Homemade Vegetarian Chili
This simple vegetarian chili recipe tastes incredible! It's easy to make with basic pantry ingredients, vegetables and spices. Gluten free and easily vegan.
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on October 3, 2024
It’s freezing cold outside, and has been for days. All I want to eat is cozy comfort food like this vegetarian chili recipe. It’s my favorite, and leftovers taste even better the next day.
This chili is perfect for watching football games with a crowd, since it’s a hearty meatless option that carnivores will enjoy. Plus, it can be vegan and gluten free if you choose your toppings carefully. This chili will satisfy everyone.
I originally published this recipe four years ago. Since then, it’s become your favorite chili recipe as well (four-hundred reviews and counting).
I’ve cheered when you’ve told me that it won your chili competition, and love hearing that it’s become a staple recipe in your kitchen. Hooray!
How to Make the Best Vegetarian Chili
While the ingredients in this chili recipe are super basic, the flavor is anything but. Simple ingredients can taste exceptional when they start off with aromatics like onion, carrot, celery and garlic.
I added traditional chili spices and some smoked paprika for an extra-savory, smoky note. Canned beans and tomatoes contribute delicious plant-based protein and heft.
Blending a small portion of the chili makes it look and taste like a chili that has been cooking all morning long, but it only needs about 30 minutes of simmering. That’s a little trick that I learned from my lentil soup, which is another cozy option for cold days.
Finishing off the chili with a little splash of sherry vinegar (or lime juice) and fresh cilantro makes it taste vibrant and fresh. The vinegar offers a little acidity and complexity, and it makes all the difference.
Watch How to Make Vegetarian Chili
Chili Toppings
This chili is dairy-free and vegan as written. You can keep it that way by choosing vegan toppings like sliced avocado and tortilla chips.
Here’s a full list of options:
- Grated cheddar cheese
- Sour cream or crème fraîche
- Sliced or diced avocado
- Tortilla chips (crumbled if desired)
- Additional cilantro
- Lime wedges
Leftover Chili?
This chili makes great leftovers, which keep well for four days in the refrigerator. Reheat your chili in a bowl, and it’s good to go.
You can also serve this chili as a protein-rich topping on nachos, baked potatoes or oven-baked fries. Stuff your burritos or quesadillas with chili. Why not?
Please let me know how this chili turns out in the comments! I always love to hear from you.
Stay warm out there, and if you love this hearty soup, be sure to check out the soup recipes in my cookbook.
Homemade Vegetarian Chili
The smoky, complex flavor of this simple vegetarian chili comes from basic pantry ingredients, vegetables and spices! It makes great leftovers, too. Recipe yields 4 large or 6 moderate servings of chili.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 medium red onion, chopped
- 1 large red bell pepper, chopped
- 2 medium carrots, chopped
- 2 ribs celery, chopped
- ½ teaspoon salt, divided
- 4 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
- 2 tablespoons chili powder*
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 ½ teaspoons smoked paprika*
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 large can (28 ounces) or 2 small cans (15 ounces each) diced tomatoes**, with their juices
- 2 cans (15 ounces each) black beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 can (15 ounces) pinto beans, rinsed and drained
- 2 cups vegetable broth or water
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro, plus more for garnishing
- 1 to 2 teaspoons sherry vinegar or red wine vinegar or lime juice, to taste
- Garnishes: chopped cilantro, sliced avocado, tortilla chips, sour cream or crème fraîche, grated cheddar cheese, etc.
Instructions
- In a large Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat, warm the olive oil until shimmering. Add the chopped onion, bell pepper, carrot, celery and ¼ teaspoon of the salt. Stir to combine and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are tender and the onion is translucent, about 7 to 10 minutes.
- Add the garlic, chili powder, cumin, smoked paprika and oregano. Cook until fragrant while stirring constantly, about 1 minute.
- Add the diced tomatoes and their juices, the drained black beans and pinto beans, vegetable broth and bay leaf. Stir to combine and let the mixture come to a simmer. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally and reducing heat as necessary to maintain a gentle simmer, for 30 minutes.
- Remove the chili from the heat and discard the bay leaf. For the best texture and flavor, transfer 1 ½ cups of the chili to a blender, making sure to get some of the liquid portion. Securely fasten the lid and blend until smooth (watch out for hot steam), then pour the blended mixture back into the pot. (Or, you can blend the chili briefly with an immersion blender, or mash the chili with a potato masher until it reaches a thicker, more chili-like consistency.)
