do, this makes for great leftovers! Here’s how to store in the fridge and freezer:

• Storing In The Fridge: Store in an airtight container – it will keep for 3-4 days. Add more liquid/water if it needs to loosen up at all.
• Storing In The Freezer: Cook the entire recipe and freeze in an airtight container (or two) – it will keep for up to 6 months. When you’re ready to cook, let it thaw in the fridge overnight and heat on the stove.