Three-Bean Vegetarian Chili Recipe
Vegetarian chili recipe with three kinds of beans, fire-roasted tomatoes, and sweet corn simmered in one pot. Smoky, thick, and ready in an hour.
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This vegetarian chili recipe skips the meat substitutes entirely and still comes out thick enough to hold a spoon upright. Three kinds of beans, fire-roasted tomatoes, sweet corn, and a heavy hand with the chili powder do all the work. It’s one pot, about an hour, and it feeds six.
The trick that makes it taste like it simmered all afternoon takes about twenty seconds. Once the chili is done, mash a cup and a half of it against the side of the pot and stir it back through. Those broken-down beans thicken everything and give the pot the body that meat chili gets from ground beef.
Don’t skip the lime juice at the end. Beans and tomatoes go flat and heavy after half an hour on the stove, and a little acid right before serving snaps it all back into focus. It’s the difference between fine and really good.
Why You’ll Love This Vegetarian Chili Recipe
- One pot, start to finish. Everything cooks in the same Dutch oven and the mashing happens right in it, so there’s one thing to wash.
- Thick without any meat. Mashing part of the beans back into the pot gives it the body most meatless chilis are missing.
- Cheap enough to make weekly. Canned beans, canned tomatoes, and pantry spices feed six people for a few dollars.
- Better on day two. The spices keep settling in overnight, so leftovers taste deeper than the first bowl did.
Vegetarian Chili Ingredients
Fire-roasted tomatoes are worth hunting for. They cost about the same as regular canned diced tomatoes and bring a charred, faintly smoky edge that plain ones don’t have. If your store doesn’t carry them, use regular diced tomatoes and bump the smoked paprika up to 2 teaspoons.
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 large yellow onion, diced
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 2 medium carrots, diced
- 2 ribs celery, diced
- 1 tsp salt, divided
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tbsp chili powder
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 1 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 (28 oz) can fire-roasted diced tomatoes, with juices
- 1 (15 oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 (15 oz) can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 (15 oz) can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 cup frozen corn
- 2 cups vegetable broth
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tbsp fresh lime juice
- 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
- Shredded cheddar, sour cream, sliced avocado, and tortilla chips, for serving
Recipe Variations
- Add a sweet potato. Peel and dice one medium sweet potato into 1/2-inch cubes and add it with the tomatoes, then simmer 35 minutes instead of 30 so it cooks all the way to fork-tender.
- Turn up the heat with chipotle. Stir in 2 diced chipotle peppers from a can of chipotles in adobo plus 1 tablespoon of the adobo sauce along with the dry spices.
- Swap the beans. Any three 15-ounce cans work. Chickpeas, cannellini, and black beans give you a milder, softer pot. Keep it to three cans so the liquid ratio stays right.
How to Make Vegetarian Chili
- Soften the vegetables: Heat the olive oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion, bell pepper, carrots, celery, and 1/2 teaspoon of the salt. Cook for 8-10 minutes, stirring now and then, until the onion turns translucent and the carrots have lost their raw crunch.
- Bloom the spices: Stir in the garlic, chili powder, cumin, smoked paprika, and oregano. Keep stirring for 1 minute, until the whole pot smells strongly of toasted spice. This is what keeps the chili from tasting dusty.
- Add everything else: Pour in the tomatoes with their juices, the black beans, pinto beans, kidney beans, corn, vegetable broth, and the bay leaf. Stir well and bring it up to a gentle simmer.
- Simmer 30 minutes: Cook uncovered at a lazy bubble for 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes or so, until the liquid reduces and the chili looks glossy instead of soupy. Fish out the bay leaf.
- Thicken it: Turn off the heat. Mash about 1 1/2 cups of the chili against the side of the pot with a potato masher, or pulse an immersion blender in the pot 3 or 4 times, then stir it back through. The pot goes from brothy to thick in about twenty seconds.
- Finish and serve: Stir in the lime juice, the cilantro, and the remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, then taste and add more salt if it needs it. Ladle into bowls and top with shredded cheddar, sour cream, sliced avocado, and tortilla chips.
Recipe FAQs
How Do I Make This Vegetarian Chili Recipe Thicker?
Mash or blend part of it, which step 5 already does. If it’s still loose after that, simmer it another 10 minutes with the lid off. Liquid leaves faster than you’d expect once the lid is gone.
Can I Make Vegetarian Chili in a Slow Cooker?
Yes. Cook the vegetables and spices on the stove first so the spices bloom, then move everything to a slow cooker and cook on low for 6 hours. Mash it and stir in the lime juice right before serving.