- Add the chopped cilantro, stir to combine, and then mix in the vinegar, to taste. Add salt to taste, too—I added ¼ teaspoon more at this point. Divide the mixture into individual bowls and serve with garnishes of your choice. This chili will keep well in the refrigerator for about 4 days or you can freeze it for longer-term storage.
Notes
Recipes consulted during the making of this recipe: vegetarian chili with winter vegetables (The New York Times), vegetarian chili (Saveur) and winter vegetable chili (Food and Wine).
Make it vegan/dairy free: This chili recipe is vegan as written. Just be sure to choose vegan/dairy free toppings, such as avocado and tortilla chips.
If you love this recipe: You’ll also love my butternut squash chipotle chili and sweet potato chili. You might also enjoy my hearty lentil soup and black bean soup.
*Spice note: If you are sensitive to spice or using particularly potent spices (I hear that chili powder purchased outside of the U.S. can be very hot), you might want to scale back on the spice here. Start with half of the amounts listed and add more to taste. That said, I enjoy spicy food and found this chili to be well-balanced as written.
**Canned tomatoes note: I recommend Muir Glen brand—they have the best flavor and their cans are BPA-free!
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
I am trying this in my crockpot as I type! Cooked the onion and pepper together first, then dumped the rest in. Your spice combo smells delicious! Only mod I made was to do 3 types of beans and added a little can of diced green chilies just because.
This was very good! The only thing I switched up was using chicken broth and a little less cumin (due to my family’s preference) and it was delicious.
I’m glad you loved it, Chris. I appreciate your review!
I cut salt in half, reduced chili powder and vegetable broth by 1/4, and added can of tomato paste to lower sodium but it still tasted too salty to me. Next time, I will try cutting back broth by 1/2 and add sweet potato or corn to increase natural sweetness. Thanks for this recipe!
Thank you for sharing how you made this, Sue! I appreciate your review.
Best Chilli recipe! It’s my go to chilli recipe on a cold day. The whole family loves it, even the kids! Thanks for the yummy recipe :)
Hooray! That’s wonderful to hear, Susan. Thank you for your review.
Delicious recipe! I get compliments on it every time I make it. And my favorite part – it’s kid-approved!
But help, please! I missed it up this time… Usually I use a non-electric “masher” to blend it up at the end, but this time I tried my immersion blender and went too far with it and over-blended it. I made a huge amount of it to feed a large group, so starting over isn’t really an option. Is there anything I can do to help salvage it at this point? Thanks!
I know it is likely too late for your particular situation but I would saute some extra onions and bell peppers and then add a bunch of beans to the chili.
The purpose of doing this is to add texture to the chili. You could then add some ingredients to act as thickeners such as nutrition yeast (don’t overdo this one or it will affect the flavor. For example, I might add 1/4 cup nutritional yeast to a 4 or 5 quart pot of chili. I also saw some folks in the comments that added instant potato mix to thicken up the chili. Regardless of what you add I would add a bit at a time and keep tasting it to make sure the taste and texture turns out how you want it to.
You could also try simmering the pot without a lid for an hour or two to reduce the amount of liquid. And then add the sauteed veggies and extra beans and finish it with cilantro and vinegar, as well as adding some salt if needed.
Hello
Can you make this in a crock pot and are there any adjustments that need to be made or can I just dump everything in. How long would I cook it for?
I haven’t made it in a crock pot. I would suggest to see what others have tried in the comments. Sorry!
Made this today for dinner. My Daughter is a vegetarian and is going to college virtually. So I thought I would make her a vegetarian dish. I was nicely surprised at how good the chili turned out. It was fun to make as well, chopping up all the fresh veggies. I added a little Cayenne Pepper to step it up a notch. LOVE the recipe. Never used red wine vinegar before, it adds an interesting flavor to the dish. I guarantee you could make this chili and people would never know it was vegetarian!
As three omnivores, we absolutely loved this veggie chilli. Really food flavours and texture. We’ll be doing this again – a lot! Thank you.
Hi Kate,
We absolutely love this recipe in our house and have made it on a good few occasions for ourselves and a whole houseful for a Halloween party in 2019, it’s such a crowd pleaser!
Would this work as a slow cooker recipe once the first two steps were complete? If so, would you know roughly how long it might take?
Many thanks, Jem
I love that! I don’t have instructions for a slow cooker, but I still recommend to saute the vegetables as that is what gives you the depth of flavor. I know several people have tried it in a slow cooker and enjoyed it.
Made this today, delish!! Will be making this again!
I’m keeping track of calories these days. Best guess on what a serving size would be? Any help would br appreciated.
I absolutely love this recipe! I’ve used this same one whenever I make chili over the past 2 years and it just gets easier and simpler every time! It’s always so flavor and filling and warms my soul during those times it starts to get chilly (no pun intended!). This will always be my go-to!
