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LeetDiet

Vegetarian chili

A hearty three-bean vegetarian chili with sweet potato, and vegan as written. 16 g of protein a bowl, and it tastes better on day two.

350
kcal
16g
protein
7g
fat
61g
carbs
Prep
20 min
Cook
45 min
Serves
6

Photograph by Nic Wood on Pexels

Ingredients

  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 onion, diced
  • 1 red bell pepper, diced
  • 1 jalapeño, seeded and minced
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 medium sweet potato (about 10 oz), peeled and cut in 1/2-inch cubes
  • 3 tbsp chili powder
  • 2 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp smoked paprika
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • 2 tbsp tomato paste
  • 1 can (28 oz) crushed tomatoes
  • 1 can (15 oz) black beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1 can (15 oz) pinto beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1 can (15 oz) kidney beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1 1/2 cups water or vegetable broth
  • 1 cup frozen corn
  • 1 tsp kosher salt, plus more to taste
  • Juice of 1 lime
  • Avocado, cilantro, sliced scallions and lime wedges, to serve

Method

  1. 1

    Cook the aromatics

    Warm the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Cook the onion, bell pepper and jalapeño for 8 minutes, then add the garlic for 1 minute.

  2. 2

    Toast the spices

    Add the chili powder, cumin, paprika, oregano and tomato paste and stir for 1 to 2 minutes, until the paste darkens and the spices smell toasted.

  3. 3

    Simmer

    Add the sweet potato, tomatoes, beans, water and salt. Bring to a boil, then simmer partly covered for 30 minutes, stirring now and then, until the sweet potato is tender.

  4. 4

    Thicken

    Mash about a cup of the beans against the side of the pot and stir them back in. Add the corn and simmer 5 minutes more.

  5. 5

    Season and serve

    Stir in the lime juice and season with salt. Serve with avocado, cilantro, scallions and lime.

Making vegetarian chili taste hearty

Meat gives chili savory depth and a thick, chunky texture. Without it, you have to build those back in other ways. This recipe does it in three steps.

  • Toast the spices and tomato paste. Two minutes in hot oil before the liquid goes in turns raw chili powder into something warm and rounded. Raw spices taste dusty and harsh.
  • Mash some of the beans. A cup of mashed beans thickens the liquid and gives the chili body, so it is a stew rather than beans in tomato soup.
  • Add sweet potato. It brings sweetness to balance the heat and acid of the tomatoes, and cubes of it fill the role that chunks of meat play in a beef chili.

For more savory depth, add a teaspoon of soy sauce or a tablespoon of cocoa powder with the spices. Neither will be noticeable, but both make the chili taste richer.

Vegetarian and vegan

As written, this chili is vegan. Use vegetable broth or water, and keep the toppings plant-based: avocado, cilantro, scallions, pickled onions. For a vegetarian version, add shredded cheddar and sour cream or Greek yogurt at the table.

Rinse the beans

Draining and rinsing canned beans removes about 40 percent of their sodium. It also removes the thick, starchy liquid that can make the chili taste canned. If you cook dry beans instead, you need about 4 1/2 cups cooked, or 1 1/2 cups dry.

Slow cooker or Instant Pot

  • Slow cooker: do steps one and two in a skillet, then put everything except the corn and lime into the slow cooker, using only 1/2 cup of water, since nothing evaporates. Cook 6 to 8 hours on low or 3 to 4 on high. Mash some of the beans and add the corn for the last 30 minutes.
  • Instant Pot: do steps one and two on Sauté, then pour in the water and scrape up anything stuck to the bottom. Add the sweet potato and beans, pour the crushed tomatoes on top and do not stir, which keeps the pot from showing a Burn error. Cook 8 minutes at high pressure with a 10-minute natural release. Then mash some of the beans and stir in the corn on Sauté for 5 minutes.

Keeping it

Chili is one of the best foods for meal prep: the flavor improves over the first two days. It keeps 3 to 4 days in the fridge and freezes for 3 months. Freeze it in individual portions and you have a lunch ready in five minutes. Keep the toppings separate.

What it is worth nutritionally

About 350 kcal a bowl of about 1 3/4 cups, with 16 g of protein and about 15 g of fiber. That is more than half of the 28 g a day recommended on food labels, and about as much as the average American eats in a whole day. The protein comes mostly from beans, which also supply iron, folate and potassium. Some people find a large serving of beans hard to digest at first. Rinsing them and increasing the amount of beans you eat gradually both help. For a higher-protein bowl, top it with Greek yogurt instead of sour cream, or serve it over quinoa.

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