Is This Chili Spicy?
Barely. Chili powder is mostly mild ground chiles with cumin and garlic mixed in, not cayenne. For real heat, add 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne with the dry spices or stir in diced chipotles in adobo.
Can I Use Dried Beans Instead of Canned?
Yes. Three 15-ounce cans equal about 4 1/2 cups cooked beans, which is roughly 1 1/2 cups dried. Cook and drain them before they go in, since simmering raw dried beans in acidic tomatoes keeps them tough.
What Do You Put on Top of Vegetarian Chili?
Shredded cheddar, sour cream, avocado, and crushed tortilla chips are the standards. Pickled jalapenos, chopped red onion, or an extra squeeze of lime all work too.
Cooking Tips
- Cut the carrots and celery small, about 1/4 inch. Big chunks stay firm through a 30-minute simmer, and you want them to melt into the chili instead of turning up as boiled vegetables.
- Rinse the canned beans until the water runs clear. That cloudy canning liquid is starchy and salty, and it gives the finished pot a tinny edge.
- Salt in two rounds, some at the start and some at the end. Salt added early actually seasons the vegetables as they soften, while salt added only at the end sits on top of everything.
Storage and Freezing
To store: Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 4 days. The chili thickens overnight, so loosen it with a splash of broth or water when you reheat it.
To freeze: It freezes beautifully for up to 3 months. Cool it completely, freeze in portions, and thaw overnight in the fridge. Beans and tomatoes hold their texture far better than dairy-based soups do.
To reheat: Warm it on the stove over medium heat for 8-10 minutes, stirring, until it reaches 165°F throughout. The microwave works too, in 1-minute bursts with a stir between each.
How to Serve Vegetarian Chili
Vegetarian Chili wants something to scoop with, so a pan of cornbread or a bag of good tortilla chips is the move. Rice underneath stretches it further if you’re feeding a bigger group, and a lime-dressed cabbage slaw on the side keeps the plate from feeling heavy. Leftovers make an excellent baked potato topping the next day.
Loved This Recipe?
Vegetarian Chili made this way is thick, smoky, and cheap enough to land on the calendar every couple of weeks.
Leave a star rating in the comments below, it helps other people find this recipe. Made it? Tag @allwellfed on Instagram, I love seeing this one in other people’s kitchens.
Three-Bean Vegetarian Chili
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 large yellow onion diced
- 1 red bell pepper diced
- 2 medium carrots diced
- 2 ribs celery diced
- 1 tsp salt divided
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tbsp chili powder
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 1 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 (28 oz) can fire-roasted diced tomatoes with juices
- 1 (15 oz) can black beans drained and rinsed
- 1 (15 oz) can pinto beans drained and rinsed
- 1 (15 oz) can kidney beans drained and rinsed
- 1 cup frozen corn
- 2 cups vegetable broth
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tbsp fresh lime juice
- 1/4 cup fresh cilantro chopped
- shredded cheddar, sour cream, sliced avocado, and tortilla chips for serving
Instructions
- Soften the vegetables: Heat the olive oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion, bell pepper, carrots, celery, and 1/2 teaspoon of the salt. Cook for 8-10 minutes, stirring now and then, until the onion turns translucent and the carrots have lost their raw crunch.
- Bloom the spices: Stir in the garlic, chili powder, cumin, smoked paprika, and oregano. Keep stirring for 1 minute, until the whole pot smells strongly of toasted spice. This is what keeps the chili from tasting dusty.
- Add everything else: Pour in the tomatoes with their juices, the black beans, pinto beans, kidney beans, corn, vegetable broth, and the bay leaf. Stir well and bring it up to a gentle simmer.
- Simmer 30 minutes: Cook uncovered at a lazy bubble for 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes or so, until the liquid reduces and the chili looks glossy instead of soupy. Fish out the bay leaf.
- Thicken it: Turn off the heat. Mash about 1 1/2 cups of the chili against the side of the pot with a potato masher, or pulse an immersion blender in the pot 3 or 4 times, then stir it back through. The pot goes from brothy to thick in about twenty seconds.
- Finish and serve: Stir in the lime juice, the cilantro, and the remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, then taste and add more salt if it needs it. Ladle into bowls and top with shredded cheddar, sour cream, sliced avocado, and tortilla chips.
Notes
If you made this, leave a star rating down in the comments. It takes about ten seconds, and it’s how other cooks decide whether a recipe is worth trying.