This was a miss. It was more like bean-vegetable soup without the characteristic flavor of chili (heat, warmth, smokiness, slight sweetness) and texture was more similar to soup, very thin for chili.
I’m sorry to hear you didn’t love it.
I’m wanting to make this tomorrow. It looks amazing. I’m wondering if anyone has added beyond meat to this recipe.
When making this I found that in order for the texture to turn out thicker I had to make a couple of adjustments. First I used nutritional yeast to add body to the chili as well as adding slightly nutty flavor. I also cooked the chili in a wide pot without a lid for about 40-45 minutes on medium-high in order to reduce the amount of liquid from the tomatoes and bean juice (I made sure to stir it every 5 or so minutes to keep it from sticking to the bottom).
I also made sure to get a good browning on the onions and veggies I sauteed to get a nice flavor for the chili, finished the saute off by deglazing the pan with fish sauce and soy sauce (Worcestershire sauce would also work). I added those sauces for the umami or depth of flavor seeing as I did not have any broth.
Brilliant!! I’ve never made veggie chili before so had no idea what I was doing beforehand but it turned out great! The advice to blend some of it was really helpful, gave it a great texture.
This looks great! I’d like to make it in a crock pot. Have you ever tried that and if so any suggestions?
I have not, but I know others have and didn’t mind the results.
Family fave we make almost every week :)
Thanks for another wonderful recipe – the red wine vinegar at the end is an inspired addition!
I made this chili recipe last week. It was delicious! I’ve been making more meat-free meals and this was a great addition to the list! I used chili beans and black beans. Loved the smoked paprika and even added a bit of cayenne pepper for some kick. My husband loved it too!
Thank you! :)
Love this recipe! I accidentally over spiced it but it was easily fixed by squeezing 1/2 lemon into the mix! Love the avocados and creme fraiche on top!
This was delicious. Since I am such a terrible cook I followed your instructions to a T. My husband, who never eats my food, because it’s not good, LOVED this.
I can’t wait to try other recipes. Thank you!!!
Loved this recipe. Even my toddlers didn’t complain! And it was easy to make vegan for my husband. All around win. Thanks!
That’s great to hear, Sorrel! Thank you for sharing.
Can you do this in a slow cooker?
I haven’t tried it, but I know others have and didn’t mind the results.
I tried your veggie chili tonight. I made it exactly as written, and loved it! Easy, yummy, and quick! It’s a winner!
am i supposed to put a lid on over the pot when cooking?
Hi, no need to cover.
Absolutely delicious! Made it exactly as written and it’s the best vegetarian chili I’ve ever made. It’s my go-to for chili now. I’m new to your website but I’m a fan!
10/27/21
This recipe is awesome. I used canned tomatoes with cilantro and lime, added some corn, and had a green pepper on hand so used it. You really can’t go wrong. Spices were perfect!
Does this recipe freeze well?
Hi Valerie, Yes this is a great option to freeze.
We had one problem with this chili – we made it for a split gathering – vegetarians and carnivores – and the meat eaters demolished your chili and left the meaty one! The flavors in this are subtle and explosive at the same time – it’s such a rich and complex dish! Thank you so much for the recipe. We just love it and will serve it often – probably in place of the usual meaty variety we always made. Move over meat – Cookie and Kate are here!
Hooray! I love that. Thank you for sharing, Barbara.
I just made this recipe with my own tweaks added and it turned out very nice! I am making it for my moms birthday tomorrow so hopefully, it is well received :)
In addition to the ingredients listed, I also added soy sauce, fish sauce, taco seasoning, small amounts of rosemary, and thyme along with some broccoli. I also added nutritional yeast for texture.
Kate thanks for the tip about blending a portion of the chili. I tasted the chili before and after doing that and it made a striking difference. Blending it did something that made me feel the chili tasted more like what my reference model of chili is in my head.
I’m honestly not even a big chili person but this recipe is so good. I’ve made it about three or four times now and I’m going to make it again in a few days. Most of the time I change recipes in some way to suit my taste but this one is great as is!
This is a GREAT recipe! I added 1/3 c lentils, sweet potato, vegan Worcestershire sauce and amaranth after trying it the first time. I like this varied texture best, and cannellini beans are a creamier bean to puree for my family’s palette. Regardless, even without the changes, the flavor is 100% awesome just the way it is! I might add some chipotle adobo pepper next time as well, for fun!
It’s the second time now that I made this recipe and it turned out great every time. I add corn in the beginning when browning the onion which adds a great flavor for us.
Great recipe, thank you so much for sharing.
