This Hearty Vegan Chili is hearty, meaty, healthy, full of protein and is oil-free and low-fat! It has chewy buckwheat, red kidney beans and chickpeas for the ultimate texture and lots of spice for a great depth of flavor. Served with Lemon Cream Sauce and chopped poblano peppers for the perfect vegan chili ever!
HEARTY VEGAN CHILI
Growing up in Texas, chili was a big part of our meals. We love deeply flavored chili. Hearty chili. If you serve me chili, it had better have a good amount of the most important ingredient=chili powder! 1 or 2 teaspoons of chili powder does not taste anything like true chili to me. My Dad made the best chili ever. I mean, ever. But it was, of course, full of meat and it cooked on the stove about 6 hours minimum. It was his own recipe and it was fantastic.
Now, these days, I refuse to spend 6 hours on a recipe, haha. Shoot, even 1 hour is pushing it. But I still need my chili to have a great texture and flavor. I don’t want it watery and I need that kick of heat.
For this hearty oil-free vegan chili, I took inspiration from another type of chili I ate a lot of. Those 2 alarm chili kits. Have you ever had those? Oh my gosh, they are SO easy and so delicious and they add a LOT of chili powder. Those kits were straight-forward with very few ingredients, just how I like it.
So, my recipe is very similar to one of those, but of course without the meat. Instead of meat, I used buckwheat for a wonderful, chewy and meaty texture. It is amazing! I also used chickpeas and kidney beans for variety. You can use any beans you like. I made the very first version when I whipped this up using 2 cans of chickpeas and just found it was too many chickpeas, so doing half chickpeas and half kidney beans was perfection to me.
That mixed with the buckwheat gave incredible texture and you won’t miss the meat, I promise!
HOW TO MAKE VEGAN CHILI
First, you will need to gather these 8 ingredients (+salt/pepper/water):
- 2 cans of your preferred chili beans (I used chickpeas and red kidney beans and felt those worked best for texture)
- raw buckwheat groats
- onion
- garlic
- chili powder (and cayenne for extra heat)
- cumin
- smoked paprika
- tomato sauce
- maple syrup or agave (optional, but recommended)
To a small bowl, add the chili powder, cumin, smoked paprika, salt and pepper and cayenne (if using) and whisk well. Set aside.
Add 1/4 cup water to a large pot over medium heat and bring to a simmer. Add the onions and cook for 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook another couple of minutes, stirring often to make sure the garlic doesn’t burn.
Add the bowl of pre-mixed spices and stir for about 30 seconds to lightly toast the spices and absorb any residual moisture.
Add the 2 1/2 cups water, tomato sauce, maple syrup (if using) and beans and stir well. Turn the heat to high and bring to a boil. The chili will be very watery at this stage, but don’t worry, it will be thickened nicely after 30 minutes of cooking. Once boiling, cover and lower the heat to medium-low and cook for 10 minutes to soften the beans.
Stir in the buckwheat and bring back to a boil. Once boiling, cover and reduce the heat to low and cook for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally until the chili thickens beautifully and the buckwheat is tender. It should be thickened like in the photos, but still with some liquid.
Taste and add any more salt if needed. I found 3/4 teaspoon to be absolutely perfect. Add cayenne pepper if more heat is desired. Top with desired toppings.
TOPPINGS FOR CHILI
The toppings are endless for this vegan oil-free chili, but my favorites for both taste and texture are the following:
No chili is complete without my Vegan Lemon Cream Sauce. This is the most popular sauce on my blog. Readers LOVE this sauce and it makes the perfect compliment to spicy chili and acts as a sour cream. Although, in my humble opinion, it tastes way better than sour cream! The sauce has been so popular with readers, that it is also in my Cookbook.
- fresh chopped red onion
- fresh chopped cilantro or parsley
- green onions
- chopped poblano pepper. O.M.G. This was a game changer topping for me. Especially if you can find a good, spicy one, it provided a lovely crunch and kick of heat, without being too spicy. Not to mention, the flavor of poblano peppers is so good! Definitely recommended
That Lemon Cream Sauce swirled into the chili is next level delicious.
MORE VEGAN CHILI RECIPES READERS LOVE!
- 30 Minute Vegan Mexican Chili
- Vegan Pumpkin Chipotle Chili
- Pumpkin Red Lentil Chili
- Low-Fat Chili Cheese Fries
- Sweet Potatoes with Chickpea Chili
If you make this recipe, be sure to leave feedback below and share your pic on Instagram or Facebook and tag me @thevegan8 #thevegan8!
Hearty Vegan Chili (Oil-free)
Ingredients
- 1 cup (160g) finely diced red onion
- 1 tablespoon (15g) minced garlic (5 large cloves)
- 4 tablespoons salt-free standard American chili powder (I use and recommend my homemade blend)
- 1 1/4 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 3/4 teaspoon fine salt & 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- Optional: 1/8 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
- 2 1/2 cups water
- 1 1/4 cups (300g) salt-free tomato sauce
- 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup or agave
- 1 teaspoon liquid smoke
- two 15oz cans of beans of choice, drained & rinsed (I used 1 can chickpeas and 1 can red kidney beans and felt those worked best for texture)
- 1/2 cup (90g) uncooked white quinoa for high protein OR 2/3 cup (120g) raw buckwheat groats for a more meaty texture
Optional Toppings
- chopped fresh poblano pepper (so delicious on top!)
- Lemon Cream Sauce (the perfect balance to the spiciness)
- fresh cilantro
- red onion
Instructions
- To a small bowl, add the chili powder, cumin, smoked paprika, salt and pepper and cayenne (if using) and whisk well. Set aside.
- Add 1/4 cup water to a large pot over medium heat and bring to a simmer. Add the onions and cook for 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook another couple of minutes, stirring often to make sure the garlic doesn't burn.
- Add the bowl of pre-mixed spices and stir for about 30 seconds to lightly toast the spices and absorb any residual moisture.
- Add the 2 1/2 cups water, tomato sauce, maple syrup (if using) and beans and stir well.
- Turn the heat to high and bring to a boil. The chili will be very watery at this stage, but don't worry, it will be thickened nicely after 30 minutes of cooking.
- Once boiling, cover and lower the heat to medium-low and cook for 10 minutes to soften the beans.
- Stir in the buckwheat and bring back to a boil. Once boiling, cover and reduce the heat to low and cook for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally until the chili thickens beautifully and the buckwheat is tender. It should be thickened like in the photos, but still with some liquid.
- Taste and add any more salt if needed. I found 3/4 teaspoon to be absolutely perfect. Add cayenne pepper if more heat is desired. Top with desired toppings.
How would you adjust this recipie to make it in a slow-cooker/crock pot?
Did you make it in the slow cooker? I am thinking low for 7 hrs or so.
Love to have nutritional value, or at least calories. Thanks