Vegan Chilli

Ingredients

  • 2-3 tbs olive oil
  • 1 white onion
  • 3-5 cloves of garlic
  • 3 cups of portabella mushrooms
  • 2 cups of fresh tomato (or 2 cans of tin tomatoes)
  • 1 tbsp of tomato paste
  • 1 cup nutritional yeast
  • 1 cup of cooked black beans (or 1 tin)
  • 1 cup of cooked chickpeas (or 1 tin)
  • 2 cups of cooked red kidney beans (or 2 tins)
  • 1 cup of corn (or 1 tin)
  • 1 roasted red pepper
  • 1 cup of dried red lentils
  • 1 cup of water or broth
  • Consider serving with your preferred rice 

Spices

  • 3 tsp of cumin seeds toasted and muddled
  • 2 tsp of coriander seeds toasted and muddled
  • Fresh chili: use what you have or prefer! Hopefully from your garden 🙂
  • 1 tbsp of smoked paprika*
  • 1 tsp of cayenne pepper
  • 1 tsp of bittersweet paprika*
  • 1 tsp of hot paprika*
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • *(I like the chinata brand, and it comes in a tin, totally recyclable!)

Optional Toppings

  • Corn Chips
  • Fresh Cilantro

Optional Chilli Additions

  • Zucchini
  • Carrot
  • Spinach
  • Potatoes
  • Spring onion

Method

  1. Add olive oil to a large pot and warm on medium heat for 3 minutes. You’ll add all ingredients in here eventually, so chose a good size, it’s a lot!
  2. Slice white onion and add to pot. Turn heat to low, and allow onions to cook slowly, about 10 minutes, until translucent. Don’t let them brown or burn, keep stirring. 
  3. In a separate pan, add 3 tbs of olive oil and warm on medium heat. This will be for your mushrooms. Cooking them on their own makes them the yummiest they can be!
  4. Chop mushrooms to the level of chunkiness you prefer. Remember, they’ll shrink a lot! Add mushrooms to the pan, and a splash of water. Cook on low to medium heat for about 10 minutes, or until mushrooms are soft and fragrant. Add to pot with all other ingredients when mushrooms are cooked. 
  5. Finely chop garlic and add to pot once onions are translucent. Stir for one minute until garlic is fragrant.
  6. Add and stir in tomatoes, tomato paste, nutritional yeast, beans, red pepper dried lentils, water (or broth), and spices to pot. Cover pot and bring to a boil. Once boiling, uncover and lower to medium heat. Stir often, especially while the red lentils are young, they tend to stick to the bottom of the pot. 
  7. Don’t forget to add the mushrooms!
  8. Once the chilli has cooked off its water (usually about 1 hour after adding all ingredients from step 6) and is creamy, bring to a simmer for 10 minutes. Turn off stove and allow to cool slightly before serving. 
  9. If you want to serve with rice, begin cooking it in a separate pot about 15 minutes before you think the chili is ready. The chili can sit on simmer for a long while, becoming more and more delicious, so no need to panic if your timing is off.  
  10. Add the toppings you want and serve. See the recipes for my preferred toppings, you know they’ll be low waste and fresh!

Zero-Waste Tip: While tin is 100% recyclable, unlike plastic, the recycling process still produces plenty of waste. When you can, opt for fresh vegetables, or, try buying dried beans in bulk.

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