Greetings from Germany.
Wonderful! Thank you for sharing.
Absolutely wonderful chili. So satisfying. It will be great on a veggie dog for a chili cheese dog. Also, plan to have a Frito chili pie with it. Yummy. Thanks Kate. Tell Cookie hello!! ♥️
I’m glad you loved it, Lisa!
This is a fantastic recipe. What makes it perfect is whizzing a few cups of the mixture in the food processor when it’s cooked. Gives it an amazing texture.
Thank you, Julia!
Just quadrupled the recipe for a neighborhood Halloween gathering this evening. Probably the best chili I’ve ever tasted. Love the touch of brown sugar!
Can I give it more than 5 stars? Thank you, Kate (and Cookie)! This has been my go-to chili recipe for a couple years now; it’s about time I comment how wonderful it is. The blender trick is everything – I just love the resulting chili texture. No need to modify as this recipe contains basic pantry ingredients (for me) and is tasty just as written! Making some right now :)
Hello, Kate—in your recipes that call for chili powder, do you mean the chili powder blend of spices or chile powder made from just chiles? I’ve had problems with overpowering cumin flavor in recipes that call for both chili powder blend (has cumin) and also additional cumin so I want to be sure. Thank you!
Hi Mia! The blend works great here. Let me know if you try it!
This one is going into the fall/winter dinner rotation! Both my husband and 11 y/o gave it a big thumbs up. Glad I didn’t skip the step of blending the1.5 cups chili. It makes the final dish nice and hearty. Served with jackfruit and cheese quesadillas but husband got out the scoop corn chips and shoveled it in that way. Thanks for another great vegetarian recipe!
I made this chili this week and it was delicious. I didn’t have black beans in my pantry so I substituted for 1 can red kidney beans and 1 can of pinto beans. We topped with crushed tortilla chips and cheese with a side of cornbread. Great for a fall dinner and leftovers even better.
Can I make your vegetarian chili in a crock pot?
I prefer it in the method it was written, but I know others don’t mind it in the crock pot! The cooking of the vegetables before hand and the blending are key to the flavor here.
Excellent. Not a great cook, but this came out a winner for my carnivore family. Thank you!
obsessed. i forgot black beans so i doubled down on pinto and cut back on the broth a little. the spices in this are perfect. served mine with cornbread.
Great recipe. I like to use the small red beans with the black. Re chili powder. In the US chile powder is a spice blend with dried ground chiles as one of the ingredients. In many countries chili powder is dried ground chiles only and not a blend. Much hotter as a result. Many of us (ahem) learned that the hard way!
This chili was absolutely delicious! I followed the recipe exactly as written, and my husband and I loved it with fresh cilantro and a dollop of sour cream. I took out abut 3 cups of chili and used an immersion blender to purée some of the chunky veggies and beans, then returned it to the pot. It was amazing! Looking forward to having it for today’s lunch as well. Thank you!
A tip for people who love chili but not spicy foods: Buy California chili powder from your local Mexican store, it’s made from sweet peppers but gives you the same color & flavor without the spiciness. It’s how I get my kid to chow down on various Mexican recipes. I’m excited to try this dish this tonight with some cornbread!
I am vegetarian and have never eaten any meat or fish!
Finally, found some good vegetarian recipes. I am 78 years young!
Thanks
Pattie
I’m glad you like this one, Pattie!
Hi Kate! I loved the recipe (made it exactly as instructed). Would this work in a crockpot/slow cooker? What would I have to do differently?and what would be the cooking time? Should I add the beans at the start of cooking or towards the end?
Hi Diana, I know several people who have made it in a slow cooker. I suggest you check the comments to see what others may be recommending.
Oh wow! I just made this and it is the best chilli recipe that I have ever tasted!
I served it with fresh coriander, avocado, and vegan sour cream.
Will definitely make this again.
5 stars to you.
Thank you, Lisa!
Amazing! Everyone loved it, even stacked up against traditional chili in a contest. I decreased the beans and subbed in roasted sweet potatoes. Also used fire-roasted tomatoes. Thanks for another winner!
You’re welcome, Susan!
I have used this recipe time and time again, the flavour and consistency is wonderful. As soon as the weather turns colder it’s the first meal I think of making. You can add extras too, I like to add some sweet potato, corn and chopped mushrooms, I also add some cayenne pepper. You just can’t go wrong! Thank you, I just love your recipes ❤
I’m glad you keep coming back to this recipe, Ann! I appreciate your review.
So hearty, easy and delicious. Even better the next day! I make a batch and have it for lunch throughout the week. I substitute red kidney beans for more color and heft.